1 .. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
2 .. include:: <isonum.txt>
4 ==================================================
5 Reliability, Availability and Serviceability (RAS)
6 ==================================================
8 This documents different aspects of the RAS functionality present in the
14 Reliability, Availability and Serviceability (RAS) is a concept used on
15 servers meant to measure their robustness.
18 is the probability that a system will produce correct outputs.
20 * Generally measured as Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
21 * Enhanced by features that help to avoid, detect and repair hardware faults
24 is the probability that a system is operational at a given time
26 * Generally measured as a percentage of downtime per a period of time
27 * Often uses mechanisms to detect and correct hardware faults in
30 Serviceability (or maintainability)
31 is the simplicity and speed with which a system can be repaired or
34 * Generally measured on Mean Time Between Repair (MTBR)
39 In order to reduce systems downtime, a system should be capable of detecting
40 hardware errors, and, when possible correcting them in runtime. It should
41 also provide mechanisms to detect hardware degradation, in order to warn
42 the system administrator to take the action of replacing a component before
43 it causes data loss or system downtime.
45 Among the monitoring measures, the most usual ones include:
47 * CPU – detect errors at instruction execution and at L1/L2/L3 caches;
48 * Memory – add error correction logic (ECC) to detect and correct errors;
49 * I/O – add CRC checksums for transferred data;
50 * Storage – RAID, journal file systems, checksums,
51 Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART).
53 By monitoring the number of occurrences of error detections, it is possible
54 to identify if the probability of hardware errors is increasing, and, on such
55 case, do a preventive maintenance to replace a degraded component while
56 those errors are correctable.
61 Most mechanisms used on modern systems use technologies like Hamming
62 Codes that allow error correction when the number of errors on a bit packet
63 is below a threshold. If the number of errors is above, those mechanisms
64 can indicate with a high degree of confidence that an error happened, but
67 Also, sometimes an error occur on a component that it is not used. For
68 example, a part of the memory that it is not currently allocated.
70 That defines some categories of errors:
72 * **Correctable Error (CE)** - the error detection mechanism detected and
73 corrected the error. Such errors are usually not fatal, although some
74 Kernel mechanisms allow the system administrator to consider them as fatal.
76 * **Uncorrected Error (UE)** - the amount of errors happened above the error
77 correction threshold, and the system was unable to auto-correct.
79 * **Fatal Error** - when an UE error happens on a critical component of the
80 system (for example, a piece of the Kernel got corrupted by an UE), the
81 only reliable way to avoid data corruption is to hang or reboot the machine.
83 * **Non-fatal Error** - when an UE error happens on an unused component,
84 like a CPU in power down state or an unused memory bank, the system may
85 still run, eventually replacing the affected hardware by a hot spare,
88 Also, when an error happens on a userspace process, it is also possible to
89 kill such process and let userspace restart it.
91 The mechanism for handling non-fatal errors is usually complex and may
92 require the help of some userspace application, in order to apply the
93 policy desired by the system administrator.
95 Identifying a bad hardware component
96 ------------------------------------
98 Just detecting a hardware flaw is usually not enough, as the system needs
99 to pinpoint to the minimal replaceable unit (MRU) that should be exchanged
100 to make the hardware reliable again.
102 So, it requires not only error logging facilities, but also mechanisms that
103 will translate the error message to the silkscreen or component label for
106 Typically, it is very complex for memory, as modern CPUs interlace memory
107 from different memory modules, in order to provide a better performance. The
108 DMI BIOS usually have a list of memory module labels, with can be obtained
109 using the ``dmidecode`` tool. For example, on a desktop machine, it shows::
117 Locator: ChannelA-DIMM0
120 Type Detail: Synchronous
123 Configured Clock Speed: 2133 MHz
125 On the above example, a DDR4 SO-DIMM memory module is located at the
126 system's memory labeled as "BANK 0", as given by the *bank locator* field.
127 Please notice that, on such system, the *total width* is equal to the
128 *data width*. It means that such memory module doesn't have error
129 detection/correction mechanisms.
131 Unfortunately, not all systems use the same field to specify the memory
132 bank. On this example, from an older server, ``dmidecode`` shows::
136 Error Information Handle: Not Provided
143 Bank Locator: Not Specified
145 Type Detail: Synchronous Registered (Buffered)
148 Configured Clock Speed: 1600 MHz
150 There, the DDR3 RDIMM memory module is located at the system's memory labeled
151 as "DIMM_A1", as given by the *locator* field. Please notice that this
152 memory module has 64 bits of *data width* and 72 bits of *total width*. So,
153 it has 8 extra bits to be used by error detection and correction mechanisms.
154 Such kind of memory is called Error-correcting code memory (ECC memory).
156 To make things even worse, it is not uncommon that systems with different
157 labels on their system's board to use exactly the same BIOS, meaning that
158 the labels provided by the BIOS won't match the real ones.
