[PULL 06/28] spapr: Set VSMT to smp_threads by default

David Gibson posted 28 patches 6 years, 3 months ago
[PULL 06/28] spapr: Set VSMT to smp_threads by default
Posted by David Gibson 6 years, 3 months ago
From: Greg Kurz <groug@kaod.org>

Support for setting VSMT is available in KVM since linux-4.13. Most distros
that support KVM on POWER already have it. It thus seem reasonable enough
to have the default machine to set VSMT to smp_threads.

This brings contiguous VCPU ids and thus brings their upper bound down to
the machine's max_cpus. This is especially useful for XIVE KVM devices,
which may thus allocate only one VP descriptor per VCPU.

Signed-off-by: Greg Kurz <groug@kaod.org>
Message-Id: <157010411885.246126.12610015369068227139.stgit@bahia.lan>
Signed-off-by: David Gibson <david@gibson.dropbear.id.au>
---
 hw/ppc/spapr.c         | 7 ++++++-
 include/hw/ppc/spapr.h | 1 +
 2 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr.c b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
index 4eb97d3a9b..428b834f30 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
@@ -2496,6 +2496,7 @@ static CPUArchId *spapr_find_cpu_slot(MachineState *ms, uint32_t id, int *idx)
 static void spapr_set_vsmt_mode(SpaprMachineState *spapr, Error **errp)
 {
     MachineState *ms = MACHINE(spapr);
+    SpaprMachineClass *smc = SPAPR_MACHINE_GET_CLASS(spapr);
     Error *local_err = NULL;
     bool vsmt_user = !!spapr->vsmt;
     int kvm_smt = kvmppc_smt_threads();
@@ -2522,7 +2523,7 @@ static void spapr_set_vsmt_mode(SpaprMachineState *spapr, Error **errp)
             goto out;
         }
         /* In this case, spapr->vsmt has been set by the command line */
-    } else {
+    } else if (!smc->smp_threads_vsmt) {
         /*
          * Default VSMT value is tricky, because we need it to be as
          * consistent as possible (for migration), but this requires
@@ -2531,6 +2532,8 @@ static void spapr_set_vsmt_mode(SpaprMachineState *spapr, Error **errp)
          * overwhelmingly common case in production systems.
          */
         spapr->vsmt = MAX(8, smp_threads);
+    } else {
+        spapr->vsmt = smp_threads;
     }
 
     /* KVM: If necessary, set the SMT mode: */
@@ -4438,6 +4441,7 @@ static void spapr_machine_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
     smc->irq = &spapr_irq_dual;
     smc->dr_phb_enabled = true;
     smc->linux_pci_probe = true;
+    smc->smp_threads_vsmt = true;
 }
 
 static const TypeInfo spapr_machine_info = {
@@ -4505,6 +4509,7 @@ static void spapr_machine_4_1_class_options(MachineClass *mc)
 
     spapr_machine_4_2_class_options(mc);
     smc->linux_pci_probe = false;
+    smc->smp_threads_vsmt = false;
     compat_props_add(mc->compat_props, hw_compat_4_1, hw_compat_4_1_len);
     compat_props_add(mc->compat_props, compat, G_N_ELEMENTS(compat));
 }
diff --git a/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h b/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
index cbd1a4c9f3..2009eb64f9 100644
--- a/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
+++ b/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ struct SpaprMachineClass {
     bool broken_host_serial_model; /* present real host info to the guest */
     bool pre_4_1_migration; /* don't migrate hpt-max-page-size */
     bool linux_pci_probe;
+    bool smp_threads_vsmt; /* set VSMT to smp_threads by default */
 
     void (*phb_placement)(SpaprMachineState *spapr, uint32_t index,
                           uint64_t *buid, hwaddr *pio, 
-- 
2.21.0


