[PATCH v5 09/19] hw/i386/pc_piix.c: simplify RAM size logic in pc_init_isa()

Mark Cave-Ayland posted 19 patches 5 months, 1 week ago
Maintainers: Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>, Richard Henderson <richard.henderson@linaro.org>, Eduardo Habkost <eduardo@habkost.net>, "Michael S. Tsirkin" <mst@redhat.com>, Marcel Apfelbaum <marcel.apfelbaum@gmail.com>
There is a newer version of this series
[PATCH v5 09/19] hw/i386/pc_piix.c: simplify RAM size logic in pc_init_isa()
Posted by Mark Cave-Ayland 5 months, 1 week ago
All isapc machines must have 32-bit CPUs and so the RAM split logic can be hardcoded
accordingly.

Signed-off-by: Mark Cave-Ayland <mark.caveayland@nutanix.com>
---
 hw/i386/pc_piix.c | 58 ++++-------------------------------------------
 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 54 deletions(-)

diff --git a/hw/i386/pc_piix.c b/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
index 78f50a7893..fbd9500061 100644
--- a/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
+++ b/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
@@ -426,69 +426,19 @@ static void pc_init_isa(MachineState *machine)
     GSIState *gsi_state;
     MemoryRegion *ram_memory;
     MemoryRegion *rom_memory = system_memory;
-    ram_addr_t lowmem;
     uint64_t hole64_size = 0;
 
     /*
-     * Calculate ram split, for memory below and above 4G.  It's a bit
-     * complicated for backward compatibility reasons ...
-     *
-     *  - Traditional split is 3.5G (lowmem = 0xe0000000).  This is the
-     *    default value for max_ram_below_4g now.
-     *
-     *  - Then, to gigabyte align the memory, we move the split to 3G
-     *    (lowmem = 0xc0000000).  But only in case we have to split in
-     *    the first place, i.e. ram_size is larger than (traditional)
-     *    lowmem.  And for new machine types (gigabyte_align = true)
-     *    only, for live migration compatibility reasons.
-     *
-     *  - Next the max-ram-below-4g option was added, which allowed to
-     *    reduce lowmem to a smaller value, to allow a larger PCI I/O
-     *    window below 4G.  qemu doesn't enforce gigabyte alignment here,
-     *    but prints a warning.
-     *
-     *  - Finally max-ram-below-4g got updated to also allow raising lowmem,
-     *    so legacy non-PAE guests can get as much memory as possible in
-     *    the 32bit address space below 4G.
-     *
-     *  - Note that Xen has its own ram setup code in xen_ram_init(),
-     *    called via xen_hvm_init_pc().
-     *
-     * Examples:
-     *    qemu -M pc-1.7 -m 4G    (old default)    -> 3584M low,  512M high
-     *    qemu -M pc -m 4G        (new default)    -> 3072M low, 1024M high
-     *    qemu -M pc,max-ram-below-4g=2G -m 4G     -> 2048M low, 2048M high
-     *    qemu -M pc,max-ram-below-4g=4G -m 3968M  -> 3968M low (=4G-128M)
+     * There is no RAM split for the isapc machine
      */
     if (xen_enabled()) {
         xen_hvm_init_pc(pcms, &ram_memory);
     } else {
         ram_memory = machine->ram;
-        if (!pcms->max_ram_below_4g) {
-            pcms->max_ram_below_4g = 0xe0000000; /* default: 3.5G */
-        }
-        lowmem = pcms->max_ram_below_4g;
-        if (machine->ram_size >= pcms->max_ram_below_4g) {
-            if (pcmc->gigabyte_align) {
-                if (lowmem > 0xc0000000) {
-                    lowmem = 0xc0000000;
-                }
-                if (lowmem & (1 * GiB - 1)) {
-                    warn_report("Large machine and max_ram_below_4g "
-                                "(%" PRIu64 ") not a multiple of 1G; "
-                                "possible bad performance.",
-                                pcms->max_ram_below_4g);
-                }
-            }
-        }
 
