x86 idle: deprecate mwait_idle() and "idle=mwait" cmdline param

mwait_idle() is a C1-only idle loop intended to be more efficient
than HLT on SMP hardware that supports it.

But mwait_idle() has been replaced by the more general
mwait_idle_with_hints(), which handles both C1 and deeper C-states.
ACPI uses only mwait_idle_with_hints(), and never uses mwait_idle().

Deprecate mwait_idle() and the "idle=mwait" cmdline param
to simplify the x86 idle code.

After this change, kernels configured with
(!CONFIG_ACPI=n && !CONFIG_INTEL_IDLE=n) when run on hardware
that support MWAIT will simply use HLT.  If MWAIT is desired
on those systems, cpuidle and the cpuidle drivers above
can be used.

cc: x86@kernel.org
cc: stable@kernel.org # .39.x
Signed-off-by: Len Brown <len.brown@intel.com>

1 files changed, 7 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt b/Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt
index f1b0eb02aa1d..13f0bb3187bc 100644
--- a/Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt
+++ b/Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt
@@ -35,6 +35,13 @@ Who:	Len Brown <len.brown@intel.com>
 
 ----------------------------
 
+What:   x86 "idle=mwait" cmdline param
+When:   2012
+Why:    simplify x86 idle code
+Who:    Len Brown <len.brown@intel.com>
+
+----------------------------
+
 What:   PRISM54
 When:   2.6.34