Re: [PULL 06/28] spapr: Set VSMT to smp_threads by default
Posted by Laurent Vivier 6 years, 3 months ago
On 24/10/2019 10:17, David Gibson wrote:
> From: Greg Kurz <groug@kaod.org>
> 
> Support for setting VSMT is available in KVM since linux-4.13. Most distros
> that support KVM on POWER already have it. It thus seem reasonable enough
> to have the default machine to set VSMT to smp_threads.
> 
> This brings contiguous VCPU ids and thus brings their upper bound down to
> the machine's max_cpus. This is especially useful for XIVE KVM devices,
> which may thus allocate only one VP descriptor per VCPU.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Greg Kurz <groug@kaod.org>
> Message-Id: <157010411885.246126.12610015369068227139.stgit@bahia.lan>
> Signed-off-by: David Gibson <david@gibson.dropbear.id.au>
> ---
>  hw/ppc/spapr.c         | 7 ++++++-
>  include/hw/ppc/spapr.h | 1 +
>  2 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
> 
> diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr.c b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
> index 4eb97d3a9b..428b834f30 100644
> --- a/hw/ppc/spapr.c
> +++ b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
> @@ -2496,6 +2496,7 @@ static CPUArchId *spapr_find_cpu_slot(MachineState *ms, uint32_t id, int *idx)
>  static void spapr_set_vsmt_mode(SpaprMachineState *spapr, Error **errp)
>  {
>      MachineState *ms = MACHINE(spapr);
> +    SpaprMachineClass *smc = SPAPR_MACHINE_GET_CLASS(spapr);
>      Error *local_err = NULL;
>      bool vsmt_user = !!spapr->vsmt;
>      int kvm_smt = kvmppc_smt_threads();
> @@ -2522,7 +2523,7 @@ static void spapr_set_vsmt_mode(SpaprMachineState *spapr, Error **errp)
>              goto out;
>          }
>          /* In this case, spapr->vsmt has been set by the command line */
> -    } else {
> +    } else if (!smc->smp_threads_vsmt) {
>          /*
>           * Default VSMT value is tricky, because we need it to be as
>           * consistent as possible (for migration), but this requires
> @@ -2531,6 +2532,8 @@ static void spapr_set_vsmt_mode(SpaprMachineState *spapr, Error **errp)
>           * overwhelmingly common case in production systems.
>           */
>          spapr->vsmt = MAX(8, smp_threads);
> +    } else {
> +        spapr->vsmt = smp_threads;
>      }
>  
>      /* KVM: If necessary, set the SMT mode: */
> @@ -4438,6 +4441,7 @@ static void spapr_machine_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
>      smc->irq = &spapr_irq_dual;
>      smc->dr_phb_enabled = true;
>      smc->linux_pci_probe = true;
> +    smc->smp_threads_vsmt = true;
>  }
>  
>  static const TypeInfo spapr_machine_info = {
> @@ -4505,6 +4509,7 @@ static void spapr_machine_4_1_class_options(MachineClass *mc)
>  
>      spapr_machine_4_2_class_options(mc);
>      smc->linux_pci_probe = false;
> +    smc->smp_threads_vsmt = false;
>      compat_props_add(mc->compat_props, hw_compat_4_1, hw_compat_4_1_len);
>      compat_props_add(mc->compat_props, compat, G_N_ELEMENTS(compat));
>  }
> diff --git a/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h b/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
> index cbd1a4c9f3..2009eb64f9 100644
> --- a/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
> +++ b/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
> @@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ struct SpaprMachineClass {
>      bool broken_host_serial_model; /* present real host info to the guest */
>      bool pre_4_1_migration; /* don't migrate hpt-max-page-size */
>      bool linux_pci_probe;
> +    bool smp_threads_vsmt; /* set VSMT to smp_threads by default */
>  
>      void (*phb_placement)(SpaprMachineState *spapr, uint32_t index,
>                            uint64_t *buid, hwaddr *pio, 
> 

This patch breaks tests/migration-test on P8 host with kernel older than
4.3 because it tries by default to set the VSMT to 1.

qemu-system-ppc64: Failed to set KVM's VSMT mode to 1 (errno -22)
On PPC, a VM with 1 threads/core on a host with 8 threads/core requires
the use of VSMT mode 1.
This KVM seems to be too old to support VSMT.