163 As mentioned in the previous section, ECC memory has extra bits to be
164 used for error correction. In the above example, a memory module has
165 64 bits of *data width*, and 72 bits of *total width*. The extra 8
166 bits which are used for the error detection and correction mechanisms
167 are referred to as the *syndrome*\ [#f1]_\ [#f2]_.
169 So, when the cpu requests the memory controller to write a word with
170 *data width*, the memory controller calculates the *syndrome* in real time,
171 using Hamming code, or some other error correction code, like SECDED+,
172 producing a code with *total width* size. Such code is then written
173 on the memory modules.
175 At read, the *total width* bits code is converted back, using the same
176 ECC code used on write, producing a word with *data width* and a *syndrome*.
177 The word with *data width* is sent to the CPU, even when errors happen.
179 The memory controller also looks at the *syndrome* in order to check if
180 there was an error, and if the ECC code was able to fix such error.
181 If the error was corrected, a Corrected Error (CE) happened. If not, an
182 Uncorrected Error (UE) happened.
184 The information about the CE/UE errors is stored on some special registers
185 at the memory controller and can be accessed by reading such registers,
186 either by BIOS, by some special CPUs or by Linux EDAC driver. On x86 64
187 bit CPUs, such errors can also be retrieved via the Machine Check
188 Architecture (MCA)\ [#f3]_.
190 .. [#f1] Please notice that several memory controllers allow operation on a
191 mode called "Lock-Step", where it groups two memory modules together,
192 doing 128-bit reads/writes. That gives 16 bits for error correction, with
193 significantly improves the error correction mechanism, at the expense
194 that, when an error happens, there's no way to know what memory module is
195 to blame. So, it has to blame both memory modules.
197 .. [#f2] Some memory controllers also allow using memory in mirror mode.
198 On such mode, the same data is written to two memory modules. At read,
199 the system checks both memory modules, in order to check if both provide
200 identical data. On such configuration, when an error happens, there's no
201 way to know what memory module is to blame. So, it has to blame both
202 memory modules (or 4 memory modules, if the system is also on Lock-step
205 .. [#f3] For more details about the Machine Check Architecture (MCA),
206 please read Documentation/arch/x86/x86_64/machinecheck.rst at the Kernel tree.
208 EDAC - Error Detection And Correction
209 *************************************
213 "bluesmoke" was the name for this device driver subsystem when it
214 was "out-of-tree" and maintained at http://bluesmoke.sourceforge.net.
215 That site is mostly archaic now and can be used only for historical
218 When the subsystem was pushed upstream for the first time, on
219 Kernel 2.6.16, it was renamed to ``EDAC``.
224 The ``edac`` kernel module's goal is to detect and report hardware errors
225 that occur within the computer system running under linux.
230 Memory Correctable Errors (CE) and Uncorrectable Errors (UE) are the
231 primary errors being harvested. These types of errors are harvested by
232 the ``edac_mc`` device.
234 Detecting CE events, then harvesting those events and reporting them,
235 **can** but must not necessarily be a predictor of future UE events. With
236 CE events only, the system can and will continue to operate as no data
237 has been damaged yet.
239 However, preventive maintenance and proactive part replacement of memory
240 modules exhibiting CEs can reduce the likelihood of the dreaded UE events
243 Other hardware elements
244 -----------------------
246 A new feature for EDAC, the ``edac_device`` class of device, was added in
247 the 2.6.23 version of the kernel.
249 This new device type allows for non-memory type of ECC hardware detectors
250 to have their states harvested and presented to userspace via the sysfs
253 Some architectures have ECC detectors for L1, L2 and L3 caches,
254 along with DMA engines, fabric switches, main data path switches,
255 interconnections, and various other hardware data paths. If the hardware
256 reports it, then a edac_device device probably can be constructed to
257 harvest and present that to userspace.
263 In addition, PCI devices are scanned for PCI Bus Parity and SERR Errors
264 in order to determine if errors are occurring during data transfers.
266 The presence of PCI Parity errors must be examined with a grain of salt.
267 There are several add-in adapters that do **not** follow the PCI specification
268 with regards to Parity generation and reporting. The specification says
269 the vendor should tie the parity status bits to 0 if they do not intend
270 to generate parity. Some vendors do not do this, and thus the parity bit
271 can "float" giving false positives.
273 There is a PCI device attribute located in sysfs that is checked by
274 the EDAC PCI scanning code. If that attribute is set, PCI parity/error
275 scanning is skipped for that device. The attribute is::
279 and is located in ``/sys/devices/pci<XXX>/0000:XX:YY.Z`` directories for
286 EDAC is composed of a "core" module (``edac_core.ko``) and several Memory
287 Controller (MC) driver modules. On a given system, the CORE is loaded
288 and one MC driver will be loaded. Both the CORE and the MC driver (or
289 ``edac_device`` driver) have individual versions that reflect current
290 release level of their respective modules.