-        if (machine->ram_size >= lowmem) {
-            x86ms->above_4g_mem_size = machine->ram_size - lowmem;
-            x86ms->below_4g_mem_size = lowmem;
-        } else {
-            x86ms->above_4g_mem_size = 0;
-            x86ms->below_4g_mem_size = machine->ram_size;
-        }
+        pcms->max_ram_below_4g = 0xe0000000; /* default: 3.5G */
+        x86ms->above_4g_mem_size = 0;
+        x86ms->below_4g_mem_size = machine->ram_size;
     }
 
     /*
-- 
2.43.0
Re: [PATCH v5 09/19] hw/i386/pc_piix.c: simplify RAM size logic in pc_init_isa()
Posted by Philippe Mathieu-Daudé 5 months, 1 week ago
On 11/7/25 11:57, Mark Cave-Ayland wrote:
> All isapc machines must have 32-bit CPUs and so the RAM split logic can be hardcoded
> accordingly.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Mark Cave-Ayland <mark.caveayland@nutanix.com>
> ---
>   hw/i386/pc_piix.c | 58 ++++-------------------------------------------
>   1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 54 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/hw/i386/pc_piix.c b/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
> index 78f50a7893..fbd9500061 100644
> --- a/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
> +++ b/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
> @@ -426,69 +426,19 @@ static void pc_init_isa(MachineState *machine)
>       GSIState *gsi_state;
>       MemoryRegion *ram_memory;
>       MemoryRegion *rom_memory = system_memory;
> -    ram_addr_t lowmem;
>       uint64_t hole64_size = 0;
>   
>       /*
> -     * Calculate ram split, for memory below and above 4G.  It's a bit
> -     * complicated for backward compatibility reasons ...
> -     *
> -     *  - Traditional split is 3.5G (lowmem = 0xe0000000).  This is the
> -     *    default value for max_ram_below_4g now.
> -     *
> -     *  - Then, to gigabyte align the memory, we move the split to 3G
> -     *    (lowmem = 0xc0000000).  But only in case we have to split in
> -     *    the first place, i.e. ram_size is larger than (traditional)
> -     *    lowmem.  And for new machine types (gigabyte_align = true)
> -     *    only, for live migration compatibility reasons.
> -     *
> -     *  - Next the max-ram-below-4g option was added, which allowed to
> -     *    reduce lowmem to a smaller value, to allow a larger PCI I/O
> -     *    window below 4G.  qemu doesn't enforce gigabyte alignment here,
> -     *    but prints a warning.
> -     *
> -     *  - Finally max-ram-below-4g got updated to also allow raising lowmem,
> -     *    so legacy non-PAE guests can get as much memory as possible in
> -     *    the 32bit address space below 4G.
> -     *
> -     *  - Note that Xen has its own ram setup code in xen_ram_init(),
> -     *    called via xen_hvm_init_pc().
> -     *
> -     * Examples:
> -     *    qemu -M pc-1.7 -m 4G    (old default)    -> 3584M low,  512M high
> -     *    qemu -M pc -m 4G        (new default)    -> 3072M low, 1024M high
> -     *    qemu -M pc,max-ram-below-4g=2G -m 4G     -> 2048M low, 2048M high
> -     *    qemu -M pc,max-ram-below-4g=4G -m 3968M  -> 3968M low (=4G-128M)
> +     * There is no RAM split for the isapc machine
>        */
>       if (xen_enabled()) {
>           xen_hvm_init_pc(pcms, &ram_memory);
>       } else {
>           ram_memory = machine->ram;
> -        if (!pcms->max_ram_below_4g) {
> -            pcms->max_ram_below_4g = 0xe0000000; /* default: 3.5G */
> -        }
> -        lowmem = pcms->max_ram_below_4g;
> -        if (machine->ram_size >= pcms->max_ram_below_4g) {
> -            if (pcmc->gigabyte_align) {
> -                if (lowmem > 0xc0000000) {
> -                    lowmem = 0xc0000000;
> -                }
> -                if (lowmem & (1 * GiB - 1)) {
> -                    warn_report("Large machine and max_ram_below_4g "
> -                                "(%" PRIu64 ") not a multiple of 1G; "
> -                                "possible bad performance.",
> -                                pcms->max_ram_below_4g);
> -                }
> -            }
> -        }
>   
> -        if (machine->ram_size >= lowmem) {
> -            x86ms->above_4g_mem_size = machine->ram_size - lowmem;
> -            x86ms->below_4g_mem_size = lowmem;
> -        } else {
> -            x86ms->above_4g_mem_size = 0;
> -            x86ms->below_4g_mem_size = machine->ram_size;
> -        }
> +        pcms->max_ram_below_4g = 0xe0000000; /* default: 3.5G */

