path: root/Documentation/edac.txt

.. include:: <isonum.txt>

=====================================
EDAC - Error Detection And Correction
=====================================

.. note::

   "bluesmoke" was the name for this device driver when it
   was "out-of-tree" and maintained at http://bluesmoke.sourceforge.net.
   That site is mostly archaic now and can be used only for historical
   purposes.

   When the subsystem was pushed into 2.6.16 for the first time, it was
   renamed to ``EDAC``.

Purpose
-------

The ``edac`` kernel module's goal is to detect and report hardware errors
that occur within the computer system running under linux.

Memory
------

Memory Correctable Errors (CE) and Uncorrectable Errors (UE) are the
primary errors being harvested. These types of errors are harvested by
the ``edac_mc`` device.

Detecting CE events, then harvesting those events and reporting them,
**can** but must not necessarily be a predictor of future UE events. With
CE events only, the system can and will continue to operate as no data
has been damaged yet.

However, preventive maintenance and proactive part replacement of memory
DIMMs exhibiting CEs can reduce the likelihood of the dreaded UE events
and system panics.

Other hardware elements
-----------------------

A new feature for EDAC, the ``edac_device`` class of device, was added in
the 2.6.23 version of the kernel.

This new device type allows for non-memory type of ECC hardware detectors
to have their states harvested and presented to userspace via the sysfs
interface.

Some architectures have ECC detectors for L1, L2 and L3 caches,
along with DMA engines, fabric switches, main data path switches,
interconnections, and various other hardware data paths. If the hardware
reports it, then a edac_device device probably can be constructed to
harvest and present that to userspace.


PCI bus scanning
----------------

In addition, PCI devices are scanned for PCI Bus Parity and SERR Errors
in order to determine if errors are occurring during data transfers.

The presence of PCI Parity errors must be examined with a grain of salt.
There are several add-in adapters that do **not** follow the PCI specification
with regards to Parity generation and reporting. The specification says
the vendor should tie the parity status bits to 0 if they do not intend
to generate parity.  Some vendors do not do this, and thus the parity bit
can "float" giving false positives.

There is a PCI device attribute located in sysfs that is checked by
the EDAC PCI scanning code. If that attribute is set, PCI parity/error
scanning is skipped for that device. The attribute is::

	broken_parity_status

and is located in ``/sys/devices/pci<XXX>/0000:XX:YY.Z`` directories for
PCI devices.


Versioning
----------

EDAC is composed of a "core" module (``edac_core.ko``) and several Memory
Controller (MC) driver modules. On a given system, the CORE is loaded
and one MC driver will be loaded. Both the CORE and the MC driver (or
``edac_device`` driver) have individual versions that reflect current
release level of their respective modules.

Thus, to "report" on what version a system is running, one must report
both the CORE's and the MC driver's versions.


Loading
-------

If ``edac`` was statically linked with the kernel then no loading
is necessary. If ``edac`` was built as modules then simply modprobe
the ``edac`` pieces that you need. You should be able to modprobe
hardware-specific modules and have the dependencies load the necessary
core modules.

Example::

	$ modprobe amd76x_edac

loads both the ``amd76x_edac.ko`` memory controller module and the
``edac_mc.ko`` core module.


Sysfs interface
---------------

EDAC presents a ``sysfs`` interface for control and reporting purposes. It
lives in the /sys/devices/system/edac directory.

Within this directory there currently reside 2 components:

	======= ==============================
	mc	memory controller(s) system
	pci	PCI control and status system
	======= ==============================



Memory Controller (mc) Model
----------------------------

Each ``mc`` device controls a set of DIMM memory modules. These modules
are laid out in a Chip-Select Row (``csrowX``) and Channel table (``chX``).
There can be multiple csrows and multiple channels.

Memory controllers allow for several csrows, with 8 csrows being a
typical value. Yet, the actual number of csrows depends on the layout of
a given motherboard, memory controller and DIMM characteristics.