As this is clearly intentional, is there a way to fix migration-test?

Thanks,
Laurent


Re: [PULL 06/28] spapr: Set VSMT to smp_threads by default
Posted by David Gibson 6 years, 3 months ago
On Fri, Nov 08, 2019 at 02:11:03PM +0100, Laurent Vivier wrote:
> On 24/10/2019 10:17, David Gibson wrote:
> > From: Greg Kurz <groug@kaod.org>
> > 
> > Support for setting VSMT is available in KVM since linux-4.13. Most distros
> > that support KVM on POWER already have it. It thus seem reasonable enough
> > to have the default machine to set VSMT to smp_threads.
> > 
> > This brings contiguous VCPU ids and thus brings their upper bound down to
> > the machine's max_cpus. This is especially useful for XIVE KVM devices,
> > which may thus allocate only one VP descriptor per VCPU.
> > 
> > Signed-off-by: Greg Kurz <groug@kaod.org>
> > Message-Id: <157010411885.246126.12610015369068227139.stgit@bahia.lan>
> > Signed-off-by: David Gibson <david@gibson.dropbear.id.au>
> > ---
> >  hw/ppc/spapr.c         | 7 ++++++-
> >  include/hw/ppc/spapr.h | 1 +
> >  2 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
> > 
> > diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr.c b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
> > index 4eb97d3a9b..428b834f30 100644
> > --- a/hw/ppc/spapr.c
> > +++ b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
> > @@ -2496,6 +2496,7 @@ static CPUArchId *spapr_find_cpu_slot(MachineState *ms, uint32_t id, int *idx)
> >  static void spapr_set_vsmt_mode(SpaprMachineState *spapr, Error **errp)
> >  {
> >      MachineState *ms = MACHINE(spapr);
> > +    SpaprMachineClass *smc = SPAPR_MACHINE_GET_CLASS(spapr);
> >      Error *local_err = NULL;
> >      bool vsmt_user = !!spapr->vsmt;
> >      int kvm_smt = kvmppc_smt_threads();
> > @@ -2522,7 +2523,7 @@ static void spapr_set_vsmt_mode(SpaprMachineState *spapr, Error **errp)
> >              goto out;
> >          }
> >          /* In this case, spapr->vsmt has been set by the command line */
> > -    } else {
> > +    } else if (!smc->smp_threads_vsmt) {
> >          /*
> >           * Default VSMT value is tricky, because we need it to be as
> >           * consistent as possible (for migration), but this requires
> > @@ -2531,6 +2532,8 @@ static void spapr_set_vsmt_mode(SpaprMachineState *spapr, Error **errp)
> >           * overwhelmingly common case in production systems.
> >           */
> >          spapr->vsmt = MAX(8, smp_threads);
> > +    } else {
> > +        spapr->vsmt = smp_threads;
> >      }
> >  
> >      /* KVM: If necessary, set the SMT mode: */
> > @@ -4438,6 +4441,7 @@ static void spapr_machine_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
> >      smc->irq = &spapr_irq_dual;
> >      smc->dr_phb_enabled = true;
> >      smc->linux_pci_probe = true;
> > +    smc->smp_threads_vsmt = true;
> >  }
> >  
> >  static const TypeInfo spapr_machine_info = {
> > @@ -4505,6 +4509,7 @@ static void spapr_machine_4_1_class_options(MachineClass *mc)
> >  
> >      spapr_machine_4_2_class_options(mc);
> >      smc->linux_pci_probe = false;
> > +    smc->smp_threads_vsmt = false;
> >      compat_props_add(mc->compat_props, hw_compat_4_1, hw_compat_4_1_len);
> >      compat_props_add(mc->compat_props, compat, G_N_ELEMENTS(compat));
> >  }
> > diff --git a/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h b/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
> > index cbd1a4c9f3..2009eb64f9 100644
> > --- a/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
> > +++ b/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
> > @@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ struct SpaprMachineClass {
> >      bool broken_host_serial_model; /* present real host info to the guest */
> >      bool pre_4_1_migration; /* don't migrate hpt-max-page-size */
> >      bool linux_pci_probe;
> > +    bool smp_threads_vsmt; /* set VSMT to smp_threads by default */
> >  
> >      void (*phb_placement)(SpaprMachineState *spapr, uint32_t index,
> >                            uint64_t *buid, hwaddr *pio, 
> > 
> 
> This patch breaks tests/migration-test on P8 host with kernel older than
> 4.3 because it tries by default to set the VSMT to 1.
> 
> qemu-system-ppc64: Failed to set KVM's VSMT mode to 1 (errno -22)
> On PPC, a VM with 1 threads/core on a host with 8 threads/core requires
> the use of VSMT mode 1.
> This KVM seems to be too old to support VSMT.
> 
> As this is clearly intentional, is there a way to fix migration-test?

