[PATCH v3 0/3] arm64: Dealing with VHE-only CPUs

[PATCH v3 0/3] arm64: Dealing with VHE-only CPUs

[Marc Zyngier]

This short series is a rewrite of [0] after some reviewing from
Will. It simplifies the esoteric "stay at EL2" path, and move the
feature override code where it actually belongs, allowing us to tell
the user that no, nVHE isn't a thing on these system.

The last patch rids us of CONFIG_ARM64_VHE, which has been the default
for longer than I can remember.

This allows the infamous M1 to boot (tested on a M1 Mini).

Note: the last patch will conflict with the KVM SVE series, so I'd
like to take that patch (or the series) via the KVM tree to avoid
extra moaning^Wfriction.

* From v2 [2]:
   - Fixed typos and spacing issues
   - Dropped the mVHE on VHE patch
   - Added a patch removing the CONFIG_ARM64_VHE option altogether
   - Collected Ack from Will

* From v1 [1]:
  - added a comment describing the mapping various states
    the override mask/val tuple can describe
  - added a patch to prevent KVM from initialising, treating
    the lack of CONFIG_ARM64_VHE as a mismatched boot

[0] https://lore.kernel.org/r/20210304213902.83903-2-marcan@marcan.st
[1] https://lore.kernel.org/r/20210325124721.941182-1-maz@kernel.org
[2] https://lore.kernel.org/r/20210330173947.999859-1-maz@kernel.org

Marc Zyngier (3):
  arm64: cpufeature: Allow early filtering of feature override
  arm64: Cope with CPUs stuck in VHE mode
  arm64: Get rid of CONFIG_ARM64_VHE

 .../admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt         |  3 +-
 arch/arm64/Kconfig                            | 20 ----------
 arch/arm64/include/asm/cpufeature.h           | 17 ++++++++
 arch/arm64/kernel/cpufeature.c                | 10 +++--
 arch/arm64/kernel/head.S                      | 39 +++++++++++++++++--
 arch/arm64/kernel/hyp-stub.S                  | 10 ++---
 arch/arm64/kernel/idreg-override.c            | 26 ++++++++++++-
 7 files changed, 89 insertions(+), 36 deletions(-)

-- 
2.29.2


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[PATCH v3 1/3] arm64: cpufeature: Allow early filtering of feature override

[Marc Zyngier]

Some CPUs are broken enough that some overrides need to be rejected
at the earliest opportunity. In some cases, that's right at cpu
feature override time.

Provide the necessary infrastructure to filter out overrides,
and to report such filtered out overrides to the core cpufeature code.

Acked-by: Will Deacon <will@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Marc Zyngier <maz@kernel.org>
---
 arch/arm64/include/asm/cpufeature.h | 17 +++++++++++++++++
 arch/arm64/kernel/cpufeature.c      |  6 ++++++
 arch/arm64/kernel/idreg-override.c  | 13 +++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 36 insertions(+)

diff --git a/arch/arm64/include/asm/cpufeature.h b/arch/arm64/include/asm/cpufeature.h
index 61177bac49fa..338840c00e8e 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/include/asm/cpufeature.h
+++ b/arch/arm64/include/asm/cpufeature.h
@@ -63,6 +63,23 @@ struct arm64_ftr_bits {
 	s64		safe_val; /* safe value for FTR_EXACT features */
 };
 
+/*
+ * Describe the early feature override to the core override code:
+ *
+ * @val			Values that are to be merged into the final
+ *			sanitised value of the register. Only the bitfields
+ *			set to 1 in @mask are valid
+ * @mask		Mask of the features that are overridden by @val
+ *
+ * A @mask field set to full-1 indicates that the corresponding field
+ * in @val is a valid override.
+ *
+ * A @mask field set to full-0 with the corresponding @val field set
+ * to full-0 denotes that this field has no override
+ *
+ * A @mask field set to full-0 with the corresponding @val field set
+ * to full-1 denotes thath this field has an invalid override.
+ */
 struct arm64_ftr_override {
 	u64		val;
 	u64		mask;
diff --git a/arch/arm64/kernel/cpufeature.c b/arch/arm64/kernel/cpufeature.c
index 066030717a4c..6de15deaa912 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/kernel/cpufeature.c
+++ b/arch/arm64/kernel/cpufeature.c
@@ -809,6 +809,12 @@ static void __init init_cpu_ftr_reg(u32 sys_reg, u64 new)
 					reg->name,
 					ftrp->shift + ftrp->width - 1,
 					ftrp->shift, str, tmp);
+		} else if ((ftr_mask & reg->override->val) == ftr_mask) {
+			reg->override->val &= ~ftr_mask;
+			pr_warn("%s[%d:%d]: impossible override, ignored\n",
+				reg->name,
+				ftrp->shift + ftrp->width - 1,
+				ftrp->shift);
 		}
 