292 Thus, to "report" on what version a system is running, one must report
293 both the CORE's and the MC driver's versions.
299 If ``edac`` was statically linked with the kernel then no loading
300 is necessary. If ``edac`` was built as modules then simply modprobe
301 the ``edac`` pieces that you need. You should be able to modprobe
302 hardware-specific modules and have the dependencies load the necessary
307 $ modprobe amd76x_edac
309 loads both the ``amd76x_edac.ko`` memory controller module and the
310 ``edac_mc.ko`` core module.
316 EDAC presents a ``sysfs`` interface for control and reporting purposes. It
317 lives in the /sys/devices/system/edac directory.
319 Within this directory there currently reside 2 components:
321 ======= ==============================
322 mc memory controller(s) system
323 pci PCI control and status system
324 ======= ==============================
328 Memory Controller (mc) Model
329 ----------------------------
331 Each ``mc`` device controls a set of memory modules [#f4]_. These modules
332 are laid out in a Chip-Select Row (``csrowX``) and Channel table (``chX``).
333 There can be multiple csrows and multiple channels.
335 .. [#f4] Nowadays, the term DIMM (Dual In-line Memory Module) is widely
336 used to refer to a memory module, although there are other memory
337 packaging alternatives, like SO-DIMM, SIMM, etc. The UEFI
338 specification (Version 2.7) defines a memory module in the Common
339 Platform Error Record (CPER) section to be an SMBIOS Memory Device
340 (Type 17). Along this document, and inside the EDAC subsystem, the term
341 "dimm" is used for all memory modules, even when they use a
342 different kind of packaging.
344 Memory controllers allow for several csrows, with 8 csrows being a
345 typical value. Yet, the actual number of csrows depends on the layout of
346 a given motherboard, memory controller and memory module characteristics.
348 Dual channels allow for dual data length (e. g. 128 bits, on 64 bit systems)
349 data transfers to/from the CPU from/to memory. Some newer chipsets allow
350 for more than 2 channels, like Fully Buffered DIMMs (FB-DIMMs) memory
351 controllers. The following example will assume 2 channels:
353 +------------+-----------------------+
354 | CS Rows | Channels |
355 +------------+-----------+-----------+
356 | | ``ch0`` | ``ch1`` |
357 +============+===========+===========+
358 | |**DIMM_A0**|**DIMM_B0**|
359 +------------+-----------+-----------+
360 | ``csrow0`` | rank0 | rank0 |
361 +------------+-----------+-----------+
362 | ``csrow1`` | rank1 | rank1 |
363 +------------+-----------+-----------+
364 | |**DIMM_A1**|**DIMM_B1**|
365 +------------+-----------+-----------+
366 | ``csrow2`` | rank0 | rank0 |
367 +------------+-----------+-----------+
368 | ``csrow3`` | rank1 | rank1 |
369 +------------+-----------+-----------+
371 In the above example, there are 4 physical slots on the motherboard
374 +---------+---------+
375 | DIMM_A0 | DIMM_B0 |
376 +---------+---------+
377 | DIMM_A1 | DIMM_B1 |
378 +---------+---------+
380 Labels for these slots are usually silk-screened on the motherboard.
381 Slots labeled ``A`` are channel 0 in this example. Slots labeled ``B`` are
382 channel 1. Notice that there are two csrows possible on a physical DIMM.
383 These csrows are allocated their csrow assignment based on the slot into
384 which the memory DIMM is placed. Thus, when 1 DIMM is placed in each
385 Channel, the csrows cross both DIMMs.
387 Memory DIMMs come single or dual "ranked". A rank is a populated csrow.
388 In the example above 2 dual ranked DIMMs are similarly placed. Thus,
389 both csrow0 and csrow1 are populated. On the other hand, when 2 single
390 ranked DIMMs are placed in slots DIMM_A0 and DIMM_B0, then they will
391 have just one csrow (csrow0) and csrow1 will be empty. The pattern
392 repeats itself for csrow2 and csrow3. Also note that some memory
393 controllers don't have any logic to identify the memory module, see
394 ``rankX`` directories below.
396 The representation of the above is reflected in the directory
397 tree in EDAC's sysfs interface. Starting in directory
398 ``/sys/devices/system/edac/mc``, each memory controller will be
399 represented by its own ``mcX`` directory, where ``X`` is the
409 Under each ``mcX`` directory each ``csrowX`` is again represented by a
410 ``csrowX``, where ``X`` is the csrow index::
419 Notice that there is no csrow1, which indicates that csrow0 is composed
420 of a single ranked DIMMs. This should also apply in both Channels, in
421 order to have dual-channel mode be operational. Since both csrow2 and
422 csrow3 are populated, this indicates a dual ranked set of DIMMs for
425 Within each of the ``mcX`` and ``csrowX`` directories are several EDAC
426 control and attribute files.
431 In ``mcX`` directories are EDAC control and attribute files for
432 this ``X`` instance of the memory controllers.
