Re: possible deadlock in __ata_sff_interrupt

[Damien Le Moal <damien.lemoal@opensource.wdc.com>]

On 12/16/22 00:19, Al Viro wrote:
> On Thu, Dec 15, 2022 at 06:48:20PM +0900, Damien Le Moal wrote:
> 
>> The problem is here: sg_rq_end_io() calling kill_fasync(). But at a quick
>> glance, this is not the only driver calling kill_fasync() with a spinlock
>> held with irq disabled... So there may be a fundamental problem with
>> kill_fasync() function if drivers are allowed to do that, or the reverse,
>> all drivers calling that function with a lock held with irq disabled need
>> to be fixed.
>>
>> Al, Chuck, Jeff,
>>
>> Any thought ?
> 
> What is the problem with read_lock_irqsave() called with irqs disabled?
> read_lock_irq() would have been a bug in such conditions, of course, but
> that's not what we use...

The original & complete lockdep splat is in the report email here:

https://marc.info/?l=linux-ide&m=167094379710177&w=2

It looks like a spinlock is taken for the fasync stuff without irq
disabled and that same spinlock is needed in kill_fasync() which is
itself called (potentially) with IRQ disabled. Hence the splat. In any
case, that is how I understand the issue. But as mentioned above, given
that I can see many drivers calling kill_fasync() with irq disabled, I
wonder if this is a genuine potential problem or a false negative.

-- 
Damien Le Moal
Western Digital Research