 		val = arm64_ftr_set_value(ftrp, val, ftr_new);
diff --git a/arch/arm64/kernel/idreg-override.c b/arch/arm64/kernel/idreg-override.c
index 83f1c4b92095..be92fcd319a1 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/kernel/idreg-override.c
+++ b/arch/arm64/kernel/idreg-override.c
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ struct ftr_set_desc {
 	struct {
 		char			name[FTR_DESC_FIELD_LEN];
 		u8			shift;
+		bool			(*filter)(u64 val);
 	} 				fields[];
 };
 
@@ -124,6 +125,18 @@ static void __init match_options(const char *cmdline)
 			if (find_field(cmdline, regs[i], f, &v))
 				continue;
 
+			/*
+			 * If an override gets filtered out, advertise
+			 * it by setting the value to 0xf, but
+			 * clearing the mask... Yes, this is fragile.
+			 */
+			if (regs[i]->fields[f].filter &&
+			    !regs[i]->fields[f].filter(v)) {
+				regs[i]->override->val  |= mask;
+				regs[i]->override->mask &= ~mask;
+				continue;
+			}
+
 			regs[i]->override->val  &= ~mask;
 			regs[i]->override->val  |= (v << shift) & mask;
 			regs[i]->override->mask |= mask;
-- 
2.29.2


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[PATCH v3 2/3] arm64: Cope with CPUs stuck in VHE mode

[Marc Zyngier]

It seems that the CPUs part of the SoC known as Apple M1 have the
terrible habit of being stuck with HCR_EL2.E2H==1, in violation
of the architecture.

Try and work around this deplorable state of affairs by detecting
the stuck bit early and short-circuit the nVHE dance. Additional
filtering code ensures that attempts at switching to nVHE from
the command-line are also ignored.

It is still unknown whether there are many more such nuggets
to be found...

Reported-by: Hector Martin <marcan@marcan.st>
Acked-by: Will Deacon <will@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Marc Zyngier <maz@kernel.org>
---
 arch/arm64/kernel/head.S           | 39 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
 arch/arm64/kernel/hyp-stub.S       |  8 +++---
 arch/arm64/kernel/idreg-override.c | 13 +++++++++-
 3 files changed, 52 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/arm64/kernel/head.S b/arch/arm64/kernel/head.S
index 840bda1869e9..96873dfa67fd 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/kernel/head.S
+++ b/arch/arm64/kernel/head.S
@@ -477,14 +477,13 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(kimage_vaddr)
  * booted in EL1 or EL2 respectively.
  */
 SYM_FUNC_START(init_kernel_el)
-	mov_q	x0, INIT_SCTLR_EL1_MMU_OFF
-	msr	sctlr_el1, x0
-
 	mrs	x0, CurrentEL
 	cmp	x0, #CurrentEL_EL2
 	b.eq	init_el2
 
 SYM_INNER_LABEL(init_el1, SYM_L_LOCAL)
+	mov_q	x0, INIT_SCTLR_EL1_MMU_OFF
+	msr	sctlr_el1, x0
 	isb
 	mov_q	x0, INIT_PSTATE_EL1
 	msr	spsr_el1, x0
@@ -504,9 +503,43 @@ SYM_INNER_LABEL(init_el2, SYM_L_LOCAL)
 	msr	vbar_el2, x0
 	isb
 