Dual channels allows for 128 bit data transfers to/from the CPU from/to
memory. Some newer chipsets allow for more than 2 channels, like Fully
Buffered DIMMs (FB-DIMMs). The following example will assume 2 channels:

	+--------+-----------+-----------+
	|        | Channel 0 | Channel 1 |
	+========+===========+===========+
	| csrow0 |  DIMM_A0  |  DIMM_B0  |
	+--------+           |           |
	| csrow1 |           |           |
	+--------+-----------+-----------+
	| csrow2 |  DIMM_A1  | DIMM_B1   |
	+--------+           |           |
	| csrow3 |           |           |
	+--------+-----------+-----------+

In the above example table there are 4 physical slots on the motherboard
for memory DIMMs:

	- DIMM_A0
	- DIMM_B0
	- DIMM_A1
	- DIMM_B1

Labels for these slots are usually silk-screened on the motherboard.
Slots labeled ``A`` are channel 0 in this example. Slots labeled ``B`` are
channel 1. Notice that there are two csrows possible on a physical DIMM.
These csrows are allocated their csrow assignment based on the slot into
which the memory DIMM is placed. Thus, when 1 DIMM is placed in each
Channel, the csrows cross both DIMMs.

Memory DIMMs come single or dual "ranked". A rank is a populated csrow.
Thus, 2 single ranked DIMMs, placed in slots DIMM_A0 and DIMM_B0 above
will have 1 csrow, csrow0. csrow1 will be empty. On the other hand,
when 2 dual ranked DIMMs are similarly placed, then both csrow0 and
csrow1 will be populated. The pattern repeats itself for csrow2 and
csrow3.

The representation of the above is reflected in the directory
tree in EDAC's sysfs interface. Starting in directory
/sys/devices/system/edac/mc each memory controller will be represented
by its own ``mcX`` directory, where ``X`` is the index of the MC::

	..../edac/mc/
		   |
		   |->mc0
		   |->mc1
		   |->mc2
		   ....

Under each ``mcX`` directory each ``csrowX`` is again represented by a
``csrowX``, where ``X`` is the csrow index::

	.../mc/mc0/
		|
		|->csrow0
		|->csrow2
		|->csrow3
		....

Notice that there is no csrow1, which indicates that csrow0 is composed
of a single ranked DIMMs. This should also apply in both Channels, in
order to have dual-channel mode be operational. Since both csrow2 and
csrow3 are populated, this indicates a dual ranked set of DIMMs for
channels 0 and 1.


Within each of the ``mcX`` and ``csrowX`` directories are several EDAC
control and attribute files.


``mcX`` directories
-------------------

In ``mcX`` directories are EDAC control and attribute files for
this ``X`` instance of the memory controllers.

For a description of the sysfs API, please see:

	Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-devices-edac


``dimmX`` or ``rankX`` directories
----------------------------------

The recommended way to use the EDAC subsystem is to look at the information
provided by the ``dimmX`` or ``rankX`` directories [#f5]_.

A typical EDAC system has the following structure under
``/sys/devices/system/edac/``\ [#f6]_::

	/sys/devices/system/edac/
	├── mc
	│   ├── mc0
	│   │   ├── ce_count
	│   │   ├── ce_noinfo_count
	│   │   ├── dimm0
	│   │   │   ├── dimm_dev_type
	│   │   │   ├── dimm_edac_mode
	│   │   │   ├── dimm_label
	│   │   │   ├── dimm_location
	│   │   │   ├── dimm_mem_type
	│   │   │   ├── size
	│   │   │   └── uevent
	│   │   ├── max_location
	│   │   ├── mc_name
	│   │   ├── reset_counters
	│   │   ├── seconds_since_reset
	│   │   ├── size_mb
	│   │   ├── ue_count
	│   │   ├── ue_noinfo_count
	│   │   └── uevent
	│   ├── mc1
	│   │   ├── ce_count
	│   │   ├── ce_noinfo_count
	│   │   ├── dimm0
	│   │   │   ├── dimm_dev_type
	│   │   │   ├── dimm_edac_mode
	│   │   │   ├── dimm_label
	│   │   │   ├── dimm_location
	│   │   │   ├── dimm_mem_type
	│   │   │   ├── size
	│   │   │   └── uevent
	│   │   ├── max_location
	│   │   ├── mc_name
	│   │   ├── reset_counters
	│   │   ├── seconds_since_reset
	│   │   ├── size_mb
	│   │   ├── ue_count
	│   │   ├── ue_noinfo_count
	│   │   └── uevent
	│   └── uevent
	└── uevent

In the ``dimmX`` directories are EDAC control and attribute files for
this ``X`` memory module:

- ``size`` - Total memory managed by this csrow attribute file

	This attribute file displays, in count of megabytes, the memory
	that this csrow contains.

