The open question was how to know whether the memory controller is polling
the DIMM thermal sensors, which is what killed the Broadwell-E attempt's
predecessor and what this driver had no answer for.
Intel documents it. The Xeon Processor Scalable Family datasheet volume 2
(reference 614073, section 3.1.9) puts SMBCNTL on the iMC channel function,
device 10 and 12 function 0, at offsets 0xe88 and 0xe98. SMB_TSOD_POLL_EN
is documented as mutually exclusive with SPD command access, so it answers
the question directly. The driver now reads it on every channel at probe
and refuses to bind if it is set.
This is deliberately weaker than the Broadwell-E driver, which switched the
polling off for the duration of a transfer. Reading and declining is a
smaller claim on hardware the driver does not own and needs no write to a
firmware-configured register. It covers the memory controller only; SMM and
a BMC are still out of reach, which is what the opt-in is for.
On the test system all four channels read 0xac000000: polling disabled,
TSOD_PRESENT empty, which also explains why no jc42 ever appeared at
0x18-0x1f on these DIMMs. Offset 0xe0, where the Broadwell driver has its
TSODCNTL, reads zero on all seven PCU functions here: that layout does not
transfer.
Two more measurements, both recorded in the cover letter:
- the SMBus interface Intel documents, at 0xe80-0xe9c on the iMC, does not
reach the bus on this platform. Issuing SMBCMD with CMD_TRIGGER sets
SMB_RDO and clears SMB_BUSY, but returns 0x00 for a populated DIMM at
0x50, a second one at 0x52 and an empty slot at 0x57 alike, with SMB_SBE
never set. The path this driver uses returns the correct SPD contents
and a NACK for the empty slot. The datasheet does not describe PCU
function 5 at all, so the choice is now stated with data rather than
left for a reviewer to ask about;
- writes are issued on the bus: a byte write to an unpopulated address
returns -ENXIO with the engine reporting the address NACK. This matters
because SMB_DIS_WRT is set in the documented SMBCNTL and is SMM-writable
only, so it evidently governs that interface and not this one.
Engine registers sampled every 2 s for an hour with the driver unloaded:
1791 samples, 0 changes.
Add tools/probe-imc-documented.sh, which produced the comparison above.
Smoke test with the new probe check: 15 checks, 0 failures.
Simone
b021fe4087