+	/*
+	 * Fruity CPUs seem to have HCR_EL2.E2H set to RES1,
+	 * making it impossible to start in nVHE mode. Is that
+	 * compliant with the architecture? Absolutely not!
+	 */
+	mrs	x0, hcr_el2
+	and	x0, x0, #HCR_E2H
+	cbz	x0, 1f
+
+	/* Switching to VHE requires a sane SCTLR_EL1 as a start */
+	mov_q	x0, INIT_SCTLR_EL1_MMU_OFF
+	msr_s	SYS_SCTLR_EL12, x0
+
+	/*
+	 * Force an eret into a helper "function", and let it return
+	 * to our original caller... This makes sure that we have
+	 * initialised the basic PSTATE state.
+	 */
+	mov	x0, #INIT_PSTATE_EL2
+	msr	spsr_el1, x0
+	adr	x0, __cpu_stick_to_vhe
+	msr	elr_el1, x0
+	eret
+
+1:
+	mov_q	x0, INIT_SCTLR_EL1_MMU_OFF
+	msr	sctlr_el1, x0
+
 	msr	elr_el2, lr
 	mov	w0, #BOOT_CPU_MODE_EL2
 	eret
+
+__cpu_stick_to_vhe:
+	mov	x0, #HVC_VHE_RESTART
+	hvc	#0
+	mov	x0, #BOOT_CPU_MODE_EL2
+	ret
 SYM_FUNC_END(init_kernel_el)
 
 /*
diff --git a/arch/arm64/kernel/hyp-stub.S b/arch/arm64/kernel/hyp-stub.S
index 5eccbd62fec8..9c9b4d8fc395 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/kernel/hyp-stub.S
+++ b/arch/arm64/kernel/hyp-stub.S
@@ -27,12 +27,12 @@ SYM_CODE_START(__hyp_stub_vectors)
 	ventry	el2_fiq_invalid			// FIQ EL2t
 	ventry	el2_error_invalid		// Error EL2t
 
-	ventry	el2_sync_invalid		// Synchronous EL2h
+	ventry	elx_sync			// Synchronous EL2h
 	ventry	el2_irq_invalid			// IRQ EL2h
 	ventry	el2_fiq_invalid			// FIQ EL2h
 	ventry	el2_error_invalid		// Error EL2h
 
-	ventry	el1_sync			// Synchronous 64-bit EL1
+	ventry	elx_sync			// Synchronous 64-bit EL1
 	ventry	el1_irq_invalid			// IRQ 64-bit EL1
 	ventry	el1_fiq_invalid			// FIQ 64-bit EL1
 	ventry	el1_error_invalid		// Error 64-bit EL1
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ SYM_CODE_END(__hyp_stub_vectors)
 
 	.align 11
 
-SYM_CODE_START_LOCAL(el1_sync)
+SYM_CODE_START_LOCAL(elx_sync)
 	cmp	x0, #HVC_SET_VECTORS
 	b.ne	1f
 	msr	vbar_el2, x1
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ SYM_CODE_START_LOCAL(el1_sync)
 
 9:	mov	x0, xzr
 	eret
-SYM_CODE_END(el1_sync)
+SYM_CODE_END(elx_sync)
 
 // nVHE? No way! Give me the real thing!
 SYM_CODE_START_LOCAL(mutate_to_vhe)
diff --git a/arch/arm64/kernel/idreg-override.c b/arch/arm64/kernel/idreg-override.c
index be92fcd319a1..e628c8ce1ffe 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/kernel/idreg-override.c
+++ b/arch/arm64/kernel/idreg-override.c
@@ -29,11 +29,22 @@ struct ftr_set_desc {
 	} 				fields[];
 };
 
+static bool __init mmfr1_vh_filter(u64 val)
+{
+	/*
+	 * If we ever reach this point while running VHE, we're
+	 * guaranteed to be on one of these funky, VHE-stuck CPUs. If
+	 * the user was trying to force nVHE on us, proceed with
+	 * attitude adjustment.
+	 */
+	return !(is_kernel_in_hyp_mode() && val == 0);
+}
+
 static const struct ftr_set_desc mmfr1 __initconst = {
 	.name		= "id_aa64mmfr1",
 	.override	= &id_aa64mmfr1_override,
 	.fields		= {
-	        { "vh", ID_AA64MMFR1_VHE_SHIFT },
+		{ "vh", ID_AA64MMFR1_VHE_SHIFT, mmfr1_vh_filter },
 		{}
 	},
 };
-- 
2.29.2


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[PATCH v3 3/3] arm64: Get rid of CONFIG_ARM64_VHE

[Marc Zyngier]

CONFIG_ARM64_VHE was introduced with ARMv8.1 (some 7 years ago),
and has been enabled by default for almost all that time.

