Re: [Qemu-devel] [PATCH for-1.7] Revert "e1000/rtl8139: update HMP NIC when every bit is written"

[Michael S. Tsirkin]

On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 03:40:51PM -0700, Alex Williamson wrote:
> On Mon, 2013-11-18 at 17:07 -0500, Vlad Yasevich wrote:
> > On 11/18/2013 04:33 PM, Alex Williamson wrote:
> > > On Mon, 2013-11-18 at 15:57 -0500, Vlad Yasevich wrote:
> > >> On 11/18/2013 03:33 PM, Alex Williamson wrote:
> > >>> On Mon, 2013-11-18 at 15:09 -0500, Vlad Yasevich wrote:
> > >>>> On 11/18/2013 02:58 PM, Alex Williamson wrote:
> > >>>>> On Mon, 2013-11-18 at 21:47 +0200, Michael S. Tsirkin wrote:
> > >>>>>> This reverts commit cd5be5829c1ce87aa6b3a7806524fac07ac9a757.
> > >>>>>> Digging into hardware specs shows this does not
> > >>>>>> actually make QEMU behave more like hardware.
> > >>>>>> Let's stick to the tried heuristic for 1.7 and
> > >>>>>> possibly revisit for 1.8.
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> If this is broken, then so are these:
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> 23c37c37f0280761072c23bf67d3a4f3c0ff25aa
> > >>>>> 7c36507c2b8776266f50c5e2739bd18279953b93
> > >>>>
> > >>>> These aren't really broken.  They just assume that the high order
> > >>>> writes will happen after the low order writes.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> In the case of e1000, this is a little more then an assumption
> > >>>> (particularly in the case of nic initilization).
> > >>>
> > >>> But AIUI there's also a valid bit in that high order byte on e1000, so
> > >>> reverting cd5be582 means we stuff a new mac into qemu less often, but
> > >>> it's still only accurate some of the time.
> > >>
> > >> Yes, there is a slight issue with validity of mac at the time of
> > >> processing packets.  I have an outstanding question on the Intel
> > >> list about this behavior with real HW.  But, with e1000, the validity
> > >> bit provides a much higher guarantee that a guest that will be
> > >> setting the mac address will write the high register second to
> > >> guarantee that when the valid bit is written, the mac is fully
> > >> valid.  As a result we don't really need the e1000 part of the
> > >> cd5be5829.
> > > 
> > > But doesn't that valid bit mean that a mac update will start and end
> > > with a write to the high order register?  So we're assuming:
> > > 
> > > a) write RA + 1 (invalidate)
> > > b) write RA (write low)
> > > c) write RA + 1 (write high + valid)
> > > 
> > 
> > No. On update, only steps b and c typically happen.  Thus my question
> > to the on the intel list.
> 
> So perhaps the bit is some kind of data latch bit and the mac address
> fields within those registers are effectively scratch until that bit is
> written?
> 
> > > Without cd5be5829 the only change is that we don't store a new mac into
> > > the monitor at b).  The mac stored in the monitor is still wrong from a)
> > > until c).  So it's ever so slightly less broken without cd5be5829.
> > 
> > Since there is really no a), the mac in the monitor is only different
> > after step b).  since it's is incomplete and we expect step c), there
> > is really no point in updating it.
> 
> Great, so I have no argument against reverting, or just fixing, that
> chunk of cd5be5829.  Let's implement the latch bit too.

Right. So for 1.7 revert is the only realistic thing.
For 1.8 we'll revisit.

