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-rw-r--r--Documentation/x86/mtrr.txt18
-rw-r--r--Documentation/x86/pat.txt35
2 files changed, 49 insertions, 4 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/x86/mtrr.txt b/Documentation/x86/mtrr.txt
index cc071dc333c2..860bc3adc223 100644
--- a/Documentation/x86/mtrr.txt
+++ b/Documentation/x86/mtrr.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,19 @@
MTRR (Memory Type Range Register) control
-3 Jun 1999
-Richard Gooch
-<rgooch@atnf.csiro.au>
+
+Richard Gooch <rgooch@atnf.csiro.au> - 3 Jun 1999
+Luis R. Rodriguez <mcgrof@do-not-panic.com> - April 9, 2015
+
+===============================================================================
+Phasing out MTRR use
+
+MTRR use is replaced on modern x86 hardware with PAT. Over time the only type
+of effective MTRR that is expected to be supported will be for write-combining.
+As MTRR use is phased out device drivers should use arch_phys_wc_add() to make
+MTRR effective on non-PAT systems while a no-op on PAT enabled systems.
+
+For details refer to Documentation/x86/pat.txt.
+
+===============================================================================
On Intel P6 family processors (Pentium Pro, Pentium II and later)
the Memory Type Range Registers (MTRRs) may be used to control
diff --git a/Documentation/x86/pat.txt b/Documentation/x86/pat.txt
index cf08c9fff3cd..521bd8adc3b8 100644
--- a/Documentation/x86/pat.txt
+++ b/Documentation/x86/pat.txt
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ ioremap | -- | UC- | UC- |
| | | |
ioremap_cache | -- | WB | WB |
| | | |
+ioremap_uc | -- | UC | UC |
+ | | | |
ioremap_nocache | -- | UC- | UC- |
| | | |
ioremap_wc | -- | -- | WC |
@@ -102,7 +104,38 @@ wants to export a RAM region, it has to do set_memory_uc() or set_memory_wc()
as step 0 above and also track the usage of those pages and use set_memory_wb()
before the page is freed to free pool.
-
+MTRR effects on PAT / non-PAT systems
+-------------------------------------
+
+The following table provides the effects of using write-combining MTRRs when
+using ioremap*() calls on x86 for both non-PAT and PAT systems. Ideally
+mtrr_add() usage will be phased out in favor of arch_phys_wc_add() which will
+be a no-op on PAT enabled systems. The region over which a arch_phys_wc_add()
+is made, should already have been ioremapped with WC attributes or PAT entries,
+this can be done by using ioremap_wc() / set_memory_wc(). Devices which
+combine areas of IO memory desired to remain uncacheable with areas where
+write-combining is desirable should consider use of ioremap_uc() followed by
+set_memory_wc() to white-list effective write-combined areas. Such use is
+nevertheless discouraged as the effective memory type is considered
+implementation defined, yet this strategy can be used as last resort on devices
+with size-constrained regions where otherwise MTRR write-combining would
+otherwise not be effective.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+MTRR Non-PAT PAT Linux ioremap value Effective memory type
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Non-PAT | PAT
+ PAT
+ |PCD
+ ||PWT
+ |||
+WC 000 WB _PAGE_CACHE_MODE_WB WC | WC
+WC 001 WC _PAGE_CACHE_MODE_WC WC* | WC
+WC 010 UC- _PAGE_CACHE_MODE_UC_MINUS WC* | UC
+WC 011 UC _PAGE_CACHE_MODE_UC UC | UC
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+(*) denotes implementation defined and is discouraged
Notes: