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Damien Le Moal 0ea84089db ata: libata-scsi: avoid Non-NCQ command starvation
When a non-NCQ command is issued while NCQ commands are being executed,
ata_scsi_qc_issue() indicates to the SCSI layer that the command issuing
should be deferred by returning SCSI_MLQUEUE_XXX_BUSY.  This command
deferring is correct and as mandated by the ACS specifications since
NCQ and non-NCQ commands cannot be mixed.

However, in the case of a host adapter using multiple submission queues,
when the target device is under a constant load of NCQ commands, there
are no guarantees that requeueing the non-NCQ command will be executed
later and it may be deferred again repeatedly as other submission queues
can constantly issue NCQ commands from different CPUs ahead of the
non-NCQ command. This can lead to very long delays for the execution of
non-NCQ commands, and even complete starvation for these commands in the
worst case scenario.

Since the block layer and the SCSI layer do not distinguish between
queueable (NCQ) and non queueable (non-NCQ) commands, libata-scsi SAT
implementation must ensure forward progress for non-NCQ commands in the
presence of NCQ command traffic. This is similar to what SAS HBAs with a
hardware/firmware based SAT implementation do.

Implement such forward progress guarantee by limiting requeueing of
non-NCQ commands from ata_scsi_qc_issue(): when a non-NCQ command is
received and NCQ commands are in-flight, do not force a requeue of the
non-NCQ command by returning SCSI_MLQUEUE_XXX_BUSY and instead return 0
to indicate that the command was accepted but hold on to the qc using
the new deferred_qc field of struct ata_port.

This deferred qc will be issued using the work item deferred_qc_work
running the function ata_scsi_deferred_qc_work() once all in-flight
commands complete, which is checked with the port qc_defer() callback
return value indicating that no further delay is necessary. This check
is done using the helper function ata_scsi_schedule_deferred_qc() which
is called from ata_scsi_qc_complete(). This thus excludes this mechanism
from all internal non-NCQ commands issued by ATA EH.

When a port deferred_qc is non NULL, that is, the port has a command
waiting for the device queue to drain, the issuing of all incoming
commands (both NCQ and non-NCQ) is deferred using the regular busy
mechanism. This simplifies the code and also avoids potential denial of
service problems if a user issues too many non-NCQ commands.

Finally, whenever ata EH is scheduled, regardless of the reason, a
deferred qc is always requeued so that it can be retried once EH
completes. This is done by calling the function
ata_scsi_requeue_deferred_qc() from ata_eh_set_pending(). This avoids
the need for any special processing for the deferred qc in case of NCQ
error, link or device reset, or device timeout.

Reported-by: Xingui Yang <yangxingui@huawei.com>
Reported-by: Igor Pylypiv <ipylypiv@google.com>
Fixes: bdb01301f3 ("scsi: Add host and host template flag 'host_tagset'")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Damien Le Moal <dlemoal@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Niklas Cassel <cassel@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Martin K. Petersen <martin.petersen@oracle.com>
Reviewed-by: John Garry <john.g.garry@oracle.com>
Tested-by: Igor Pylypiv <ipylypiv@google.com>
Tested-by: Xingui Yang <yangxingui@huawei.com>
2026-01-14 19:07:14 +09:00
arch Misc fixes: 2025-12-14 06:10:35 +12:00
block block-6.19-20251211 2025-12-12 22:04:18 +12:00
certs sign-file,extract-cert: use pkcs11 provider for OPENSSL MAJOR >= 3 2024-09-20 19:52:48 +03:00
crypto Networking changes for 6.19. 2025-12-03 17:24:33 -08:00
Documentation dt-bindings: ata: ahci-platform: Drop unnecessary select schema 2026-01-08 17:42:45 +09:00
drivers ata: libata-scsi: avoid Non-NCQ command starvation 2026-01-14 19:07:14 +09:00
fs We have a patch that adds an initial set of tracepoints to the MDS 2025-12-14 15:24:10 +12:00
include ata: libata-scsi: avoid Non-NCQ command starvation 2026-01-14 19:07:14 +09:00
init Significant patch series in this pull request: 2025-12-06 14:01:20 -08:00
io_uring io_uring-6.19-20251211 2025-12-12 22:01:32 +12:00
ipc Significant patch series in this pull request: 2025-12-06 14:01:20 -08:00
kernel Fix CPU hotplug callbacks to disable interrupts on UP kernels. 2025-12-14 06:12:46 +12:00
lib Miscellaneous fixes: 2025-12-14 06:04:16 +12:00
LICENSES LICENSES: Add modern form of the LGPL-2.1 tags to the usage guide section 2025-10-22 07:58:19 +02:00
mm There are no significant series in this small merge. Please see the 2025-12-13 20:55:12 +12:00
net We have a patch that adds an initial set of tracepoints to the MDS 2025-12-14 15:24:10 +12:00
rust USB/Thunderbolt changes for 6.19-rc1 2025-12-06 18:42:12 -08:00
samples USB/Thunderbolt changes for 6.19-rc1 2025-12-06 18:42:12 -08:00
scripts There are no significant series in this small merge. Please see the 2025-12-13 20:55:12 +12:00
security Trivial optimization. 2025-12-14 15:21:02 +12:00
sound soundwire updates for 6.19 2025-12-13 16:26:55 +12:00
tools Futex changes for v6.19: 2025-12-10 17:21:30 +09:00
usr initramfs: add gen_init_cpio to hostprogs unconditionally 2025-11-26 21:55:40 +01:00
virt soc: driver updates for 6.19 2025-12-05 17:29:04 -08:00
.clang-format Significant patch series in this merge are as follows: 2025-12-05 13:52:43 -08:00
.clippy.toml rust: clean Rust 1.88.0's warning about clippy::disallowed_macros configuration 2025-05-07 00:11:47 +02:00
.cocciconfig
.editorconfig .editorconfig: remove trim_trailing_whitespace option 2024-06-13 16:47:52 +02:00
.get_maintainer.ignore MAINTAINERS: remove Alyssa Rosenzweig 2025-09-18 21:17:31 +02:00
.gitattributes .gitattributes: set diff driver for Rust source code files 2023-05-31 17:48:25 +02:00
.gitignore rust: kbuild: add proc macro library support 2025-11-24 17:15:36 +01:00
.mailmap Significant patch series in this pull request: 2025-12-06 14:01:20 -08:00
.pylintrc docs: Move the python libraries to tools/lib/python 2025-11-18 09:22:40 -07:00
.rustfmt.toml rust: add .rustfmt.toml 2022-09-28 09:02:20 +02:00
COPYING COPYING: state that all contributions really are covered by this file 2020-02-10 13:32:20 -08:00
CREDITS phy-for-6.19 2025-12-09 06:31:47 +09:00
Kbuild sched: Make migrate_{en,dis}able() inline 2025-09-25 09:57:16 +02:00
Kconfig io_uring: Rename KConfig to Kconfig 2025-02-19 14:53:27 -07:00
MAINTAINERS Patch series in this pull request: 2025-12-13 20:35:41 +12:00
Makefile Linux 6.19-rc1 2025-12-14 16:05:07 +12:00
README README: restructure with role-based documentation and guidelines 2025-11-29 08:40:33 -07:00