> > >>>
> > >>>> In the case of RTL nic, it is just an  assumption, but it hasn't
> > >>>> been shown faulty yet.  We do plan to address this a bit more
> > >>>> thoroughly.
> > >>>
> > >>> So how is RTL less broken without cd5be582?  AIUI the valid bit is off
> > >>> in a separate register on RTL, so we have no guarantee about order of
> > >>> updating the mac.  Without cd5be582 the info in the monitor may be
> > >>> permanently broken if the guest uses a write order other than what we
> > >>> assume.
> > >>>
> > >>
> > >> This one is actually not as bad either.  RTL spec requires that
> > >> receive register writes happen as 32 bit word writes.  This is
> > >> what linux and bsd drivers do, so from driver perspective, the
> > >> issue is the same.  What our emulation layer does is turn these
> > >> 32 bit writes into 4 8-bit writes.  This is likely due to some
> > >> very broken and very old drivers, but I am not sure.
> > >>
> > >> So, the information in the monitor will be broken if the guest
> > >> does: write_hi(); write_lo();  A part of me would really like
> > >> to see a guest that does this :)
> > > 
> > > So the argument for reverting here is that it seems unlikely that the
> > > dwords get written in the hi->lo order and we'd rather the monitor get
> > > stuck with the wrong mac forever
> > 
> > For how many/which guests?  I know it's not linux or BSD.  I need to
> > boot windows to see what it does, but I think it does the right thing.
> 
> How many guests do you plan to test?
> 
> > > than it show the wrong mac address for
> > > a tiny window for everybody else?
> > 
> > Yes, this would happen for everybody.  If you are querying the output,
> > you might see this and it will show up as 2 changes.
> > 
> > We are talking about 2 "tiny" amounts here:
> > On the one hand, we __might__ have guests that write mac and reverse
> > order thus showing wrong address.
> > On the other hand we have all the guests who will show the wrong address
> > for a _short_ time.
> > 
> > I have a hard time deciding, but have a slight preference for a small
> > uncertainty (the # of backward writers is very small), rather then a
> > small certainty (everyone will be effected for a small period of time).
> 
> Why compromise?  Why not implement the register that handles whether the
> mac is valid on RTL?
> 
> > >  I think you say something about
> > > sub-optimal here...
> > > 
> > >> The current code isn't perfect either.  It still has a potential
> > >> to show the wrong mac address in the monitor.  I doesn't make
> > >> a lot of sense to me to replace one sub-optimal solution
> > >> with another sub-optimal solution, especially since no-one
> > >> complained.
> > > 
> > > Exactly, the code isn't perfect either way and this revert is just
> > > replacing one sub-optimal solution for another.  So why do it?
> > 
> > Another part of this, for me, is that a change was made that we had a
> > disagreement on and a different approach was being discussed.  The
> > revert is to bring us back to before this change.
> 
> I was surprised to see it had been committed too, but that's a different
> argument for revert than what's being presented here.  Thanks,
> 
> Alex

Looks like the same argument.
So people that have experience maintaining this device
expressed reservations and unsurprisingly digging
into it we find issues.

> > >>>> The patch that was applied was controversial and more then 1 person
> > >>>> expressed reservations.
> > >>>
> > >>> Understood, but it also raised and addressed a shortcoming in the
> > >>> previous patches.  If cd5be582 was controversial because the monitor was
> > >>> getting updated with incorrect mac addresses then this simple revert
> > >>> doesn't solve that problem.  Thanks,
> > >>>
> > >>> Alex
> > >>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> None of these change the behavior of hardware, they only change when 
> > >>>>> the
> > >>>>> monitor gets told about mac address changes.  I'd suggest either add 
> > >>>>> the
> > >>>>> emulation described in each spec or revert all of them.  A partial
> > >>>>> revert is just noise.  Thanks,
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> Alex
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>> Reported-by: Vlad Yasevich <address@hidden>
> > >>>>>> Cc: Amos Kong <address@hidden>
> > >>>>>> Cc: Alex Williamson <address@hidden>
> > >>>>>> ---
> > >>>>>>  hw/net/e1000.c   | 2 +-
> > >>>>>>  hw/net/rtl8139.c | 5 ++++-
> > >>>>>>  2 files changed, 5 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>> diff --git a/hw/net/e1000.c b/hw/net/e1000.c
> > >>>>>> index ae63591..8387443 100644
> > >>>>>> --- a/hw/net/e1000.c
> > >>>>>> +++ b/hw/net/e1000.c
> > >>>>>> @@ -1106,7 +1106,7 @@ mac_writereg(E1000State *s, int index, 
> > >>>>>> uint32_t val)
> > >>>>>>  
> > >>>>>>      s->mac_reg[index] = val;
> > >>>>>>  
> > >>>>>> -    if (index == RA || index == RA + 1) {
> > >>>>>> +    if (index == RA + 1) {
> > >>>>>>          macaddr[0] = cpu_to_le32(s->mac_reg[RA]);
> > >>>>>>          macaddr[1] = cpu_to_le32(s->mac_reg[RA + 1]);
> > >>>>>>          qemu_format_nic_info_str(qemu_get_queue(s->nic), (uint8_t 
> > >>>>>> *)macaddr);
> > >>>>>> diff --git a/hw/net/rtl8139.c b/hw/net/rtl8139.c
> > >>>>>> index 7f2b4db..5329f44 100644
> > >>>>>> --- a/hw/net/rtl8139.c
> > >>>>>> +++ b/hw/net/rtl8139.c
> > >>>>>> @@ -2741,7 +2741,10 @@ static void rtl8139_io_writeb(void *opaque, 
> > >>>>>> uint8_t addr, uint32_t val)
> > >>>>>>  
> > >>>>>>      switch (addr)
> > >>>>>>      {
> > >>>>>> -        case MAC0 ... MAC0+5:
> > >>>>>> +        case MAC0 ... MAC0+4:
> > >>>>>> +            s->phys[addr - MAC0] = val;
> > >>>>>> +            break;
> > >>>>>> +        case MAC0+5:
> > >>>>>>              s->phys[addr - MAC0] = val;
> > >>>>>>              qemu_format_nic_info_str(qemu_get_queue(s->nic), 
> > >>>>>> s->phys);
> > >>>>>>              break;
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > 
> 
>