Hrm.  I believe the argument for this was that the broken kernels were
old enough we didn't care.  What platform are you testing on where
you're hitting this?

-- 
David Gibson			| I'll have my music baroque, and my code
david AT gibson.dropbear.id.au	| minimalist, thank you.  NOT _the_ _other_
				| _way_ _around_!
http://www.ozlabs.org/~dgibson
Re: [PULL 06/28] spapr: Set VSMT to smp_threads by default
Posted by Laurent Vivier 6 years, 3 months ago
On 08/11/2019 15:26, David Gibson wrote:
> On Fri, Nov 08, 2019 at 02:11:03PM +0100, Laurent Vivier wrote:
>> On 24/10/2019 10:17, David Gibson wrote:
>>> From: Greg Kurz <groug@kaod.org>
>>>
>>> Support for setting VSMT is available in KVM since linux-4.13. Most distros
>>> that support KVM on POWER already have it. It thus seem reasonable enough
>>> to have the default machine to set VSMT to smp_threads.
>>>
>>> This brings contiguous VCPU ids and thus brings their upper bound down to
>>> the machine's max_cpus. This is especially useful for XIVE KVM devices,
>>> which may thus allocate only one VP descriptor per VCPU.
>>>
>>> Signed-off-by: Greg Kurz <groug@kaod.org>
>>> Message-Id: <157010411885.246126.12610015369068227139.stgit@bahia.lan>
>>> Signed-off-by: David Gibson <david@gibson.dropbear.id.au>
>>> ---
>>>  hw/ppc/spapr.c         | 7 ++++++-
>>>  include/hw/ppc/spapr.h | 1 +
>>>  2 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
>>>
>>> diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr.c b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
>>> index 4eb97d3a9b..428b834f30 100644
>>> --- a/hw/ppc/spapr.c
>>> +++ b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
>>> @@ -2496,6 +2496,7 @@ static CPUArchId *spapr_find_cpu_slot(MachineState *ms, uint32_t id, int *idx)
>>>  static void spapr_set_vsmt_mode(SpaprMachineState *spapr, Error **errp)
>>>  {
>>>      MachineState *ms = MACHINE(spapr);
>>> +    SpaprMachineClass *smc = SPAPR_MACHINE_GET_CLASS(spapr);
>>>      Error *local_err = NULL;
>>>      bool vsmt_user = !!spapr->vsmt;
>>>      int kvm_smt = kvmppc_smt_threads();
>>> @@ -2522,7 +2523,7 @@ static void spapr_set_vsmt_mode(SpaprMachineState *spapr, Error **errp)
>>>              goto out;
>>>          }
>>>          /* In this case, spapr->vsmt has been set by the command line */
>>> -    } else {
>>> +    } else if (!smc->smp_threads_vsmt) {
>>>          /*
>>>           * Default VSMT value is tricky, because we need it to be as
>>>           * consistent as possible (for migration), but this requires
>>> @@ -2531,6 +2532,8 @@ static void spapr_set_vsmt_mode(SpaprMachineState *spapr, Error **errp)
>>>           * overwhelmingly common case in production systems.
>>>           */
>>>          spapr->vsmt = MAX(8, smp_threads);
>>> +    } else {
>>> +        spapr->vsmt = smp_threads;
>>>      }
>>>  
>>>      /* KVM: If necessary, set the SMT mode: */
>>> @@ -4438,6 +4441,7 @@ static void spapr_machine_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
>>>      smc->irq = &spapr_irq_dual;
>>>      smc->dr_phb_enabled = true;
>>>      smc->linux_pci_probe = true;
>>> +    smc->smp_threads_vsmt = true;
>>>  }
>>>  
>>>  static const TypeInfo spapr_machine_info = {
>>> @@ -4505,6 +4509,7 @@ static void spapr_machine_4_1_class_options(MachineClass *mc)
>>>  
>>>      spapr_machine_4_2_class_options(mc);
>>>      smc->linux_pci_probe = false;
>>> +    smc->smp_threads_vsmt = false;
>>>      compat_props_add(mc->compat_props, hw_compat_4_1, hw_compat_4_1_len);
>>>      compat_props_add(mc->compat_props, compat, G_N_ELEMENTS(compat));
>>>  }
>>> diff --git a/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h b/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
>>> index cbd1a4c9f3..2009eb64f9 100644
>>> --- a/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
>>> +++ b/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
>>> @@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ struct SpaprMachineClass {
>>>      bool broken_host_serial_model; /* present real host info to the guest */
>>>      bool pre_4_1_migration; /* don't migrate hpt-max-page-size */
>>>      bool linux_pci_probe;
>>> +    bool smp_threads_vsmt; /* set VSMT to smp_threads by default */
>>>  
>>>      void (*phb_placement)(SpaprMachineState *spapr, uint32_t index,
>>>                            uint64_t *buid, hwaddr *pio, 
>>>
>>
>> This patch breaks tests/migration-test on P8 host with kernel older than
>> 4.3 because it tries by default to set the VSMT to 1.
>>
>> qemu-system-ppc64: Failed to set KVM's VSMT mode to 1 (errno -22)
>> On PPC, a VM with 1 threads/core on a host with 8 threads/core requires
>> the use of VSMT mode 1.
>> This KVM seems to be too old to support VSMT.
>>
>> As this is clearly intentional, is there a way to fix migration-test?
> 
> Hrm.  I believe the argument for this was that the broken kernels were
> old enough we didn't care.  What platform are you testing on where
> you're hitting this?
> 