434 For a description of the sysfs API, please see:
436 Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-devices-edac
439 ``dimmX`` or ``rankX`` directories
440 ----------------------------------
442 The recommended way to use the EDAC subsystem is to look at the information
443 provided by the ``dimmX`` or ``rankX`` directories [#f5]_.
445 A typical EDAC system has the following structure under
446 ``/sys/devices/system/edac/``\ [#f6]_::
448 /sys/devices/system/edac/
452 │ │ ├── ce_noinfo_count
454 │ │ │ ├── dimm_ce_count
455 │ │ │ ├── dimm_dev_type
456 │ │ │ ├── dimm_edac_mode
458 │ │ │ ├── dimm_location
459 │ │ │ ├── dimm_mem_type
460 │ │ │ ├── dimm_ue_count
465 │ │ ├── reset_counters
466 │ │ ├── seconds_since_reset
469 │ │ ├── ue_noinfo_count
473 │ │ ├── ce_noinfo_count
475 │ │ │ ├── dimm_ce_count
476 │ │ │ ├── dimm_dev_type
477 │ │ │ ├── dimm_edac_mode
479 │ │ │ ├── dimm_location
480 │ │ │ ├── dimm_mem_type
481 │ │ │ ├── dimm_ue_count
486 │ │ ├── reset_counters
487 │ │ ├── seconds_since_reset
490 │ │ ├── ue_noinfo_count
495 In the ``dimmX`` directories are EDAC control and attribute files for
496 this ``X`` memory module:
498 - ``size`` - Total memory managed by this csrow attribute file
500 This attribute file displays, in count of megabytes, the memory
501 that this csrow contains.
503 - ``dimm_ue_count`` - Uncorrectable Errors count attribute file
505 This attribute file displays the total count of uncorrectable
506 errors that have occurred on this DIMM. If panic_on_ue is set
507 this counter will not have a chance to increment, since EDAC
508 will panic the system.
510 - ``dimm_ce_count`` - Correctable Errors count attribute file
512 This attribute file displays the total count of correctable
513 errors that have occurred on this DIMM. This count is very
514 important to examine. CEs provide early indications that a
515 DIMM is beginning to fail. This count field should be
516 monitored for non-zero values and report such information
517 to the system administrator.
519 - ``dimm_dev_type`` - Device type attribute file
521 This attribute file will display what type of DRAM device is
522 being utilized on this DIMM.
530 - ``dimm_edac_mode`` - EDAC Mode of operation attribute file
532 This attribute file will display what type of Error detection
533 and correction is being utilized.
535 - ``dimm_label`` - memory module label control file
537 This control file allows this DIMM to have a label assigned
538 to it. With this label in the module, when errors occur
539 the output can provide the DIMM label in the system log.
540 This becomes vital for panic events to isolate the
541 cause of the UE event.
543 DIMM Labels must be assigned after booting, with information
544 that correctly identifies the physical slot with its
545 silk screen label. This information is currently very
546 motherboard specific and determination of this information
547 must occur in userland at this time.
549 - ``dimm_location`` - location of the memory module
551 The location can have up to 3 levels, and describe how the
552 memory controller identifies the location of a memory module.
553 Depending on the type of memory and memory controller, it
556 - *csrow* and *channel* - used when the memory controller
557 doesn't identify a single DIMM - e. g. in ``rankX`` dir;
558 - *branch*, *channel*, *slot* - typically used on FB-DIMM memory
560 - *channel*, *slot* - used on Nehalem and newer Intel drivers.
562 - ``dimm_mem_type`` - Memory Type attribute file
564 This attribute file will display what type of memory is currently
565 on this csrow. Normally, either buffered or unbuffered memory.
571 .. [#f5] On some systems, the memory controller doesn't have any logic
572 to identify the memory module. On such systems, the directory is called ``rankX`` and works on a similar way as the ``csrowX`` directories.
573 On modern Intel memory controllers, the memory controller identifies the
574 memory modules directly. On such systems, the directory is called ``dimmX``.
576 .. [#f6] There are also some ``power`` directories and ``subsystem``
577 symlinks inside the sysfs mapping that are automatically created by
578 the sysfs subsystem. Currently, they serve no purpose.
580 ``csrowX`` directories
581 ----------------------
583 When CONFIG_EDAC_LEGACY_SYSFS is enabled, sysfs will contain the ``csrowX``
584 directories. As this API doesn't work properly for Rambus, FB-DIMMs and
585 modern Intel Memory Controllers, this is being deprecated in favor of
586 ``dimmX`` directories.
588 In the ``csrowX`` directories are EDAC control and attribute files for
589 this ``X`` instance of csrow:
592 - ``ue_count`` - Total Uncorrectable Errors count attribute file
594 This attribute file displays the total count of uncorrectable
595 errors that have occurred on this csrow. If panic_on_ue is set
596 this counter will not have a chance to increment, since EDAC
597 will panic the system.