Given that newer systems that are VHE capable are finally becoming
available, and that some systems are even incapable of not running VHE,
drop the configuration altogether.

Anyone willing to stick to non-VHE on VHE hardware for obscure
reasons should use the 'kvm-arm.mode=nvhe' command-line option.

Suggested-by: Will Deacon <will@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Marc Zyngier <maz@kernel.org>
---
 .../admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt         |  3 +--
 arch/arm64/Kconfig                            | 20 -------------------
 arch/arm64/kernel/cpufeature.c                |  4 ----
 arch/arm64/kernel/hyp-stub.S                  |  2 --
 4 files changed, 1 insertion(+), 28 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
index 04545725f187..18f8bb3024f4 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
@@ -2279,8 +2279,7 @@
 				   state is kept private from the host.
 				   Not valid if the kernel is running in EL2.
 
-			Defaults to VHE/nVHE based on hardware support and
-			the value of CONFIG_ARM64_VHE.
+			Defaults to VHE/nVHE based on hardware support.
 
 	kvm-arm.vgic_v3_group0_trap=
 			[KVM,ARM] Trap guest accesses to GICv3 group-0
diff --git a/arch/arm64/Kconfig b/arch/arm64/Kconfig
index 5656e7aacd69..e9fbb0b45793 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/Kconfig
+++ b/arch/arm64/Kconfig
@@ -1416,19 +1416,6 @@ config ARM64_USE_LSE_ATOMICS
 	  built with binutils >= 2.25 in order for the new instructions
 	  to be used.
 
-config ARM64_VHE
-	bool "Enable support for Virtualization Host Extensions (VHE)"
-	default y
-	help
-	  Virtualization Host Extensions (VHE) allow the kernel to run
-	  directly at EL2 (instead of EL1) on processors that support
-	  it. This leads to better performance for KVM, as they reduce
-	  the cost of the world switch.
-
-	  Selecting this option allows the VHE feature to be detected
-	  at runtime, and does not affect processors that do not
-	  implement this feature.
-
 endmenu
 
 menu "ARMv8.2 architectural features"
@@ -1684,7 +1671,6 @@ endmenu
 config ARM64_SVE
 	bool "ARM Scalable Vector Extension support"
 	default y
-	depends on !KVM || ARM64_VHE
 	help
 	  The Scalable Vector Extension (SVE) is an extension to the AArch64
 	  execution state which complements and extends the SIMD functionality
@@ -1713,12 +1699,6 @@ config ARM64_SVE
 	  booting the kernel.  If unsure and you are not observing these
 	  symptoms, you should assume that it is safe to say Y.
 
-	  CPUs that support SVE are architecturally required to support the
-	  Virtualization Host Extensions (VHE), so the kernel makes no
-	  provision for supporting SVE alongside KVM without VHE enabled.
-	  Thus, you will need to enable CONFIG_ARM64_VHE if you want to support
-	  KVM in the same kernel image.
-
 config ARM64_MODULE_PLTS
 	bool "Use PLTs to allow module memory to spill over into vmalloc area"
 	depends on MODULES
diff --git a/arch/arm64/kernel/cpufeature.c b/arch/arm64/kernel/cpufeature.c
index 6de15deaa912..fa6023ac3548 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/kernel/cpufeature.c
+++ b/arch/arm64/kernel/cpufeature.c
@@ -1623,7 +1623,6 @@ int get_cpu_with_amu_feat(void)
 }
 #endif
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_ARM64_VHE
 static bool runs_at_el2(const struct arm64_cpu_capabilities *entry, int __unused)
 {
 	return is_kernel_in_hyp_mode();
@@ -1642,7 +1641,6 @@ static void cpu_copy_el2regs(const struct arm64_cpu_capabilities *__unused)
 	if (!alternative_is_applied(ARM64_HAS_VIRT_HOST_EXTN))
 		write_sysreg(read_sysreg(tpidr_el1), tpidr_el2);
 }
-#endif
 