I'm going to propose a patch to fix this problem.
(it was on RHEL7)

Thanks,
Laurent


Re: [PULL 06/28] spapr: Set VSMT to smp_threads by default
Posted by Laurent Vivier 6 years, 3 months ago
On 08/11/2019 16:34, Laurent Vivier wrote:
> On 08/11/2019 15:26, David Gibson wrote:
>> On Fri, Nov 08, 2019 at 02:11:03PM +0100, Laurent Vivier wrote:
>>> On 24/10/2019 10:17, David Gibson wrote:
>>>> From: Greg Kurz <groug@kaod.org>
>>>>
>>>> Support for setting VSMT is available in KVM since linux-4.13. Most distros
>>>> that support KVM on POWER already have it. It thus seem reasonable enough
>>>> to have the default machine to set VSMT to smp_threads.
>>>>
>>>> This brings contiguous VCPU ids and thus brings their upper bound down to
>>>> the machine's max_cpus. This is especially useful for XIVE KVM devices,
>>>> which may thus allocate only one VP descriptor per VCPU.
>>>>
>>>> Signed-off-by: Greg Kurz <groug@kaod.org>
>>>> Message-Id: <157010411885.246126.12610015369068227139.stgit@bahia.lan>
>>>> Signed-off-by: David Gibson <david@gibson.dropbear.id.au>
>>>> ---
>>>>  hw/ppc/spapr.c         | 7 ++++++-
>>>>  include/hw/ppc/spapr.h | 1 +
>>>>  2 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
>>>>
>>>> diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr.c b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
>>>> index 4eb97d3a9b..428b834f30 100644
>>>> --- a/hw/ppc/spapr.c
>>>> +++ b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
>>>> @@ -2496,6 +2496,7 @@ static CPUArchId *spapr_find_cpu_slot(MachineState *ms, uint32_t id, int *idx)
>>>>  static void spapr_set_vsmt_mode(SpaprMachineState *spapr, Error **errp)
>>>>  {
>>>>      MachineState *ms = MACHINE(spapr);
>>>> +    SpaprMachineClass *smc = SPAPR_MACHINE_GET_CLASS(spapr);
>>>>      Error *local_err = NULL;
>>>>      bool vsmt_user = !!spapr->vsmt;
>>>>      int kvm_smt = kvmppc_smt_threads();
>>>> @@ -2522,7 +2523,7 @@ static void spapr_set_vsmt_mode(SpaprMachineState *spapr, Error **errp)
>>>>              goto out;
>>>>          }
>>>>          /* In this case, spapr->vsmt has been set by the command line */
>>>> -    } else {
>>>> +    } else if (!smc->smp_threads_vsmt) {
>>>>          /*
>>>>           * Default VSMT value is tricky, because we need it to be as
>>>>           * consistent as possible (for migration), but this requires
>>>> @@ -2531,6 +2532,8 @@ static void spapr_set_vsmt_mode(SpaprMachineState *spapr, Error **errp)
>>>>           * overwhelmingly common case in production systems.
>>>>           */