600 - ``ce_count`` - Total Correctable Errors count attribute file
602 This attribute file displays the total count of correctable
603 errors that have occurred on this csrow. This count is very
604 important to examine. CEs provide early indications that a
605 DIMM is beginning to fail. This count field should be
606 monitored for non-zero values and report such information
607 to the system administrator.
610 - ``size_mb`` - Total memory managed by this csrow attribute file
612 This attribute file displays, in count of megabytes, the memory
613 that this csrow contains.
616 - ``mem_type`` - Memory Type attribute file
618 This attribute file will display what type of memory is currently
619 on this csrow. Normally, either buffered or unbuffered memory.
626 - ``edac_mode`` - EDAC Mode of operation attribute file
628 This attribute file will display what type of Error detection
629 and correction is being utilized.
632 - ``dev_type`` - Device type attribute file
634 This attribute file will display what type of DRAM device is
635 being utilized on this DIMM.
644 - ``ch0_ce_count`` - Channel 0 CE Count attribute file
646 This attribute file will display the count of CEs on this
647 DIMM located in channel 0.
650 - ``ch0_ue_count`` - Channel 0 UE Count attribute file
652 This attribute file will display the count of UEs on this
653 DIMM located in channel 0.
656 - ``ch0_dimm_label`` - Channel 0 DIMM Label control file
659 This control file allows this DIMM to have a label assigned
660 to it. With this label in the module, when errors occur
661 the output can provide the DIMM label in the system log.
662 This becomes vital for panic events to isolate the
663 cause of the UE event.
665 DIMM Labels must be assigned after booting, with information
666 that correctly identifies the physical slot with its
667 silk screen label. This information is currently very
668 motherboard specific and determination of this information
669 must occur in userland at this time.
672 - ``ch1_ce_count`` - Channel 1 CE Count attribute file
675 This attribute file will display the count of CEs on this
676 DIMM located in channel 1.
679 - ``ch1_ue_count`` - Channel 1 UE Count attribute file
682 This attribute file will display the count of UEs on this
683 DIMM located in channel 0.
686 - ``ch1_dimm_label`` - Channel 1 DIMM Label control file
688 This control file allows this DIMM to have a label assigned
689 to it. With this label in the module, when errors occur
690 the output can provide the DIMM label in the system log.
691 This becomes vital for panic events to isolate the
692 cause of the UE event.
694 DIMM Labels must be assigned after booting, with information
695 that correctly identifies the physical slot with its
696 silk screen label. This information is currently very
697 motherboard specific and determination of this information
698 must occur in userland at this time.
704 If logging for UEs and CEs is enabled, then system logs will contain
705 information indicating that errors have been detected::
707 EDAC MC0: CE page 0x283, offset 0xce0, grain 8, syndrome 0x6ec3, row 0, channel 1 "DIMM_B1": amd76x_edac
708 EDAC MC0: CE page 0x1e5, offset 0xfb0, grain 8, syndrome 0xb741, row 0, channel 1 "DIMM_B1": amd76x_edac
711 The structure of the message is:
713 +---------------------------------------+-------------+
714 | Content | Example |
715 +=======================================+=============+
716 | The memory controller | MC0 |
717 +---------------------------------------+-------------+
719 +---------------------------------------+-------------+
720 | Memory page | 0x283 |
721 +---------------------------------------+-------------+
722 | Offset in the page | 0xce0 |
723 +---------------------------------------+-------------+
724 | The byte granularity | grain 8 |
725 | or resolution of the error | |
726 +---------------------------------------+-------------+
727 | The error syndrome | 0xb741 |
728 +---------------------------------------+-------------+
729 | Memory row | row 0 |
730 +---------------------------------------+-------------+
731 | Memory channel | channel 1 |
732 +---------------------------------------+-------------+
733 | DIMM label, if set prior | DIMM B1 |
734 +---------------------------------------+-------------+
735 | And then an optional, driver-specific | |
736 | message that may have additional | |
738 +---------------------------------------+-------------+
740 Both UEs and CEs with no info will lack all but memory controller, error
741 type, a notice of "no info" and then an optional, driver-specific error
745 PCI Bus Parity Detection
746 ------------------------
748 On Header Type 00 devices, the primary status is looked at for any
749 parity error regardless of whether parity is enabled on the device or
750 not. (The spec indicates parity is generated in some cases). On Header
751 Type 01 bridges, the secondary status register is also looked at to see
752 if parity occurred on the bus on the other side of the bridge.
758 Under ``/sys/devices/system/edac/pci`` are control and attribute files as
762 - ``check_pci_parity`` - Enable/Disable PCI Parity checking control file
764 This control file enables or disables the PCI Bus Parity scanning
765 operation. Writing a 1 to this file enables the scanning. Writing
766 a 0 to this file disables the scanning.
