diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/x86')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/x86/mtrr.txt | 18 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/x86/pat.txt | 35 |
2 files changed, 49 insertions, 4 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/x86/mtrr.txt b/Documentation/x86/mtrr.txt index cc071dc333c2..860bc3adc223 100644 --- a/Documentation/x86/mtrr.txt +++ b/Documentation/x86/mtrr.txt @@ -1,7 +1,19 @@ MTRR (Memory Type Range Register) control -3 Jun 1999 -Richard Gooch -<rgooch@atnf.csiro.au> + +Richard Gooch <rgooch@atnf.csiro.au> - 3 Jun 1999 +Luis R. Rodriguez <mcgrof@do-not-panic.com> - April 9, 2015 + +=============================================================================== +Phasing out MTRR use + +MTRR use is replaced on modern x86 hardware with PAT. Over time the only type +of effective MTRR that is expected to be supported will be for write-combining. +As MTRR use is phased out device drivers should use arch_phys_wc_add() to make +MTRR effective on non-PAT systems while a no-op on PAT enabled systems. + +For details refer to Documentation/x86/pat.txt. + +=============================================================================== On Intel P6 family processors (Pentium Pro, Pentium II and later) the Memory Type Range Registers (MTRRs) may be used to control diff --git a/Documentation/x86/pat.txt b/Documentation/x86/pat.txt index cf08c9fff3cd..521bd8adc3b8 100644 --- a/Documentation/x86/pat.txt +++ b/Documentation/x86/pat.txt @@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ ioremap | -- | UC- | UC- | | | | | ioremap_cache | -- | WB | WB | | | | | +ioremap_uc | -- | UC | UC | + | | | | ioremap_nocache | -- | UC- | UC- | | | | | ioremap_wc | -- | -- | WC | @@ -102,7 +104,38 @@ wants to export a RAM region, it has to do set_memory_uc() or set_memory_wc() as step 0 above and also track the usage of those pages and use set_memory_wb() before the page is freed to free pool. - +MTRR effects on PAT / non-PAT systems +------------------------------------- + +The following table provides the effects of using write-combining MTRRs when +using ioremap*() calls on x86 for both non-PAT and PAT systems. Ideally +mtrr_add() usage will be phased out in favor of arch_phys_wc_add() which will +be a no-op on PAT enabled systems. The region over which a arch_phys_wc_add() +is made, should already have been ioremapped with WC attributes or PAT entries, +this can be done by using ioremap_wc() / set_memory_wc(). Devices which +combine areas of IO memory desired to remain uncacheable with areas where +write-combining is desirable should consider use of ioremap_uc() followed by +set_memory_wc() to white-list effective write-combined areas. Such use is +nevertheless discouraged as the effective memory type is considered +implementation defined, yet this strategy can be used as last resort on devices +with size-constrained regions where otherwise MTRR write-combining would +otherwise not be effective. + +---------------------------------------------------------------------- +MTRR Non-PAT PAT Linux ioremap value Effective memory type +---------------------------------------------------------------------- + Non-PAT | PAT + PAT + |PCD + ||PWT + ||| +WC 000 WB _PAGE_CACHE_MODE_WB WC | WC +WC 001 WC _PAGE_CACHE_MODE_WC WC* | WC +WC 010 UC- _PAGE_CACHE_MODE_UC_MINUS WC* | UC +WC 011 UC _PAGE_CACHE_MODE_UC UC | UC +---------------------------------------------------------------------- + +(*) denotes implementation defined and is discouraged Notes: |