>>>>          spapr->vsmt = MAX(8, smp_threads);
>>>> +    } else {
>>>> +        spapr->vsmt = smp_threads;
>>>>      }
>>>>  
>>>>      /* KVM: If necessary, set the SMT mode: */
>>>> @@ -4438,6 +4441,7 @@ static void spapr_machine_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
>>>>      smc->irq = &spapr_irq_dual;
>>>>      smc->dr_phb_enabled = true;
>>>>      smc->linux_pci_probe = true;
>>>> +    smc->smp_threads_vsmt = true;
>>>>  }
>>>>  
>>>>  static const TypeInfo spapr_machine_info = {
>>>> @@ -4505,6 +4509,7 @@ static void spapr_machine_4_1_class_options(MachineClass *mc)
>>>>  
>>>>      spapr_machine_4_2_class_options(mc);
>>>>      smc->linux_pci_probe = false;
>>>> +    smc->smp_threads_vsmt = false;
>>>>      compat_props_add(mc->compat_props, hw_compat_4_1, hw_compat_4_1_len);
>>>>      compat_props_add(mc->compat_props, compat, G_N_ELEMENTS(compat));
>>>>  }
>>>> diff --git a/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h b/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
>>>> index cbd1a4c9f3..2009eb64f9 100644
>>>> --- a/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
>>>> +++ b/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
>>>> @@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ struct SpaprMachineClass {
>>>>      bool broken_host_serial_model; /* present real host info to the guest */
>>>>      bool pre_4_1_migration; /* don't migrate hpt-max-page-size */
>>>>      bool linux_pci_probe;
>>>> +    bool smp_threads_vsmt; /* set VSMT to smp_threads by default */
>>>>  
>>>>      void (*phb_placement)(SpaprMachineState *spapr, uint32_t index,
>>>>                            uint64_t *buid, hwaddr *pio, 
>>>>
>>>
>>> This patch breaks tests/migration-test on P8 host with kernel older than
>>> 4.3 because it tries by default to set the VSMT to 1.
>>>
>>> qemu-system-ppc64: Failed to set KVM's VSMT mode to 1 (errno -22)
>>> On PPC, a VM with 1 threads/core on a host with 8 threads/core requires
>>> the use of VSMT mode 1.
>>> This KVM seems to be too old to support VSMT.
>>>
>>> As this is clearly intentional, is there a way to fix migration-test?
>>
>> Hrm.  I believe the argument for this was that the broken kernels were
>> old enough we didn't care.  What platform are you testing on where
>> you're hitting this?
>>
> 
> I'm going to propose a patch to fix this problem.
> (it was on RHEL7)

Patch sent:
[PATCH] spapr: Fix VSMT mode when it is not supported by the kernel
Message-Id: <20191108154035.12913-1-lvivier@redhat.com>

Thanks,
Laurent