Re: [RFC PATCH-for-5.0?] target/mips/translate: Report exception in delay slot as UNPREDICTABLE

[Aleksandar Markovic]

11:32 Uto, 07.04.2020. Philippe Mathieu-Daudé <address@hidden> је написао/ла:
>
> On 4/7/20 11:23 AM, Philippe Mathieu-Daudé wrote:
> > On 4/7/20 10:35 AM, Peter Maydell wrote:
> >> On Tue, 7 Apr 2020 at 00:55, Philippe Mathieu-Daudé <address@hidden>
> >> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Using the BC1ANY4F instruction with a 24Kf core (MIPS32R2
> >>> & ASE_MIPS16) we get:
> >>>
> >>>    $ echo -ne '\x03\x20\xf8\x09EEEE' > cop1x.bin
> >>>    $ qemu-system-mipsel -bios cop1x.bin
> >>>    unknown branch 0x13000
> >>>    Aborted (core dumped)
> >>
> >>> This is because this COP1X instruction generates a Reserved
> >>> Instruction when used with this core, however we are in a delay
> >>> slot, and exceptions in delay slot are architecturally unpredictable.
> >>>
> >>> Core dumps confunse users. Instead, report a friendlier error message:
> >>>
> >>>    $ qemu-system-mipsel -bios cop1x.bin
> >>>    qemu-system-mipsel: Exception in delay slot is UNPREDICTABLE
> >>
> >> UNPREDICTABLE behaviour should not in QEMU include
> >> causing QEMU to exit. You can log it with LOG_GUEST_ERROR
> >> if you like but you should do something plausible (ideally what
> >> some bit of real hardware does when this situation happens).
> >
> > OK. I have no clue how real 24Kf deals with it - I don't own one -, it
> > is not in my list of interests (and my list of interests - which I can
> > reproduce - is not modeled in QEMU).
> >
> >>
> >> PS: does MIPS use the "UNPREDICTABLE" terminology? I
> >> thought it was an Arm-ism, but maybe it's caught on more widely.
> >
> > At least it appears in my MIPS32 ISA Vol II (Revision 0.95) copy from 2001:
> >
> > 1.2  UNPREDICTABLE and UNDEFINED
> >
> > 1.2.1  UNPREDICTABLE
> > UNPREDICTABLE results may vary from processor implementation to
> > implementation, instruction to instruction, oras a function of time on
> > the same implementation or instruction. Software can never depend on
> > results that are UNPREDICTABLE. UNPREDICTABLE operations may cause a
> > result to be generated or not. If a result is generated,it is
> > UNPREDICTABLE. UNPREDICTABLE operations may cause arbitrary exceptions.
> > UNPREDICTABLE results or operations have several implementation
> > restrictions:
> > • Implementations of operations generating UNPREDICTABLE results must
> > not depend on any data source (memory or internal state) which is
> > inaccessible in the current processor mode
> > • UNPREDICTABLE operations must not read, write, or modify the contents
> > of memory or internal state which is inaccessible in the current
> > processor mode. For example, UNPREDICTABLE operations executed in user
> > mode must not access memory or internal state that is only accessible in
> > Kernel Mode or Debug Mode or in another process
> > • UNPREDICTABLE operations must not halt or hang the processor
> >
> > 1.2.2  UNDEFINED
> > UNDEFINED operations or behavior may vary from processor implementation
> > to implementation, instruction to instruction, or as a function of time
> > on the same implementation or instruction. UNDEFINED operations or
> > behavior may vary from nothing to creating an environment in which
> > execution can no longer continue. UNDEFINED operations or behavior may
> > cause data loss.
> > UNDEFINED operations or behavior has one implementation restriction:
> > • UNDEFINED operations or behavior must not cause the processor to hang
> > (that is, enter a state from which there is no exit other than powering
> > down the processor). The assertion of any of the reset signals must
> > restore the processorto an operational state
> >
> > Then:
> >
> > Jump and Link Register (JALR)
> >
> > Processor operation is UNPREDICTABLE if a branch, jump, ERET, DERET, or
> > WAIT instruction is placed in the delay slot of a branch or jump.
> >
> > ---
> >
> > On Vol I Rev 6.01:
> >
> > 5.3.2.1  Control Transfer Instructions in Delay Slots and Forbidden Slots
> >
> > In MIPS architectures prior to Release 6. if a control transfer
> > instruction (CTI) is placed in a branch delay slot, the operation of
> > both instructions is UNPREDICTABLE. In Release 6, if a CTI is placed in
> > a branch delay slot or a compact branch forbidden slot, implementations
> > are required to signal a Reserved Instruction exception.
>
> Which also means this patch is incorrect for CPUs implementing the
> Release 6 (which I'm not familiar with).
>
> >
> > The following instructions are forbidden in branch delay slots and
> > forbidden slots: any CTI, including branches and jumps, ERET, ERETNC,
> > DERET, WAIT, and PAUSE. Their occurrence is required to signal a
> > Reserved Instruction exception.
> >
> > 5.3.2.2  Exceptions and Delay and Forbidden Slots
> >
> > If an exception or interrupt prevents the completion of an instruction
> > in a delay slot or forbidden slot, the hardware reports an Exception PC
> > (CP0 EPC) of the branch, with a status bit set (StatusBD) to indicate
> > that the exception was for the instruction in the delay slot of the branch.
> > By convention, if an exception or interrupt prevents the completion of
> > an instruction in a branch delay or forbidden slot, the branch
> > instruction is re-executed and branch instructions must be restartable
> > to permit this. In particular, procedure calls must be restartable. To
> > insure that a procedure call is restartable, procedure calls that have a
> > delay slot or forbidden slot (branch/jump-and-link instructions) should
> > not use the register in which the return link is stored (usu-ally GPR
> > 31) as a source register. This applies to all branch/jump-and-link
> > instructions that have both a slot (delay or forbidden) and source
> > registers, both for conditions (e.g., BGEZAL or BGEZALC) or for jump
> > targets (JALR).
> >
> > ---
> >
> > I would have expected the behavior match the UNDEFINED description, as
> > Yongbok Kim commented here:
> > https://bugs.launchpad.net/qemu/+bug/1663287/comments/3
> >
> >    branches in a delay slot is "undefined" in the pre-Release
> >    6 architecture. MIPS architectre release 6 defines to signal
> >    Reserved Instruction exceptions for such cases.
> >
> > But it really appears as UNPREDICTABLE.
>

Folks,

Thanks for everyone involved, esp. Philippe for devising the proposal and citing the manual about UNPREDICTABLE meaning, but I think this is too late to fix it in 5.0 (too risky), so let's talk about it in 5.0+.

Yours,
Aleksandar