diff options
author | Mauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab@s-opensource.com> | 2017-04-05 10:23:09 -0300 |
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committer | Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net> | 2017-04-11 14:40:12 -0600 |
commit | 32a3bebce9d09598d4f4c5afca929a2ce148b8c4 (patch) | |
tree | a0ac3c5bddc53cc9a21575274a9711a29b4af796 /Documentation/driver-api/usb | |
parent | 76f650f077f3edd7001c89da44eade2449e8f495 (diff) |
usb/persist.txt: convert to ReST and add to driver-api book
This document describe some USB core features. Add it to the
driver-api book.
Signed-off-by: Mauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab@s-opensource.com>
Acked-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>
Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/driver-api/usb')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/driver-api/usb/index.rst | 1 | ||||
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/driver-api/usb/persist.rst | 169 |
2 files changed, 170 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/driver-api/usb/index.rst b/Documentation/driver-api/usb/index.rst index 43f0a8b72b11..3f08cb5d5feb 100644 --- a/Documentation/driver-api/usb/index.rst +++ b/Documentation/driver-api/usb/index.rst @@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ Linux USB API dma power-management hotplug + persist error-codes writing_usb_driver writing_musb_glue_layer diff --git a/Documentation/driver-api/usb/persist.rst b/Documentation/driver-api/usb/persist.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..ea1b43f0559e --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/driver-api/usb/persist.rst @@ -0,0 +1,169 @@ +USB device persistence during system suspend +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +:Author: Alan Stern <stern@rowland.harvard.edu> +:Date: September 2, 2006 (Updated February 25, 2008) + + +What is the problem? +==================== + +According to the USB specification, when a USB bus is suspended the +bus must continue to supply suspend current (around 1-5 mA). This +is so that devices can maintain their internal state and hubs can +detect connect-change events (devices being plugged in or unplugged). +The technical term is "power session". + +If a USB device's power session is interrupted then the system is +required to behave as though the device has been unplugged. It's a +conservative approach; in the absence of suspend current the computer +has no way to know what has actually happened. Perhaps the same +device is still attached or perhaps it was removed and a different +device plugged into the port. The system must assume the worst. + +By default, Linux behaves according to the spec. If a USB host +controller loses power during a system suspend, then when the system +wakes up all the devices attached to that controller are treated as +though they had disconnected. This is always safe and it is the +"officially correct" thing to do. + +For many sorts of devices this behavior doesn't matter in the least. +If the kernel wants to believe that your USB keyboard was unplugged +while the system was asleep and a new keyboard was plugged in when the +system woke up, who cares? It'll still work the same when you type on +it. + +Unfortunately problems _can_ arise, particularly with mass-storage +devices. The effect is exactly the same as if the device really had +been unplugged while the system was suspended. If you had a mounted +filesystem on the device, you're out of luck -- everything in that +filesystem is now inaccessible. This is especially annoying if your +root filesystem was located on the device, since your system will +instantly crash. + +Loss of power isn't the only mechanism to worry about. Anything that +interrupts a power session will have the same effect. For example, +even though suspend current may have been maintained while the system +was asleep, on many systems during the initial stages of wakeup the +firmware (i.e., the BIOS) resets the motherboard's USB host +controllers. Result: all the power sessions are destroyed and again +it's as though you had unplugged all the USB devices. Yes, it's +entirely the BIOS's fault, but that doesn't do _you_ any good unless +you can convince the BIOS supplier to fix the problem (lots of luck!). + +On many systems the USB host controllers will get reset after a +suspend-to-RAM. On almost all systems, no suspend current is +available during hibernation (also known as swsusp or suspend-to-disk). +You can check the kernel log after resuming to see if either of these +has happened; look for lines saying "root hub lost power or was reset". + +In practice, people are forced to unmount any filesystems on a USB +device before suspending. If the root filesystem is on a USB device, +the system can't be suspended at all. (All right, it _can_ be +suspended -- but it will crash as soon as it wakes up, which isn't +much better.) + + +What is the solution? +===================== + +The kernel includes a feature called USB-persist. It tries to work +around these issues by allowing the core USB device data structures to +persist across a power-session disruption. + +It works like this. If the kernel sees that a USB host controller is +not in the expected state during resume (i.e., if the controller was +reset or otherwise had lost power) then it applies a persistence check +to each of the USB devices below that controller for which the +"persist" attribute is set. It doesn't try to resume the device; that +can't work once the power session is gone. Instead it issues a USB +port reset and then re-enumerates the device. (This is exactly the +same thing that happens whenever a USB device is reset.) If the +re-enumeration shows that the device now attached to that port has the +same descriptors as before, including the Vendor and Product IDs, then +the kernel continues to use the same device structure. In effect, the +kernel treats the device as though it had merely been reset instead of +unplugged. + +The same thing happens if the host controller is in the expected state +but a USB device was unplugged and then replugged, or if a USB device +fails to carry out a normal resume. + +If no device is now attached to the port, or if the descriptors are +different from what the kernel remembers, then the treatment is what +you would expect. The kernel destroys the old device structure and +behaves as though the old device had been unplugged and a new device +plugged in. + +The end result is that the USB device remains available and usable. +Filesystem mounts and memory mappings are unaffected, and the world is +now a good and happy place. + +Note that the "USB-persist" feature will be applied only to those +devices for which it is enabled. You can enable the feature by doing +(as root):: + + echo 1 >/sys/bus/usb/devices/.../power/persist + +where the "..." should be filled in the with the device's ID. Disable +the feature by writing 0 instead of 1. For hubs the feature is +automatically and permanently enabled and the power/persist file +doesn't even exist, so you only have to worry about setting it for +devices where it really matters. + + +Is this the best solution? +========================== + +Perhaps not. Arguably, keeping track of mounted filesystems and +memory mappings across device disconnects should be handled by a +centralized Logical Volume Manager. Such a solution would allow you +to plug in a USB flash device, create a persistent volume associated +with it, unplug the flash device, plug it back in later, and still +have the same persistent volume associated with the device. As such +it would be more far-reaching than USB-persist. + +On the other hand, writing a persistent volume manager would be a big +job and using it would require significant input from the user. This +solution is much quicker and easier -- and it exists now, a giant +point in its favor! + +Furthermore, the USB-persist feature applies to _all_ USB devices, not +just mass-storage devices. It might turn out to be equally useful for +other device types, such as network interfaces. + + +WARNING: USB-persist can be dangerous!! +======================================= + +When recovering an interrupted power session the kernel does its best +to make sure the USB device hasn't been changed; that is, the same +device is still plugged into the port as before. But the checks +aren't guaranteed to be 100% accurate. + +If you replace one USB device with another of the same type (same +manufacturer, same IDs, and so on) there's an excellent chance the +kernel won't detect the change. The serial number string and other +descriptors are compared with the kernel's stored values, but this +might not help since manufacturers frequently omit serial numbers +entirely in their devices. + +Furthermore it's quite possible to leave a USB device exactly the same +while changing its media. If you replace the flash memory card in a +USB card reader while the system is asleep, the kernel will have no +way to know you did it. The kernel will assume that nothing has +happened and will continue to use the partition tables, inodes, and +memory mappings for the old card. + +If the kernel gets fooled in this way, it's almost certain to cause +data corruption and to crash your system. You'll have no one to blame +but yourself. + +For those devices with avoid_reset_quirk attribute being set, persist +maybe fail because they may morph after reset. + +YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! USE AT YOUR OWN RISK! + +That having been said, most of the time there shouldn't be any trouble +at all. The USB-persist feature can be extremely useful. Make the +most of it. |