 static void cpu_has_fwb(const struct arm64_cpu_capabilities *__unused)
 {
@@ -1845,7 +1843,6 @@ static const struct arm64_cpu_capabilities arm64_features[] = {
 		.type = ARM64_CPUCAP_WEAK_LOCAL_CPU_FEATURE,
 		.matches = has_no_hw_prefetch,
 	},
-#ifdef CONFIG_ARM64_VHE
 	{
 		.desc = "Virtualization Host Extensions",
 		.capability = ARM64_HAS_VIRT_HOST_EXTN,
@@ -1853,7 +1850,6 @@ static const struct arm64_cpu_capabilities arm64_features[] = {
 		.matches = runs_at_el2,
 		.cpu_enable = cpu_copy_el2regs,
 	},
-#endif	/* CONFIG_ARM64_VHE */
 	{
 		.desc = "32-bit EL0 Support",
 		.capability = ARM64_HAS_32BIT_EL0,
diff --git a/arch/arm64/kernel/hyp-stub.S b/arch/arm64/kernel/hyp-stub.S
index 9c9b4d8fc395..74ad3db061d1 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/kernel/hyp-stub.S
+++ b/arch/arm64/kernel/hyp-stub.S
@@ -224,7 +224,6 @@ SYM_FUNC_END(__hyp_reset_vectors)
  * Entry point to switch to VHE if deemed capable
  */
 SYM_FUNC_START(switch_to_vhe)
-#ifdef CONFIG_ARM64_VHE
 	// Need to have booted at EL2
 	adr_l	x1, __boot_cpu_mode
 	ldr	w0, [x1]
@@ -240,6 +239,5 @@ SYM_FUNC_START(switch_to_vhe)
 	mov	x0, #HVC_VHE_RESTART
 	hvc	#0
 1:
-#endif
 	ret
 SYM_FUNC_END(switch_to_vhe)
-- 
2.29.2


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Re: [PATCH v3 3/3] arm64: Get rid of CONFIG_ARM64_VHE

[Will Deacon]

On Thu, Apr 08, 2021 at 02:10:10PM +0100, Marc Zyngier wrote:
> CONFIG_ARM64_VHE was introduced with ARMv8.1 (some 7 years ago),
> and has been enabled by default for almost all that time.
> 
> Given that newer systems that are VHE capable are finally becoming
> available, and that some systems are even incapable of not running VHE,
> drop the configuration altogether.
> 
> Anyone willing to stick to non-VHE on VHE hardware for obscure
> reasons should use the 'kvm-arm.mode=nvhe' command-line option.
> 
> Suggested-by: Will Deacon <will@kernel.org>
> Signed-off-by: Marc Zyngier <maz@kernel.org>
> ---
>  .../admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt         |  3 +--
>  arch/arm64/Kconfig                            | 20 -------------------
>  arch/arm64/kernel/cpufeature.c                |  4 ----
>  arch/arm64/kernel/hyp-stub.S                  |  2 --
>  4 files changed, 1 insertion(+), 28 deletions(-)

Huh, I was really expecting to see ARM64_VHE crop up in some Makefiles, but
it doesn't seem to! So:

Acked-by: Will Deacon <will@kernel.org>

Will

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Re: [PATCH v3 3/3] arm64: Get rid of CONFIG_ARM64_VHE

[Marc Zyngier]

On Thu, 08 Apr 2021 17:59:14 +0100,
Will Deacon <will@kernel.org> wrote:
> 
> On Thu, Apr 08, 2021 at 02:10:10PM +0100, Marc Zyngier wrote:
> > CONFIG_ARM64_VHE was introduced with ARMv8.1 (some 7 years ago),
> > and has been enabled by default for almost all that time.
> > 
> > Given that newer systems that are VHE capable are finally becoming
> > available, and that some systems are even incapable of not running VHE,
> > drop the configuration altogether.
> > 
> > Anyone willing to stick to non-VHE on VHE hardware for obscure
> > reasons should use the 'kvm-arm.mode=nvhe' command-line option.
> > 
> > Suggested-by: Will Deacon <will@kernel.org>
> > Signed-off-by: Marc Zyngier <maz@kernel.org>
> > ---
> >  .../admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt         |  3 +--
> >  arch/arm64/Kconfig                            | 20 -------------------
> >  arch/arm64/kernel/cpufeature.c                |  4 ----
> >  arch/arm64/kernel/hyp-stub.S                  |  2 --
> >  4 files changed, 1 insertion(+), 28 deletions(-)
> 
> Huh, I was really expecting to see ARM64_VHE crop up in some Makefiles, but
> it doesn't seem to! So:

It was a design decision from the very beginning that all the VHE code
would always be compiled in to avoid bitrot. It probably helped
weeding out some early bugs.