770 echo "1" >/sys/devices/system/edac/pci/check_pci_parity
774 echo "0" >/sys/devices/system/edac/pci/check_pci_parity
777 - ``pci_parity_count`` - Parity Count
779 This attribute file will display the number of parity errors that
786 - ``edac_mc_panic_on_ue`` - Panic on UE control file
788 An uncorrectable error will cause a machine panic. This is usually
789 desirable. It is a bad idea to continue when an uncorrectable error
790 occurs - it is indeterminate what was uncorrected and the operating
791 system context might be so mangled that continuing will lead to further
792 corruption. If the kernel has MCE configured, then EDAC will never
797 module/kernel parameter: edac_mc_panic_on_ue=[0|1]
801 echo "1" > /sys/module/edac_core/parameters/edac_mc_panic_on_ue
804 - ``edac_mc_log_ue`` - Log UE control file
807 Generate kernel messages describing uncorrectable errors. These errors
808 are reported through the system message log system. UE statistics
809 will be accumulated even when UE logging is disabled.
813 module/kernel parameter: edac_mc_log_ue=[0|1]
817 echo "1" > /sys/module/edac_core/parameters/edac_mc_log_ue
820 - ``edac_mc_log_ce`` - Log CE control file
823 Generate kernel messages describing correctable errors. These
824 errors are reported through the system message log system.
825 CE statistics will be accumulated even when CE logging is disabled.
829 module/kernel parameter: edac_mc_log_ce=[0|1]
833 echo "1" > /sys/module/edac_core/parameters/edac_mc_log_ce
836 - ``edac_mc_poll_msec`` - Polling period control file
839 The time period, in milliseconds, for polling for error information.
840 Too small a value wastes resources. Too large a value might delay
841 necessary handling of errors and might loose valuable information for
842 locating the error. 1000 milliseconds (once each second) is the current
843 default. Systems which require all the bandwidth they can get, may
848 module/kernel parameter: edac_mc_poll_msec=[0|1]
852 echo "1000" > /sys/module/edac_core/parameters/edac_mc_poll_msec
855 - ``panic_on_pci_parity`` - Panic on PCI PARITY Error
858 This control file enables or disables panicking when a parity
859 error has been detected.
862 module/kernel parameter::
864 edac_panic_on_pci_pe=[0|1]
868 echo "1" > /sys/module/edac_core/parameters/edac_panic_on_pci_pe
872 echo "0" > /sys/module/edac_core/parameters/edac_panic_on_pci_pe
879 In the header file, edac_pci.h, there is a series of edac_device structures
880 and APIs for the EDAC_DEVICE.
882 User space access to an edac_device is through the sysfs interface.
884 At the location ``/sys/devices/system/edac`` (sysfs) new edac_device devices
887 There is a three level tree beneath the above ``edac`` directory. For example,
888 the ``test_device_edac`` device (found at the http://bluesmoke.sourceforget.net
889 website) installs itself as::
891 /sys/devices/system/edac/test-instance
893 in this directory are various controls, a symlink and one or more ``instance``
896 The standard default controls are:
898 ============== =======================================================
899 log_ce boolean to log CE events
900 log_ue boolean to log UE events
901 panic_on_ue boolean to ``panic`` the system if an UE is encountered
902 (default off, can be set true via startup script)
903 poll_msec time period between POLL cycles for events
904 ============== =======================================================
906 The test_device_edac device adds at least one of its own custom control:
908 ============== ==================================================
909 test_bits which in the current test driver does nothing but
910 show how it is installed. A ported driver can
911 add one or more such controls and/or attributes
913 One out-of-tree driver uses controls here to allow
914 for ERROR INJECTION operations to hardware
916 ============== ==================================================
918 The symlink points to the 'struct dev' that is registered for this edac_device.
923 One or more instance directories are present. For the ``test_device_edac``
931 In this directory there are two default counter attributes, which are totals of
932 counter in deeper subdirectories.
934 ============== ====================================
935 ce_count total of CE events of subdirectories
936 ue_count total of UE events of subdirectories
937 ============== ====================================
942 At the lowest directory level is the ``block`` directory. There can be 0, 1
943 or more blocks specified in each instance:
949 In this directory the default attributes are:
951 ============== ================================================
952 ce_count which is counter of CE events for this ``block``
953 of hardware being monitored
954 ue_count which is counter of UE events for this ``block``
955 of hardware being monitored
956 ============== ================================================
959 The ``test_device_edac`` device adds 4 attributes and 1 control:
961 ================== ====================================================
962 test-block-bits-0 for every POLL cycle this counter
964 test-block-bits-1 every 10 cycles, this counter is bumped once,
965 and test-block-bits-0 is set to 0
966 test-block-bits-2 every 100 cycles, this counter is bumped once,
967 and test-block-bits-1 is set to 0
968 test-block-bits-3 every 1000 cycles, this counter is bumped once,
969 and test-block-bits-2 is set to 0
970 ================== ====================================================
973 ================== ====================================================
974 reset-counters writing ANY thing to this control will
975 reset all the above counters.
