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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/x86/i386/IO-APIC.txt')
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diff --git a/Documentation/x86/i386/IO-APIC.txt b/Documentation/x86/i386/IO-APIC.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..30b4c714fbe --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/x86/i386/IO-APIC.txt @@ -0,0 +1,119 @@ +Most (all) Intel-MP compliant SMP boards have the so-called 'IO-APIC', +which is an enhanced interrupt controller. It enables us to route +hardware interrupts to multiple CPUs, or to CPU groups. Without an +IO-APIC, interrupts from hardware will be delivered only to the +CPU which boots the operating system (usually CPU#0). + +Linux supports all variants of compliant SMP boards, including ones with +multiple IO-APICs. Multiple IO-APICs are used in high-end servers to +distribute IRQ load further. + +There are (a few) known breakages in certain older boards, such bugs are +usually worked around by the kernel. If your MP-compliant SMP board does +not boot Linux, then consult the linux-smp mailing list archives first. + +If your box boots fine with enabled IO-APIC IRQs, then your +/proc/interrupts will look like this one: + + ----------------------------> + hell:~> cat /proc/interrupts + CPU0 + 0: 1360293 IO-APIC-edge timer + 1: 4 IO-APIC-edge keyboard + 2: 0 XT-PIC cascade + 13: 1 XT-PIC fpu + 14: 1448 IO-APIC-edge ide0 + 16: 28232 IO-APIC-level Intel EtherExpress Pro 10/100 Ethernet + 17: 51304 IO-APIC-level eth0 + NMI: 0 + ERR: 0 + hell:~> + <---------------------------- + +Some interrupts are still listed as 'XT PIC', but this is not a problem; +none of those IRQ sources is performance-critical. + + +In the unlikely case that your board does not create a working mp-table, +you can use the pirq= boot parameter to 'hand-construct' IRQ entries. This +is non-trivial though and cannot be automated. One sample /etc/lilo.conf +entry: + + append="pirq=15,11,10" + +The actual numbers depend on your system, on your PCI cards and on their +PCI slot position. Usually PCI slots are 'daisy chained' before they are +connected to the PCI chipset IRQ routing facility (the incoming PIRQ1-4 +lines): + + ,-. ,-. ,-. ,-. ,-. + PIRQ4 ----| |-. ,-| |-. ,-| |-. ,-| |--------| | + |S| \ / |S| \ / |S| \ / |S| |S| + PIRQ3 ----|l|-. `/---|l|-. `/---|l|-. `/---|l|--------|l| + |o| \/ |o| \/ |o| \/ |o| |o| + PIRQ2 ----|t|-./`----|t|-./`----|t|-./`----|t|--------|t| + |1| /\ |2| /\ |3| /\ |4| |5| + PIRQ1 ----| |- `----| |- `----| |- `----| |--------| | + `-' `-' `-' `-' `-' + +Every PCI card emits a PCI IRQ, which can be INTA, INTB, INTC or INTD: + + ,-. + INTD--| | + |S| + INTC--|l| + |o| + INTB--|t| + |x| + INTA--| | + `-' + +These INTA-D PCI IRQs are always 'local to the card', their real meaning +depends on which slot they are in. If you look at the daisy chaining diagram, +a card in slot4, issuing INTA IRQ, it will end up as a signal on PIRQ4 of +the PCI chipset. Most cards issue INTA, this creates optimal distribution +between the PIRQ lines. (distributing IRQ sources properly is not a +necessity, PCI IRQs can be shared at will, but it's a good for performance +to have non shared interrupts). Slot5 should be used for videocards, they +do not use interrupts normally, thus they are not daisy chained either. + +so if you have your SCSI card (IRQ11) in Slot1, Tulip card (IRQ9) in +Slot2, then you'll have to specify this pirq= line: + + append="pirq=11,9" + +the following script tries to figure out such a default pirq= line from +your PCI configuration: + + echo -n pirq=; echo `scanpci | grep T_L | cut -c56-` | sed 's/ /,/g' + +note that this script wont work if you have skipped a few slots or if your +board does not do default daisy-chaining. (or the IO-APIC has the PIRQ pins +connected in some strange way). E.g. if in the above case you have your SCSI +card (IRQ11) in Slot3, and have Slot1 empty: + + append="pirq=0,9,11" + +[value '0' is a generic 'placeholder', reserved for empty (or non-IRQ emitting) +slots.] + +Generally, it's always possible to find out the correct pirq= settings, just +permute all IRQ numbers properly ... it will take some time though. An +'incorrect' pirq line will cause the booting process to hang, or a device +won't function properly (e.g. if it's inserted as a module). + +If you have 2 PCI buses, then you can use up to 8 pirq values, although such +boards tend to have a good configuration. + +Be prepared that it might happen that you need some strange pirq line: + + append="pirq=0,0,0,0,0,0,9,11" + +Use smart trial-and-error techniques to find out the correct pirq line ... + +Good luck and mail to linux-smp@vger.kernel.org or +linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org if you have any problems that are not covered +by this document. + +-- mingo + |