> Acked-by: Will Deacon <will@kernel.org>

Thanks,

	M.

-- 
Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.

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Re: [PATCH v3 3/3] arm64: Get rid of CONFIG_ARM64_VHE

[Arnd Bergmann]

On Thu, Apr 8, 2021 at 3:10 PM Marc Zyngier <maz@kernel.org> wrote:
>
> CONFIG_ARM64_VHE was introduced with ARMv8.1 (some 7 years ago),
> and has been enabled by default for almost all that time.
>
> Given that newer systems that are VHE capable are finally becoming
> available, and that some systems are even incapable of not running VHE,
> drop the configuration altogether.
>
> Anyone willing to stick to non-VHE on VHE hardware for obscure
> reasons should use the 'kvm-arm.mode=nvhe' command-line option.

Have you considered adding options to do the reverse logic for this
and other features, such as making support for the old non-VHE
optional at compile time?

I understand that so far the rule is (almost) always that an arm64 kernel
should run on any Armv8.0-A or higher system regardless of configuration,
but the now announced Armv9.0-A definition might be the chance to
introduce the concept of a minimum level the way we do on other
architectures (e.g. armv6/v6k/v7 or k8/pentium4/core2/atom/generic).

The way I can see this working would be to have a single user-visible
option that controls whether the kernel supports only Armv9.0-A/Armv8.5-A
and assumes all mandatory features of that are present, or it remains
as before and supports all implementations back to the first v8.

This would help eliminate the runtime detection for not just VHE but
also LSE, LPA, PAN, etc. Not sure how significant the cost of any of
those are in terms of runtime performance and/or code size, but it
would feel nice to be able to build a kernel that can actually rely
on sane hardware features even if it will take a few more years before
that hardware becomes common enough to actually get some distros
ship a kernel that requires v8.5/v9.0.

        Arnd

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Re: [PATCH v3 3/3] arm64: Get rid of CONFIG_ARM64_VHE

[Marc Zyngier]

On Thu, 08 Apr 2021 22:47:38 +0100,
Arnd Bergmann <arnd@kernel.org> wrote:
> 
> On Thu, Apr 8, 2021 at 3:10 PM Marc Zyngier <maz@kernel.org> wrote:
> >
> > CONFIG_ARM64_VHE was introduced with ARMv8.1 (some 7 years ago),
> > and has been enabled by default for almost all that time.
> >
> > Given that newer systems that are VHE capable are finally becoming
> > available, and that some systems are even incapable of not running VHE,
> > drop the configuration altogether.
> >
> > Anyone willing to stick to non-VHE on VHE hardware for obscure
> > reasons should use the 'kvm-arm.mode=nvhe' command-line option.
> 
> Have you considered adding options to do the reverse logic for this
> and other features, such as making support for the old non-VHE
> optional at compile time?

This nVHE code is exclusively limited to KVM, because the whole point
of VHE is that the EL1 kernel can run at EL2 completely unchanged.
Furthermore, nVHE has properties that VHE cannot deliver, such as
memory isolation between host and guests.

So no, I wouldn't consider make it optional at compile time. Instead,
I would consider jettisoning the nVHE EL2 code after init to save a
handful of pages when running on a VHE-capable system in VHE mode.

> 
> I understand that so far the rule is (almost) always that an arm64 kernel
> should run on any Armv8.0-A or higher system regardless of configuration,
> but the now announced Armv9.0-A definition might be the chance to
> introduce the concept of a minimum level the way we do on other
> architectures (e.g. armv6/v6k/v7 or k8/pentium4/core2/atom/generic).
>
> The way I can see this working would be to have a single user-visible
> option that controls whether the kernel supports only Armv9.0-A/Armv8.5-A
> and assumes all mandatory features of that are present, or it remains
> as before and supports all implementations back to the first v8.

