Re: TSC Problems (warp between CPUs)

[Alex <xor@xor.bz>]

Just as a follow up to this, I tried to reset the TSC in tsc-sync.c 
with "wrmsrl(MSR_IA32_TSC, 0);" code looks like this:

static void check_tsc_warp(unsigned int timeout)
{
         cycles_t start, now, prev, end;
         int i;

         wrmsrl(MSR_IA32_TSC, 0);
         rdtsc_barrier();
         start = get_cycles();
         rdtsc_barrier();


Now i see this during boot:

alex@desktop:~$ dmesg | grep -i tsc
tsc: Fast TSC calibration using PIT
tsc: Detected 3400.348 MHz processor
TSC deadline timer enabled
TSC synchronization [CPU#0 -> CPU#3]:
Measured 56 cycles TSC warp between CPUs, turning off TSC clock.

56 cycles... a lot lower than 6618476436 cycles.

I read a post by an intel engineer on the TSC:

Quote:
------
The time-stamp counter on recent Intel processors is reset to zero each 
time the processor package has RESET asserted. From that point onwards 
the invariant TSC will continue to tick constantly across frequency 
changes, turbo mode and ACPI C-states. All parts that see RESET 
synchronously will have their TSC's completely synchronized. This 
synchronous distribution of RESET is required for all sockets connected 
to a single PCH. For multi-node systems RESET might not be synchronous.

The biggest issue with TSC synchronization across multiple 
threads/cores/packages is the ability for software to write the TSC. The 
TSC is exposed as MSR 0x10. Software is able to use WRMSR 0x10 to set 
the TSC. However, as the TSC continues as a moving target, writing it is 
not guaranteed to be precise. For example a SMI (System Management 
Interrupt) could interrupt the software flow that is attempting to write 
the time-stamp counter immediately prior to the WRMSR. This could mean 
the value written to the TSC could vary by thousands to millions of 
clocks.

------------ end quote ----------

I suspect the TSC cannot be reset in the manner I just attempted (given 
what was just said above)?  I gather this means I am out of luck and 
this is impossible to fix (short of a miracle from my motherboard 
manufacturer).

Alex.



On 2013-12-28 13:24, Alex wrote:
> Hi There,
>
> Firstly, apologies for the length of this post, however there is a
> bit of information I need to give so it is clear to everyone
> what is happening, what I have tried, and what I am hoping to 
> achieve.
>
> I am having a problem with getting the TSC clocksource to work on my
> new system. I have been trying to work with my motherboard
> manufacturer (gigabyte)
> to try and alert them to a possible BIOS bug but I am not getting
> anywhere with them (replies in broken english, problem not being
> understood
> by their support etc).
>
> CPU: Intel i7-4930K
> Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X79-UP4 with latest bios.
>
> Some info on the problem (various outputs of shell commands):
> -------------------------------------------------------------
>
> alex@desktop:~$ uname -a
> Linux desktop 3.12.5-custom #1 SMP PREEMPT Sat Dec 21 17:28:12 EST
> 2013 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
>
> alex@desktop:~$ dmesg | grep -i tsc
> tsc: Fast TSC calibration using PIT
> tsc: Detected 3400.159 MHz processor
> TSC deadline timer enabled
> TSC synchronization [CPU#0 -> CPU#1]:
> Measured 6618476436 cycles TSC warp between CPUs, turning off TSC 
> clock.
> tsc: Marking TSC unstable due to check_tsc_sync_source failed
>
> alex@desktop:~$ cat
> /sys/devices/system/clocksource/clocksource0/available_clocksource
> hpet acpi_pm
>
> alex@desktop:~$ cat
> /sys/devices/system/clocksource/clocksource0/current_clocksource
> hpet
>
> alex@desktop:~$ cat /proc/cpuinfo
> processor       : 0
> vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
> cpu family      : 6
> model           : 62
> model name      : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4930K CPU @ 3.40GHz
> stepping        : 4
> microcode       : 0x416
> cpu MHz         : 3400.159
> cache size      : 12288 KB
> physical id     : 0
> siblings        : 12
> core id         : 0
> cpu cores       : 6
> apicid          : 0
> initial apicid  : 0
> fpu             : yes
> fpu_exception   : yes
> cpuid level     : 13
> wp              : yes
> flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr
> pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm 
> pbe
> syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts
> rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq
> dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid dca 
> sse4_1
> sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand
> lahf_lm arat epb xsaveopt pln pts dtherm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority
> ept vpid fsgsbase smep erms
> bogomips        : 6800.31
> clflush size    : 64
> cache_alignment : 64
> address sizes   : 46 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
> power management:
>
> processor       : 1
>
> <and this continues for processor id's up to 11>
>
> ------------------------
>
> As you can see "nonstop_tsc" is supported.
>
> What I have tried doing to address the issue:
> ---------------------------------------------
>
> * Tried disabling all power/energy saving functions in the CPU cores
> * CPU Eist/freqency Scaling is disabled.
> * Nothing is overclocked.
> * No CPU turbo function enabled.
>
> None of the above have helped. Some digging around on the net has led
> me back to the BIOS being the issue, in that it is using an MSR to
> write to the TSC and leaving it in an inconsistent state.
>
>
> An interesting quote I found online, apparently from a linux kernel 
> dev:
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> so the way the hardware works is that there is 1 "master" tsc in the
> CPU package, that gets started when the cpu package comes out of
> reset. all logical cpus keep an offset value from that, which starts
> at 0, and the "master + offset" value is what gets returned on rdtsc.
> if someone writes to the tsc (using an MSR), what actually happens is
> that the master tsc does not change, only the per logical cpu offset
> gets changed.
>
> Linux does not write to the TSC since quite a while... which means
> the BIOS is doing that. It really should not.
> ---------------------------
>
> What I am wanting to know, is whether there is any way I can work
> around what is likely to be a BIOS bug by having the kernel
> intentionally reset the TSC.
>
> I saw a patch floating around on the net that does something like
> this (for tsc-sync.c):
>
> +       wrmsrl(MSR_IA32_TSC, 0);
>         rdtsc_barrier();
>         start = get_cycles();
>         rdtsc_barrier();
>
> Is there any safe patch to force the TSC to be reset/reinitialized
> that I can add to the kernel?
>
>
> I have a number of applications that will benefit from TSC timing
> rather than HPET and would really like to try and get TSC to work.
>
> Kind Regards,
> Alex.
>
>
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-- 
Kind Regards,
Alex.