diff --git a/Documentation/RCU/stallwarn.txt b/Documentation/RCU/stallwarn.txt index 44c6dcc93d6d..862c08ef1fde 100644 --- a/Documentation/RCU/stallwarn.txt +++ b/Documentation/RCU/stallwarn.txt @@ -80,6 +80,24 @@ o A CPU looping with bottom halves disabled. This condition can o For !CONFIG_PREEMPT kernels, a CPU looping anywhere in the kernel without invoking schedule(). +o A CPU-bound real-time task in a CONFIG_PREEMPT kernel, which might + happen to preempt a low-priority task in the middle of an RCU + read-side critical section. This is especially damaging if + that low-priority task is not permitted to run on any other CPU, + in which case the next RCU grace period can never complete, which + will eventually cause the system to run out of memory and hang. + While the system is in the process of running itself out of + memory, you might see stall-warning messages. + +o A CPU-bound real-time task in a CONFIG_PREEMPT_RT kernel that + is running at a higher priority than the RCU softirq threads. + This will prevent RCU callbacks from ever being invoked, + and in a CONFIG_TREE_PREEMPT_RCU kernel will further prevent + RCU grace periods from ever completing. Either way, the + system will eventually run out of memory and hang. In the + CONFIG_TREE_PREEMPT_RCU case, you might see stall-warning + messages. + o A bug in the RCU implementation. o A hardware failure. This is quite unlikely, but has occurred