- ``dimm_dev_type``  - Device type attribute file

	This attribute file will display what type of DRAM device is
	being utilized on this DIMM.
	Examples:

		- x1
		- x2
		- x4
		- x8

- ``dimm_edac_mode`` - EDAC Mode of operation attribute file

	This attribute file will display what type of Error detection
	and correction is being utilized.

- ``dimm_label`` - memory module label control file

	This control file allows this DIMM to have a label assigned
	to it. With this label in the module, when errors occur
	the output can provide the DIMM label in the system log.
	This becomes vital for panic events to isolate the
	cause of the UE event.

	DIMM Labels must be assigned after booting, with information
	that correctly identifies the physical slot with its
	silk screen label. This information is currently very
	motherboard specific and determination of this information
	must occur in userland at this time.

- ``dimm_location`` - location of the memory module

	The location can have up to 3 levels, and describe how the
	memory controller identifies the location of a memory module.
	Depending on the type of memory and memory controller, it
	can be:

		- *csrow* and *channel* - used when the memory controller
		  doesn't identify a single DIMM - e. g. in ``rankX`` dir;
		- *branch*, *channel*, *slot* - typically used on FB-DIMM memory
		  controllers;
		- *channel*, *slot* - used on Nehalem and newer Intel drivers.

- ``dimm_mem_type`` - Memory Type attribute file

	This attribute file will display what type of memory is currently
	on this csrow. Normally, either buffered or unbuffered memory.
	Examples:

		- Registered-DDR
		- Unbuffered-DDR

.. [#f5] On some systems, the memory controller doesn't have any logic
  to identify the memory module. On such systems, the directory is called ``rankX`` and works on a similar way as the ``csrowX`` directories.
  On modern Intel memory controllers, the memory controller identifies the
  memory modules directly. On such systems, the directory is called ``dimmX``.

.. [#f6] There are also some ``power`` directories and ``subsystem``
  symlinks inside the sysfs mapping that are automatically created by
  the sysfs subsystem. Currently, they serve no purpose.

``csrowX`` directories
----------------------

When CONFIG_EDAC_LEGACY_SYSFS is enabled, sysfs will contain the csrowX
directories. As this API doesn't work properly for Rambus, FB-DIMMs and
modern Intel Memory Controllers, this is being deprecated in favor of
dimmX directories.

In the ``csrowX`` directories are EDAC control and attribute files for
this ``X`` instance of csrow:


- ``ue_count`` - Total Uncorrectable Errors count attribute file

	This attribute file displays the total count of uncorrectable
	errors that have occurred on this csrow. If panic_on_ue is set
	this counter will not have a chance to increment, since EDAC
	will panic the system.


- ``ce_count`` - Total Correctable Errors count attribute file

	This attribute file displays the total count of correctable
	errors that have occurred on this csrow. This count is very
	important to examine. CEs provide early indications that a
	DIMM is beginning to fail. This count field should be
	monitored for non-zero values and report such information
	to the system administrator.


- ``size_mb`` - Total memory managed by this csrow attribute file

	This attribute file displays, in count of megabytes, the memory
	that this csrow contains.


- ``mem_type`` - Memory Type attribute file

	This attribute file will display what type of memory is currently
	on this csrow. Normally, either buffered or unbuffered memory.
	Examples:

		- Registered-DDR
		- Unbuffered-DDR


- ``edac_mode`` - EDAC Mode of operation attribute file

	This attribute file will display what type of Error detection
	and correction is being utilized.


- ``dev_type`` - Device type attribute file

	This attribute file will display what type of DRAM device is
	being utilized on this DIMM.
	Examples:

		- x1
		- x2
		- x4
		- x8


- ``ch0_ce_count`` - Channel 0 CE Count attribute file

	This attribute file will display the count of CEs on this
	DIMM located in channel 0.


- ``ch0_ue_count`` - Channel 0 UE Count attribute file

	This attribute file will display the count of UEs on this
	DIMM located in channel 0.


