Re: [Xen-devel] Constant vs Nonstop vs Invariant TSC question

["Roger Cruz" <roger.cruz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Dan,  thanks for the pointer.  I did try your previous suggestion of the max_cstate=0 (w/o my faulty printk) and it makes my CPU hangs go away.  That is why I started to learn about the c-states and tsc in xen

Roger

On Sep 17, 2010, at 10:21 PM, "Dan Magenheimer" <dan.magenheimer@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi Roger –

 

Check out docs/misc/tscmode in the xen tree for some of this detail.

Invariant TSC only appears on Nehalem-and-later Intel processors (also most modern AMD processors).  Constant doesn’t mean invariant (across processors), but constant+nonstop is essentially the same thing, provided the BIOS syncs them at boot and you don’t have multiple motherboards or hot-add processors etc.

 

Some Core2 Duos (Conroe) are constant+nonstop, others (Merom) are not.  However, some Conroes I think have a weird C-state that makes TSC stop.  To force a constant processor to also be non-stop, try the max_cstate=0 Xen boot parameter.

 

Hope that helps!
Dan

 

 

From: Roger Cruz [mailto:roger.cruz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Friday, September 17, 2010 1:32 PM
To: xen-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Xen-devel] Constant vs Nonstop vs Invariant TSC question

 

 

From /xen-unstable.hg/xen/arch/x86/cpu/intel.c

        if ((c->x86 == 0xf && c->x86_model >= 0x03) ||
                (c->x86 == 0x6 && c->x86_model >= 0x0e))
                set_bit(X86_FEATURE_CONSTANT_TSC, c->x86_capability);
        if (cpuid_edx(0x80000007) & (1u<<8)) {
                set_bit(X86_FEATURE_CONSTANT_TSC, c->x86_capability);
                set_bit(X86_FEATURE_NONSTOP_TSC, c->x86_capability);
                set_bit(X86_FEATURE_TSC_RELIABLE, c->x86_capability);
        }

I am trying to determine the difference between the constant vs nonstop vs invariant TSCs in newer processors.  I understand constant tsc means the rate of the counter won't vary if the CPU freq changes and non-stop means that it even continues to count when the cpu is in a low power state.

When I read  Intel's Designer's vol3b, section 16.11.1 Invariant TSC it says the following

"16.11.1 Invariant TSC

The time stamp counter in newer processors may support an enhancement, referred to as invariant TSC. Processor’s support for invariant TSC is indicated by CPUID.80000007H:EDX[8].

The invariant TSC will run at a constant rate in all ACPI P-, C-. and T-states. This is the architectural behavior moving forward. On processors with invariant TSC support, the OS may use the TSC for wall clock timer services (instead of ACPI or HPET timers). TSC reads are much more efficient and do not incur the overhead associated with a ring transition or access to a platform resource."

 So the first question "is a constant_tsc the same as Intel's invariant_tsc or is an invariant_tsc the xen combination of both constant_tsc + nonstop_tsc?"  Based on the examination of the code, it appears to me that it is the latter.  Is this true?


I have a laptop with the Intel Centrino chipset, Intel Core 2 Duo, P8400, 2.26GHz and the CPUID(0x80000007) is returning a 0, indicating the TSC stops while in low power states.  I was under the impression that all Core 2 duos supported the invariant TSC but it doesn't look that way based on the cpuid.  Just want to hear confirmation from others with a similar chip that they also lack the invariant tsc support.

Thanks
Roger R. Cruz

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