Re: [RFC PATCH 01/10] mm/damon/core: introduce damon_ctx->paused

[SeongJae Park]

On Sun, 15 Mar 2026 14:00:00 -0700 SeongJae Park <sj@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> DAMON supports only start and stop of the execution.  When it is
> stopped, its internal data that it self-trained goes away.  It will be
> useful if the execution can be paused and resumed with the previous
> self-trained data.
> 
> Introduce per-context API parameter, 'paused', for the purpose.  The
> parameter can be set and unset while DAMON is running and paused, using
> the online parameters commit helper functions (damon_commit_ctx() and
> damon_call()).  Once 'paused' is set, the kdamond_fn() main loop does
> only limited works with sampling interval sleep during the works.  The
> limited works include the handling of the online parameters update, so
> that users can unset the 'pause' and resume the execution when they
> want.  It also keep checking DAMON stop conditions and handling of it,
> so that DAMON can be stopped while paused if needed.
> 
> Signed-off-by: SeongJae Park <sj@xxxxxxxxxx>
> ---
>  include/linux/damon.h | 2 ++
>  mm/damon/core.c       | 8 ++++++++
>  2 files changed, 10 insertions(+)
> 
> diff --git a/include/linux/damon.h b/include/linux/damon.h
> index 3a441fbca170d..421e51eff3bd2 100644
> --- a/include/linux/damon.h
> +++ b/include/linux/damon.h
> @@ -811,6 +811,8 @@ struct damon_ctx {
>  	 * intervals tuning
>  	 */
>  	unsigned long next_intervals_tune_sis;
> +	/* pause kdamond main loop */
> +	bool pause;
>  	/* for waiting until the execution of the kdamond_fn is started */
>  	struct completion kdamond_started;
>  	/* for scheme quotas prioritization */
> diff --git a/mm/damon/core.c b/mm/damon/core.c
> index f9854aedc42d1..1e9f6aa569fd2 100644
> --- a/mm/damon/core.c
> +++ b/mm/damon/core.c
> @@ -1331,6 +1331,7 @@ int damon_commit_ctx(struct damon_ctx *dst, struct damon_ctx *src)
>  		if (err)
>  			return err;
>  	}
> +	dst->pause = src->pause;
>  	dst->ops = src->ops;
>  	dst->addr_unit = src->addr_unit;
>  	dst->min_region_sz = src->min_region_sz;
> @@ -2978,6 +2979,13 @@ static int kdamond_fn(void *data)
>  		 * kdamond_merge_regions() if possible, to reduce overhead
>  		 */
>  		kdamond_call(ctx, false);
> +		while (ctx->pause) {
> +			if (kdamond_need_stop(ctx))
> +				goto done;
> +			kdamond_usleep(ctx->attrs.sample_interval);
> +			/* allow caller unset pause via damon_call() */
> +			kdamond_call(ctx, false);
> +		}

sashiko.dev comments [1] below.  Let me reply in line.

: Could this cause a deadlock if a walk request is initiated while DAMON is
: paused?
: 
: Looking at kdamond_fn(), when ctx->pause is true, the thread stays in the
: while (ctx->pause) loop and skips kdamond_apply_schemes(). If a user
: triggers a sysfs command that initiates a walk (like writing
: update_schemes_tried_regions), the sysfs thread calls damos_walk() and waits
: for walk_control->completion.
: 
: Since the kdamond thread is paused, the completion is never signaled, and the
: blocked sysfs writer will hold the global damon_sysfs_lock permanently. This
: prevents further interactions with the DAMON sysfs interface, making it
: impossible to even unpause the context.

Correct.  I was able to trigger the deadlock on my tet setup.

: 
: Should we call damos_walk_cancel(ctx) inside the pause loop to abort pending
: walk requests, similar to what is done in kdamond_wait_activation()?

Good suggestion.  I will add below attaching fixup change on the next spin.  I
confirmed the deadlock cannot be triggered after applying the fixup.

[1] https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/20260315210012.94846-2-sj@xxxxxxxxxx


Thanks,
SJ

[...]
=== >8 ===

--- a/mm/damon/core.c
+++ b/mm/damon/core.c
@@ -3405,6 +3405,7 @@ static int kdamond_fn(void *data)
                        kdamond_usleep(ctx->attrs.sample_interval);
                        /* allow caller unset pause via damon_call() */
                        kdamond_call(ctx, false);
+                       damos_walk_cancel(ctx);
                }
                if (!list_empty(&ctx->schemes))
                        kdamond_apply_schemes(ctx);