#14707: setNumCapabilities can cause threads to get stuck in gcWorkerThread -------------------------------------+------------------------------------- Reporter: duog | Owner: (none) Type: bug | Status: new Priority: normal | Milestone: Component: Runtime System | Version: 8.5 Resolution: | Keywords: Operating System: Unknown/Multiple | Architecture: | Unknown/Multiple Type of failure: None/Unknown | Test Case: Blocked By: | Blocking: Related Tickets: | Differential Rev(s): Wiki Page: | -------------------------------------+------------------------------------- Description changed by duog: Old description:
I have a patch with some instrumentation that proves that sometimes threads do not leave gcWorkerThread until the following gc.
I suspect it's caused by `idle_caps` being mutated in `scheduleDoGC` after the call to `requestSync`. A thread enters `yieldCapability` sees that itself is not idle, so enters `gcWorkerThread`, but then `idle_caps` is mutated so that that thread *is* idle, and it's spin locks are not touched by the garbage collector.
Potential fixes: * Don't look at `idle_caps` in the garbage collector when we're touching the spin-locks, just do it for all capabilities. I don't *think* this does any harm. * Don't mutate `idle_caps` after the call to `requestSync`; move that logic to before the call.
New description: I have a patch with some instrumentation that proves that sometimes threads do not leave gcWorkerThread until the following gc. I suspect it's caused by `idle_caps` being mutated in `scheduleDoGC` after the call to `requestSync`. A thread enters `yieldCapability` sees that itself is not idle, so enters `gcWorkerThread`, but then `idle_caps` is mutated so that that thread ''is'' idle, and it's spin locks are not touched by the garbage collector. Potential fixes: * Don't look at `idle_caps` in the garbage collector when we're touching the spin-locks, just do it for all capabilities. I don't ''think'' this does any harm. * Don't mutate `idle_caps` after the call to `requestSync`; move that logic to before the call. -- -- Ticket URL: http://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/14707#comment:1 GHC http://www.haskell.org/ghc/ The Glasgow Haskell Compiler