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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/x86/x86_64/kernel-stacks')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/x86/x86_64/kernel-stacks | 101 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 101 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/x86/x86_64/kernel-stacks b/Documentation/x86/x86_64/kernel-stacks deleted file mode 100644 index e3c8a49d1a2f..000000000000 --- a/Documentation/x86/x86_64/kernel-stacks +++ /dev/null @@ -1,101 +0,0 @@ -Most of the text from Keith Owens, hacked by AK - -x86_64 page size (PAGE_SIZE) is 4K. - -Like all other architectures, x86_64 has a kernel stack for every -active thread. These thread stacks are THREAD_SIZE (2*PAGE_SIZE) big. -These stacks contain useful data as long as a thread is alive or a -zombie. While the thread is in user space the kernel stack is empty -except for the thread_info structure at the bottom. - -In addition to the per thread stacks, there are specialized stacks -associated with each CPU. These stacks are only used while the kernel -is in control on that CPU; when a CPU returns to user space the -specialized stacks contain no useful data. The main CPU stacks are: - -* Interrupt stack. IRQSTACKSIZE - - Used for external hardware interrupts. If this is the first external - hardware interrupt (i.e. not a nested hardware interrupt) then the - kernel switches from the current task to the interrupt stack. Like - the split thread and interrupt stacks on i386, this gives more room - for kernel interrupt processing without having to increase the size - of every per thread stack. - - The interrupt stack is also used when processing a softirq. - -Switching to the kernel interrupt stack is done by software based on a -per CPU interrupt nest counter. This is needed because x86-64 "IST" -hardware stacks cannot nest without races. - -x86_64 also has a feature which is not available on i386, the ability -to automatically switch to a new stack for designated events such as -double fault or NMI, which makes it easier to handle these unusual -events on x86_64. This feature is called the Interrupt Stack Table -(IST). There can be up to 7 IST entries per CPU. The IST code is an -index into the Task State Segment (TSS). The IST entries in the TSS -point to dedicated stacks; each stack can be a different size. - -An IST is selected by a non-zero value in the IST field of an -interrupt-gate descriptor. When an interrupt occurs and the hardware -loads such a descriptor, the hardware automatically sets the new stack -pointer based on the IST value, then invokes the interrupt handler. If -the interrupt came from user mode, then the interrupt handler prologue -will switch back to the per-thread stack. If software wants to allow -nested IST interrupts then the handler must adjust the IST values on -entry to and exit from the interrupt handler. (This is occasionally -done, e.g. for debug exceptions.) - -Events with different IST codes (i.e. with different stacks) can be -nested. For example, a debug interrupt can safely be interrupted by an -NMI. arch/x86_64/kernel/entry.S::paranoidentry adjusts the stack -pointers on entry to and exit from all IST events, in theory allowing -IST events with the same code to be nested. However in most cases, the -stack size allocated to an IST assumes no nesting for the same code. -If that assumption is ever broken then the stacks will become corrupt. - -The currently assigned IST stacks are :- - -* STACKFAULT_STACK. EXCEPTION_STKSZ (PAGE_SIZE). - - Used for interrupt 12 - Stack Fault Exception (#SS). - - This allows the CPU to recover from invalid stack segments. Rarely - happens. - -* DOUBLEFAULT_STACK. EXCEPTION_STKSZ (PAGE_SIZE). - - Used for interrupt 8 - Double Fault Exception (#DF). - - Invoked when handling one exception causes another exception. Happens - when the kernel is very confused (e.g. kernel stack pointer corrupt). - Using a separate stack allows the kernel to recover from it well enough - in many cases to still output an oops. - -* NMI_STACK. EXCEPTION_STKSZ (PAGE_SIZE). - - Used for non-maskable interrupts (NMI). - - NMI can be delivered at any time, including when the kernel is in the - middle of switching stacks. Using IST for NMI events avoids making - assumptions about the previous state of the kernel stack. - -* DEBUG_STACK. DEBUG_STKSZ - - Used for hardware debug interrupts (interrupt 1) and for software - debug interrupts (INT3). - - When debugging a kernel, debug interrupts (both hardware and - software) can occur at any time. Using IST for these interrupts - avoids making assumptions about the previous state of the kernel - stack. - -* MCE_STACK. EXCEPTION_STKSZ (PAGE_SIZE). - - Used for interrupt 18 - Machine Check Exception (#MC). - - MCE can be delivered at any time, including when the kernel is in the - middle of switching stacks. Using IST for MCE events avoids making - assumptions about the previous state of the kernel stack. - -For more details see the Intel IA32 or AMD AMD64 architecture manuals. |