976 ================== ====================================================
979 Use of the ``test_device_edac`` driver should enable any others to create their own
980 unique drivers for their hardware systems.
982 The ``test_device_edac`` sample driver is located at the
983 http://bluesmoke.sourceforge.net project site for EDAC.
986 Usage of EDAC APIs on Nehalem and newer Intel CPUs
987 --------------------------------------------------
989 On older Intel architectures, the memory controller was part of the North
990 Bridge chipset. Nehalem, Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge, Haswell, Sky Lake and
991 newer Intel architectures integrated an enhanced version of the memory
992 controller (MC) inside the CPUs.
994 This chapter will cover the differences of the enhanced memory controllers
995 found on newer Intel CPUs, such as ``i7core_edac``, ``sb_edac`` and
996 ``sbx_edac`` drivers.
1000 The Xeon E7 processor families use a separate chip for the memory
1001 controller, called Intel Scalable Memory Buffer. This section doesn't
1002 apply for such families.
1004 1) There is one Memory Controller per Quick Patch Interconnect
1005 (QPI). At the driver, the term "socket" means one QPI. This is
1006 associated with a physical CPU socket.
1008 Each MC have 3 physical read channels, 3 physical write channels and
1009 3 logic channels. The driver currently sees it as just 3 channels.
1010 Each channel can have up to 3 DIMMs.
1012 The minimum known unity is DIMMs. There are no information about csrows.
1013 As EDAC API maps the minimum unity is csrows, the driver sequentially
1014 maps channel/DIMM into different csrows.
1016 For example, supposing the following layout::
1018 Ch0 phy rd0, wr0 (0x063f4031): 2 ranks, UDIMMs
1019 dimm 0 1024 Mb offset: 0, bank: 8, rank: 1, row: 0x4000, col: 0x400
1020 dimm 1 1024 Mb offset: 4, bank: 8, rank: 1, row: 0x4000, col: 0x400
1021 Ch1 phy rd1, wr1 (0x063f4031): 2 ranks, UDIMMs
1022 dimm 0 1024 Mb offset: 0, bank: 8, rank: 1, row: 0x4000, col: 0x400
1023 Ch2 phy rd3, wr3 (0x063f4031): 2 ranks, UDIMMs
1024 dimm 0 1024 Mb offset: 0, bank: 8, rank: 1, row: 0x4000, col: 0x400
1026 The driver will map it as::
1028 csrow0: channel 0, dimm0
1029 csrow1: channel 0, dimm1
1030 csrow2: channel 1, dimm0
1031 csrow3: channel 2, dimm0
1033 exports one DIMM per csrow.
1035 Each QPI is exported as a different memory controller.
1037 2) The MC has the ability to inject errors to test drivers. The drivers
1038 implement this functionality via some error injection nodes:
1040 For injecting a memory error, there are some sysfs nodes, under
1041 ``/sys/devices/system/edac/mc/mc?/``:
1043 - ``inject_addrmatch/*``:
1044 Controls the error injection mask register. It is possible to specify
1045 several characteristics of the address to match an error code::
1047 dimm = the affected dimm. Numbers are relative to a channel;
1048 rank = the memory rank;
1049 channel = the channel that will generate an error;
1050 bank = the affected bank;
1051 page = the page address;
1052 column (or col) = the address column.
1054 each of the above values can be set to "any" to match any valid value.
1056 At driver init, all values are set to any.
1058 For example, to generate an error at rank 1 of dimm 2, for any channel,
1059 any bank, any page, any column::
1061 echo 2 >/sys/devices/system/edac/mc/mc0/inject_addrmatch/dimm
1062 echo 1 >/sys/devices/system/edac/mc/mc0/inject_addrmatch/rank
1064 To return to the default behaviour of matching any, you can do::
1066 echo any >/sys/devices/system/edac/mc/mc0/inject_addrmatch/dimm
1067 echo any >/sys/devices/system/edac/mc/mc0/inject_addrmatch/rank
1069 - ``inject_eccmask``:
1070 specifies what bits will have troubles,
1072 - ``inject_section``:
1073 specifies what ECC cache section will get the error::
1080 specifies the type of error, being a combination of the following bits::
1086 - ``inject_enable``:
1087 starts the error generation when something different than 0 is written.
1089 All inject vars can be read. root permission is needed for write.
1091 Datasheet states that the error will only be generated after a write on an
1092 address that matches inject_addrmatch. It seems, however, that reading will
1093 also produce an error.
