slow down printk during boot

Optionally add a boot delay after each kernel printk() call, crudely
measured in milliseconds, with a maximum delay of 10 seconds per printk.

Enable CONFIG_BOOT_PRINTK_DELAY=y and then add (e.g.):
"lpj=loops_per_jiffy boot_delay=100"
to the kernel command line.

It has been useful in cases like "during boot, my machine just reboots or the
screen goes black" by slowing down printk, (and adding initcall_debug), we can
usually see the last thing that happened before the lights went out which is
usually a valuable clue.

[akpm@linux-foundation.org: not all architectures implement CONFIG_HZ]
[akpm@linux-foundation.org: fix lots of stuff]
[bunk@stusta.de: kernel/printk.c: make 2 variables static]
[heiko.carstens@de.ibm.com: fix slow down printk on boot compile error]
Signed-off-by: Randy Dunlap <rdunlap@xenotime.net>
Signed-off-by: Dave Jones <davej@redhat.com>
Signed-off-by: Adrian Bunk <bunk@stusta.de>
Signed-off-by: Heiko Carstens <heiko.carstens@de.ibm.com>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>

5 files changed, 85 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt b/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt
index 085e4a095eaa..760ed5776174 100644
--- a/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt
+++ b/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt
@@ -349,6 +349,11 @@ and is between 256 and 4096 characters. It is defined in the file
         blkmtd_bs=
         blkmtd_count=
 
+        boot_delay=     Milliseconds to delay each printk during boot.
+                        Values larger than 10 seconds (10000) are changed to
+                        no delay (0).
+                        Format: integer
+
         bttv.card=      [HW,V4L] bttv (bt848 + bt878 based grabber cards)
         bttv.radio=     Most important insmod options are available as
                         kernel args too.
diff --git a/include/linux/jiffies.h b/include/linux/jiffies.h
index e757a74b9d17..8b080024bbc1 100644
--- a/include/linux/jiffies.h
+++ b/include/linux/jiffies.h
@@ -148,6 +148,8 @@ static inline u64 get_jiffies_64(void)
  */
 #define MAX_JIFFY_OFFSET ((LONG_MAX >> 1)-1)
 
+extern unsigned long preset_lpj;
+
 /*
  * We want to do realistic conversions of time so we need to use the same
  * values the update wall clock code uses as the jiffies size.  This value
diff --git a/init/calibrate.c b/init/calibrate.c
index 40ff3b404895..2d3d73bd4ce1 100644
--- a/init/calibrate.c
+++ b/init/calibrate.c
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 #include <asm/timex.h>
 
-static unsigned long preset_lpj;
+unsigned long preset_lpj;
 static int __init lpj_setup(char *str)
 {
         preset_lpj = simple_strtoul(str,NULL,0);
diff --git a/kernel/printk.c b/kernel/printk.c
index 8451dfc31d25..b2b5c3a22a36 100644
--- a/kernel/printk.c
+++ b/kernel/printk.c
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
 #include <linux/tty_driver.h>
 #include <linux/console.h>
 #include <linux/init.h>
+#include <linux/jiffies.h>
+#include <linux/nmi.h>
 #include <linux/module.h>
 #include <linux/moduleparam.h>
 #include <linux/interrupt.h>                    /* For in_interrupt() */
@@ -162,6 +164,61 @@ out:
 
 __setup("log_buf_len=", log_buf_len_setup);
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_BOOT_PRINTK_DELAY
+
+static unsigned int boot_delay; /* msecs delay after each printk during bootup */
+static unsigned long long printk_delay_msec; /* per msec, based on boot_delay */
+
+static int __init boot_delay_setup(char *str)
+{
+        unsigned long lpj;
+        unsigned long long loops_per_msec;
+
+        lpj = preset_lpj ? preset_lpj : 1000000;        /* some guess */
+        loops_per_msec = (unsigned long long)lpj / 1000 * HZ;
+
+        get_option(&str, &boot_delay);
+        if (boot_delay > 10 * 1000)
+                boot_delay = 0;
+
+        printk_delay_msec = loops_per_msec;
+        printk(KERN_DEBUG "boot_delay: %u, preset_lpj: %ld, lpj: %lu, "
+                "HZ: %d, printk_delay_msec: %llu\n",
+                boot_delay, preset_lpj, lpj, HZ, printk_delay_msec);
+        return 1;
+}
+__setup("boot_delay=", boot_delay_setup);
+
+static void boot_delay_msec(void)
+{
+        unsigned long long k;
+        unsigned long timeout;
+
+        if (boot_delay == 0 || system_state != SYSTEM_BOOTING)
+                return;
+
+        k = (unsigned long long)printk_delay_msec * boot_delay;
+
+        timeout = jiffies + msecs_to_jiffies(boot_delay);
+        while (k) {
+                k--;
+                cpu_relax();
+                /*
+                 * use (volatile) jiffies to prevent
+                 * compiler reduction; loop termination via jiffies
+                 * is secondary and may or may not happen.
+                 */
+                if (time_after(jiffies, timeout))
+                        break;
+                touch_nmi_watchdog();
+        }
+}
+#else
+static inline void boot_delay_msec(void)
+{
+}
+#endif
+
 /*
  * Commands to do_syslog:
  *
@@ -527,6 +584,8 @@ asmlinkage int vprintk(const char *fmt, va_list args)
         static char printk_buf[1024];
         static int log_level_unknown = 1;
 
+        boot_delay_msec();
+
         preempt_disable();
         if (unlikely(oops_in_progress) && printk_cpu == smp_processor_id())
                 /* If a crash is occurring during printk() on this CPU,
diff --git a/lib/Kconfig.debug b/lib/Kconfig.debug
index 396c38b3cb69..7d16e6433302 100644
--- a/lib/Kconfig.debug
+++ b/lib/Kconfig.debug
@@ -413,6 +413,24 @@ config FORCED_INLINING
           become the default in the future, until then this option is there to
           test gcc for this.
 
+config BOOT_PRINTK_DELAY
+        bool "Delay each boot printk message by N milliseconds"
+        depends on DEBUG_KERNEL && PRINTK && GENERIC_CALIBRATE_DELAY
+        help
+          This build option allows you to read kernel boot messages
+          by inserting a short delay after each one.  The delay is
+          specified in milliseconds on the kernel command line,
+          using "boot_delay=N".
+
+          It is likely that you would also need to use "lpj=M" to preset
+          the "loops per jiffie" value.
+          See a previous boot log for the "lpj" value to use for your
+          system, and then set "lpj=M" before setting "boot_delay=N".
+          NOTE:  Using this option may adversely affect SMP systems.
+          I.e., processors other than the first one may not boot up.
+          BOOT_PRINTK_DELAY also may cause DETECT_SOFTLOCKUP to detect
+          what it believes to be lockup conditions.
+
 config RCU_TORTURE_TEST
         tristate "torture tests for RCU"
         depends on DEBUG_KERNEL