Linux kernel
============

The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware,
system resources, and provides the fundamental services for all other software.

Quick Start
-----------

* Report a bug: See Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst
* Get the latest kernel: https://kernel.org
* Build the kernel: See Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst
* Join the community: https://lore.kernel.org/

Essential Documentation
-----------------------

All users should be familiar with:

* Building requirements: Documentation/process/changes.rst
* Code of Conduct: Documentation/process/code-of-conduct.rst
* License: See COPYING

Documentation can be built with make htmldocs or viewed online at:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/


Who Are You?
============

Find your role below:

* New Kernel Developer - Getting started with kernel development
* Academic Researcher - Studying kernel internals and architecture
* Security Expert - Hardening and vulnerability analysis
* Backport/Maintenance Engineer - Maintaining stable kernels
* System Administrator - Configuring and troubleshooting
* Maintainer - Leading subsystems and reviewing patches
* Hardware Vendor - Writing drivers for new hardware
* Distribution Maintainer - Packaging kernels for distros


For Specific Users
==================

New Kernel Developer
--------------------

Welcome! Start your kernel development journey here:

* Getting Started: Documentation/process/development-process.rst
* Your First Patch: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
* Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst
* Build System: Documentation/kbuild/index.rst
* Development Tools: Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
* Kernel Hacking Guide: Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst
* Core APIs: Documentation/core-api/index.rst

Academic Researcher
-------------------

Explore the kernel's architecture and internals:

* Researcher Guidelines: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst
* Memory Management: Documentation/mm/index.rst
* Scheduler: Documentation/scheduler/index.rst
* Networking Stack: Documentation/networking/index.rst
* Filesystems: Documentation/filesystems/index.rst
* RCU (Read-Copy Update): Documentation/RCU/index.rst
* Locking Primitives: Documentation/locking/index.rst
* Power Management: Documentation/power/index.rst

Security Expert
---------------

Security documentation and hardening guides:

* Security Documentation: Documentation/security/index.rst
* LSM Development: Documentation/security/lsm-development.rst
* Self Protection: Documentation/security/self-protection.rst
* Reporting Vulnerabilities: Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst
* CVE Procedures: Documentation/process/cve.rst
* Embargoed Hardware Issues: Documentation/process/embargoed-hardware-issues.rst
* Security Features: Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst

Backport/Maintenance Engineer
-----------------------------

Maintain and stabilize kernel versions:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* Backporting Guide: Documentation/process/backporting.rst
* Applying Patches: Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst
* Subsystem Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git for Maintainers: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

System Administrator
--------------------

Configure, tune, and troubleshoot Linux systems:

* Admin Guide: Documentation/admin-guide/index.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Sysctl Tuning: Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst
* Tracing/Debugging: Documentation/trace/index.rst
* Performance Security: Documentation/admin-guide/perf-security.rst
* Hardware Monitoring: Documentation/hwmon/index.rst

Maintainer
----------

Lead kernel subsystems and manage contributions:

* Maintainer Handbook: Documentation/maintainer/index.rst
* Pull Requests: Documentation/maintainer/pull-requests.rst
* Managing Patches: Documentation/maintainer/modifying-patches.rst
* Rebasing and Merging: Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst
* Development Process: Documentation/process/maintainer-handbooks.rst
* Maintainer Entry Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git Configuration: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

Hardware Vendor
---------------

Write drivers and support new hardware:

* Driver API Guide: Documentation/driver-api/index.rst
* Driver Model: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/driver.rst
* Device Drivers: Documentation/driver-api/infrastructure.rst
* Bus Types: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/bus.rst
* Device Tree Bindings: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/
* Power Management: Documentation/driver-api/pm/index.rst
* DMA API: Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst

Distribution Maintainer
-----------------------

Package and distribute the kernel:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* ABI Documentation: Documentation/ABI/README
* Kernel Configuration: Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst
* Module Signing: Documentation/admin-guide/module-signing.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst



Communication and Support
=========================

* Mailing Lists: https://lore.kernel.org/
* IRC: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net
* Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/
* MAINTAINERS file: Lists subsystem maintainers and mailing lists
* Email Clients: Documentation/process/email-clients.rst