1095 For example, the following code will generate an error for any write access
1096 at socket 0, on any DIMM/address on channel 2::
1098 echo 2 >/sys/devices/system/edac/mc/mc0/inject_addrmatch/channel
1099 echo 2 >/sys/devices/system/edac/mc/mc0/inject_type
1100 echo 64 >/sys/devices/system/edac/mc/mc0/inject_eccmask
1101 echo 3 >/sys/devices/system/edac/mc/mc0/inject_section
1102 echo 1 >/sys/devices/system/edac/mc/mc0/inject_enable
1103 dd if=/dev/mem of=/dev/null seek=16k bs=4k count=1 >& /dev/null
1105 For socket 1, it is needed to replace "mc0" by "mc1" at the above
1108 The generated error message will look like::
1110 EDAC MC0: UE row 0, channel-a= 0 channel-b= 0 labels "-": NON_FATAL (addr = 0x0075b980, socket=0, Dimm=0, Channel=2, syndrome=0x00000040, count=1, Err=8c0000400001009f:4000080482 (read error: read ECC error))
1112 3) Corrected Error memory register counters
1114 Those newer MCs have some registers to count memory errors. The driver
1115 uses those registers to report Corrected Errors on devices with Registered
1118 However, those counters don't work with Unregistered DIMM. As the chipset
1119 offers some counters that also work with UDIMMs (but with a worse level of
1120 granularity than the default ones), the driver exposes those registers for
1123 They can be read by looking at the contents of ``all_channel_counts/``::
1125 $ for i in /sys/devices/system/edac/mc/mc0/all_channel_counts/*; do echo $i; cat $i; done
1126 /sys/devices/system/edac/mc/mc0/all_channel_counts/udimm0
1128 /sys/devices/system/edac/mc/mc0/all_channel_counts/udimm1
1130 /sys/devices/system/edac/mc/mc0/all_channel_counts/udimm2
1133 What happens here is that errors on different csrows, but at the same
1134 dimm number will increment the same counter.
1135 So, in this memory mapping::
1137 csrow0: channel 0, dimm0
1138 csrow1: channel 0, dimm1
1139 csrow2: channel 1, dimm0
1140 csrow3: channel 2, dimm0
1142 The hardware will increment udimm0 for an error at the first dimm at either
1143 csrow0, csrow2 or csrow3;
1145 The hardware will increment udimm1 for an error at the second dimm at either
1146 csrow0, csrow2 or csrow3;
1148 The hardware will increment udimm2 for an error at the third dimm at either
1149 csrow0, csrow2 or csrow3;
1151 4) Standard error counters
1153 The standard error counters are generated when an mcelog error is received
1154 by the driver. Since, with UDIMM, this is counted by software, it is
1155 possible that some errors could be lost. With RDIMM's, they display the
1156 contents of the registers
1158 Reference documents used on ``amd64_edac``
1159 ------------------------------------------
1161 ``amd64_edac`` module is based on the following documents
1162 (available from http://support.amd.com/en-us/search/tech-docs):
1164 1. :Title: BIOS and Kernel Developer's Guide for AMD Athlon 64 and AMD
1166 :AMD publication #: 26094
1168 :Link: http://support.amd.com/TechDocs/26094.PDF
1170 2. :Title: BIOS and Kernel Developer's Guide for AMD NPT Family 0Fh
1172 :AMD publication #: 32559
1174 :Issue Date: May 2006
1175 :Link: http://support.amd.com/TechDocs/32559.pdf
1177 3. :Title: BIOS and Kernel Developer's Guide (BKDG) For AMD Family 10h
1179 :AMD publication #: 31116
1181 :Issue Date: September 07, 2007
1182 :Link: http://support.amd.com/TechDocs/31116.pdf
1184 4. :Title: BIOS and Kernel Developer's Guide (BKDG) for AMD Family 15h
1185 Models 30h-3Fh Processors
1186 :AMD publication #: 49125
1188 :Issue Date: 2/12/2015 (latest release)
1189 :Link: http://support.amd.com/TechDocs/49125_15h_Models_30h-3Fh_BKDG.pdf
1191 5. :Title: BIOS and Kernel Developer's Guide (BKDG) for AMD Family 15h
1192 Models 60h-6Fh Processors
1193 :AMD publication #: 50742
1195 :Issue Date: 7/23/2015 (latest release)
1196 :Link: http://support.amd.com/TechDocs/50742_15h_Models_60h-6Fh_BKDG.pdf
1198 6. :Title: BIOS and Kernel Developer's Guide (BKDG) for AMD Family 16h
1199 Models 00h-0Fh Processors
1200 :AMD publication #: 48751
1202 :Issue Date: 2/23/2015 (latest release)
1203 :Link: http://support.amd.com/TechDocs/48751_16h_bkdg.pdf
1208 * Written by Doug Thompson <dougthompson@xmission.com>
1211 - 17 Jul 2007 Updated
1213 * |copy| Mauro Carvalho Chehab
1215 - 05 Aug 2009 Nehalem interface
1216 - 26 Oct 2016 Converted to ReST and cleanups at the Nehalem section
1218 * EDAC authors/maintainers:
1220 - Doug Thompson, Dave Jiang, Dave Peterson et al,
1221 - Mauro Carvalho Chehab
1223 - original author: Thayne Harbaugh