- ``ch0_dimm_label`` - Channel 0 DIMM Label control file


	This control file allows this DIMM to have a label assigned
	to it. With this label in the module, when errors occur
	the output can provide the DIMM label in the system log.
	This becomes vital for panic events to isolate the
	cause of the UE event.

	DIMM Labels must be assigned after booting, with information
	that correctly identifies the physical slot with its
	silk screen label. This information is currently very
	motherboard specific and determination of this information
	must occur in userland at this time.


- ``ch1_ce_count`` - Channel 1 CE Count attribute file


	This attribute file will display the count of CEs on this
	DIMM located in channel 1.


- ``ch1_ue_count`` - Channel 1 UE Count attribute file


	This attribute file will display the count of UEs on this
	DIMM located in channel 0.


- ``ch1_dimm_label`` - Channel 1 DIMM Label control file

	This control file allows this DIMM to have a label assigned
	to it. With this label in the module, when errors occur
	the output can provide the DIMM label in the system log.
	This becomes vital for panic events to isolate the
	cause of the UE event.

	DIMM Labels must be assigned after booting, with information
	that correctly identifies the physical slot with its
	silk screen label. This information is currently very
	motherboard specific and determination of this information
	must occur in userland at this time.


System Logging
--------------

If logging for UEs and CEs is enabled, then system logs will contain
information indicating that errors have been detected::

  EDAC MC0: CE page 0x283, offset 0xce0, grain 8, syndrome 0x6ec3, row 0, channel 1 "DIMM_B1": amd76x_edac
  EDAC MC0: CE page 0x1e5, offset 0xfb0, grain 8, syndrome 0xb741, row 0, channel 1 "DIMM_B1": amd76x_edac


The structure of the message is:

	+---------------------------------------+-------------+
	| Content                               + Example     |
	+=======================================+=============+
	| The memory controller                 | MC0         |
	+---------------------------------------+-------------+
	| Error type                            | CE          |
	+---------------------------------------+-------------+
	| Memory page                           | 0x283       |
	+---------------------------------------+-------------+
	| Offset in the page                    | 0xce0       |
	+---------------------------------------+-------------+
	| The byte granularity                  | grain 8     |
	| or resolution of the error            |             |
	+---------------------------------------+-------------+
	| The error syndrome                    | 0xb741      |
	+---------------------------------------+-------------+
	| Memory row                            | row 0       +
	+---------------------------------------+-------------+
	| Memory channel                        | channel 1   |
	+---------------------------------------+-------------+
	| DIMM label, if set prior              | DIMM B1     |
	+---------------------------------------+-------------+
	| And then an optional, driver-specific |             |
	| message that may have additional      |             |
	| information.                          |             |
	+---------------------------------------+-------------+

Both UEs and CEs with no info will lack all but memory controller, error
type, a notice of "no info" and then an optional, driver-specific error
message.


PCI Bus Parity Detection
------------------------

On Header Type 00 devices, the primary status is looked at for any
parity error regardless of whether parity is enabled on the device or
not. (The spec indicates parity is generated in some cases). On Header
Type 01 bridges, the secondary status register is also looked at to see
if parity occurred on the bus on the other side of the bridge.


Sysfs configuration
-------------------

Under ``/sys/devices/system/edac/pci`` are control and attribute files as
follows:


- ``check_pci_parity`` - Enable/Disable PCI Parity checking control file

	This control file enables or disables the PCI Bus Parity scanning
	operation. Writing a 1 to this file enables the scanning. Writing
	a 0 to this file disables the scanning.

	Enable::

		echo "1" >/sys/devices/system/edac/pci/check_pci_parity

	Disable::

		echo "0" >/sys/devices/system/edac/pci/check_pci_parity


- ``pci_parity_count`` - Parity Count

	This attribute file will display the number of parity errors that
	have been detected.


Module parameters
-----------------

- ``edac_mc_panic_on_ue`` - Panic on UE control file

	An uncorrectable error will cause a machine panic.  This is usually
	desirable.  It is a bad idea to continue when an uncorrectable error
	occurs - it is indeterminate what was uncorrected and the operating
	system context might be so mangled that continuing will lead to further
	corruption. If the kernel has MCE configured, then EDAC will never
	notice the UE.