The view that v8.5/v9 is a monolithic setup with a set of mandatory
option is unfortunately disconnected from reality. Reality is that an
implementer picks and chooses whatever feature set they want
irrespective of what the architecture says, and the architecture
revision is nothing but an index into the documentation.

Features that were mandatory often become optional, and/or are further
made unimplementable due to some other extension of the architecture.
We also have the extremely common case where a feature that is usable
on a host isn't virtualisable, meaning that the kernel gets exposed
different feature sets depending on whether it runs bare-metal or not,
which puts another nail on the "per-revision feature set" coffin.

The ARM architecture is effectively a mix-and-match system, where you
choose the feature set you want for a single vertically integrated
application, and not a nice linear progression of features that land
in bulk.

> This would help eliminate the runtime detection for not just VHE but
> also LSE, LPA, PAN, etc. Not sure how significant the cost of any of
> those are in terms of runtime performance and/or code size, but it
> would feel nice to be able to build a kernel that can actually rely
> on sane hardware features even if it will take a few more years before
> that hardware becomes common enough to actually get some distros
> ship a kernel that requires v8.5/v9.0.

We went there with 32bit because we were forced to: different ISAs,
different page table formats. I would rather keep a single kernel
until we get to that point of divergence *or* that we can demonstrate
such a significant performance/maintenance improvement that it'd be
silly not to do it.

The published architecture does not hint at such changes yet, nor has
performance overhead been reported due to "feature bloat". The current
feature discovery and runtime patching seems adequate and saves us
from the bitrot effect that multiple configurations inevitably would
trigger.

So at the moment, I am strongly in favor of keeping the current
"single kernel" approach, and even drop more of the existing
configuration symbols (though some have ugly toolchain constraints).

Thanks,

	M.

-- 
Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.

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Re: [PATCH v3 0/3] arm64: Dealing with VHE-only CPUs

[Catalin Marinas]

On Thu, 8 Apr 2021 14:10:07 +0100, Marc Zyngier wrote:
> This short series is a rewrite of [0] after some reviewing from
> Will. It simplifies the esoteric "stay at EL2" path, and move the
> feature override code where it actually belongs, allowing us to tell
> the user that no, nVHE isn't a thing on these system.
> 
> The last patch rids us of CONFIG_ARM64_VHE, which has been the default
> for longer than I can remember.
> 
> [...]

Applied to arm64 (for-next/vhe-only), thanks!

[1/3] arm64: cpufeature: Allow early filtering of feature override
      https://git.kernel.org/arm64/c/cac642c12a80
[2/3] arm64: Cope with CPUs stuck in VHE mode
      https://git.kernel.org/arm64/c/31a32b49b80f
[3/3] arm64: Get rid of CONFIG_ARM64_VHE
      https://git.kernel.org/arm64/c/2d726d0db6ac

-- 
Catalin


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Re: [PATCH v3 0/3] arm64: Dealing with VHE-only CPUs

[Marc Zyngier]

On 2021-04-08 19:00, Catalin Marinas wrote:
> On Thu, 8 Apr 2021 14:10:07 +0100, Marc Zyngier wrote:
>> This short series is a rewrite of [0] after some reviewing from
>> Will. It simplifies the esoteric "stay at EL2" path, and move the
>> feature override code where it actually belongs, allowing us to tell
>> the user that no, nVHE isn't a thing on these system.
>> 
>> The last patch rids us of CONFIG_ARM64_VHE, which has been the default
>> for longer than I can remember.
>> 
>> [...]
> 
> Applied to arm64 (for-next/vhe-only), thanks!
> 
> [1/3] arm64: cpufeature: Allow early filtering of feature override
>       https://git.kernel.org/arm64/c/cac642c12a80
> [2/3] arm64: Cope with CPUs stuck in VHE mode
>       https://git.kernel.org/arm64/c/31a32b49b80f
> [3/3] arm64: Get rid of CONFIG_ARM64_VHE
>       https://git.kernel.org/arm64/c/2d726d0db6ac

Thanks Catalin.

In order to avoid conflicts with my SVE branch, I've taken this branch
into the kvmarm tree.

Please let me know if you decide to drop it for any reason, and I'll do
the same on my side.

Cheers,

         M.
-- 
Jazz is not dead. It just smells funny...

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