	LOAD TIME::

		module/kernel parameter: edac_mc_panic_on_ue=[0|1]

	RUN TIME::

		echo "1" > /sys/module/edac_core/parameters/edac_mc_panic_on_ue


- ``edac_mc_log_ue`` - Log UE control file


	Generate kernel messages describing uncorrectable errors.  These errors
	are reported through the system message log system.  UE statistics
	will be accumulated even when UE logging is disabled.

	LOAD TIME::

		module/kernel parameter: edac_mc_log_ue=[0|1]

	RUN TIME::

		echo "1" > /sys/module/edac_core/parameters/edac_mc_log_ue


- ``edac_mc_log_ce`` - Log CE control file


	Generate kernel messages describing correctable errors.  These
	errors are reported through the system message log system.
	CE statistics will be accumulated even when CE logging is disabled.

	LOAD TIME::

		module/kernel parameter: edac_mc_log_ce=[0|1]

	RUN TIME::

		echo "1" > /sys/module/edac_core/parameters/edac_mc_log_ce


- ``edac_mc_poll_msec`` - Polling period control file


	The time period, in milliseconds, for polling for error information.
	Too small a value wastes resources.  Too large a value might delay
	necessary handling of errors and might loose valuable information for
	locating the error.  1000 milliseconds (once each second) is the current
	default. Systems which require all the bandwidth they can get, may
	increase this.

	LOAD TIME::

		module/kernel parameter: edac_mc_poll_msec=[0|1]

	RUN TIME::

		echo "1000" > /sys/module/edac_core/parameters/edac_mc_poll_msec


- ``panic_on_pci_parity`` - Panic on PCI PARITY Error


	This control file enables or disables panicking when a parity
	error has been detected.


	module/kernel parameter::

			edac_panic_on_pci_pe=[0|1]

	Enable::

		echo "1" > /sys/module/edac_core/parameters/edac_panic_on_pci_pe

	Disable::

		echo "0" > /sys/module/edac_core/parameters/edac_panic_on_pci_pe



EDAC device type
----------------

In the header file, edac_core.h, there is a series of edac_device structures
and APIs for the EDAC_DEVICE.

User space access to an edac_device is through the sysfs interface.

At the location ``/sys/devices/system/edac`` (sysfs) new edac_device devices
will appear.

There is a three level tree beneath the above ``edac`` directory. For example,
the ``test_device_edac`` device (found at the http://bluesmoke.sourceforget.net
website) installs itself as::

	/sys/devices/system/edac/test-instance

in this directory are various controls, a symlink and one or more ``instance``
directories.

The standard default controls are:

	==============	=======================================================
	log_ce		boolean to log CE events
	log_ue		boolean to log UE events
	panic_on_ue	boolean to ``panic`` the system if an UE is encountered
			(default off, can be set true via startup script)
	poll_msec	time period between POLL cycles for events
	==============	=======================================================

The test_device_edac device adds at least one of its own custom control:

	==============	==================================================
	test_bits	which in the current test driver does nothing but
			show how it is installed. A ported driver can
			add one or more such controls and/or attributes
			for specific uses.
			One out-of-tree driver uses controls here to allow
			for ERROR INJECTION operations to hardware
			injection registers
	==============	==================================================

The symlink points to the 'struct dev' that is registered for this edac_device.

Instances
---------

One or more instance directories are present. For the ``test_device_edac``
case:

	+----------------+
	| test-instance0 |
	+----------------+


In this directory there are two default counter attributes, which are totals of
counter in deeper subdirectories.

	==============	====================================
	ce_count	total of CE events of subdirectories
	ue_count	total of UE events of subdirectories
	==============	====================================

Blocks
------

At the lowest directory level is the ``block`` directory. There can be 0, 1
or more blocks specified in each instance:

	+-------------+
	| test-block0 |
	+-------------+

In this directory the default attributes are:

	==============	================================================
	ce_count	which is counter of CE events for this ``block``
			of hardware being monitored
	ue_count	which is counter of UE events for this ``block``
			of hardware being monitored
	==============	================================================


The ``test_device_edac`` device adds 4 attributes and 1 control:

	================== ====================================================
	test-block-bits-0	for every POLL cycle this counter
				is incremented
	test-block-bits-1	every 10 cycles, this counter is bumped once,
				and test-block-bits-0 is set to 0
	test-block-bits-2	every 100 cycles, this counter is bumped once,
				and test-block-bits-1 is set