Since nothing to split, I'd expect the whole 4*GiB space here.

> +        x86ms->above_4g_mem_size = 0;
> +        x86ms->below_4g_mem_size = machine->ram_size;
>       }
>   
>       /*
Re: [PATCH v5 09/19] hw/i386/pc_piix.c: simplify RAM size logic in pc_init_isa()
Posted by Mark Cave-Ayland 3 months, 3 weeks ago
On 11/07/2025 11:41, Philippe Mathieu-Daudé wrote:

> On 11/7/25 11:57, Mark Cave-Ayland wrote:
>> All isapc machines must have 32-bit CPUs and so the RAM split logic 
>> can be hardcoded
>> accordingly.
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Mark Cave-Ayland <mark.caveayland@nutanix.com>
>> ---
>>   hw/i386/pc_piix.c | 58 ++++-------------------------------------------
>>   1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 54 deletions(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/hw/i386/pc_piix.c b/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
>> index 78f50a7893..fbd9500061 100644
>> --- a/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
>> +++ b/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
>> @@ -426,69 +426,19 @@ static void pc_init_isa(MachineState *machine)
>>       GSIState *gsi_state;
>>       MemoryRegion *ram_memory;
>>       MemoryRegion *rom_memory = system_memory;
>> -    ram_addr_t lowmem;
>>       uint64_t hole64_size = 0;
>>       /*
>> -     * Calculate ram split, for memory below and above 4G.  It's a bit
>> -     * complicated for backward compatibility reasons ...
>> -     *
>> -     *  - Traditional split is 3.5G (lowmem = 0xe0000000).  This is the
>> -     *    default value for max_ram_below_4g now.
>> -     *
>> -     *  - Then, to gigabyte align the memory, we move the split to 3G
>> -     *    (lowmem = 0xc0000000).  But only in case we have to split in
>> -     *    the first place, i.e. ram_size is larger than (traditional)
>> -     *    lowmem.  And for new machine types (gigabyte_align = true)
>> -     *    only, for live migration compatibility reasons.
>> -     *
>> -     *  - Next the max-ram-below-4g option was added, which allowed to
>> -     *    reduce lowmem to a smaller value, to allow a larger PCI I/O
>> -     *    window below 4G.  qemu doesn't enforce gigabyte alignment 
>> here,
>> -     *    but prints a warning.
>> -     *
>> -     *  - Finally max-ram-below-4g got updated to also allow raising 
>> lowmem,
>> -     *    so legacy non-PAE guests can get as much memory as possible in
>> -     *    the 32bit address space below 4G.
>> -     *
>> -     *  - Note that Xen has its own ram setup code in xen_ram_init(),
>> -     *    called via xen_hvm_init_pc().
>> -     *
>> -     * Examples:
>> -     *    qemu -M pc-1.7 -m 4G    (old default)    -> 3584M low,  
>> 512M high
>> -     *    qemu -M pc -m 4G        (new default)    -> 3072M low, 
>> 1024M high
>> -     *    qemu -M pc,max-ram-below-4g=2G -m 4G     -> 2048M low, 
>> 2048M high
>> -     *    qemu -M pc,max-ram-below-4g=4G -m 3968M  -> 3968M low 
>> (=4G-128M)
>> +     * There is no RAM split for the isapc machine
>>        */
>>       if (xen_enabled()) {
>>           xen_hvm_init_pc(pcms, &ram_memory);
>>       } else {
>>           ram_memory = machine->ram;
>> -        if (!pcms->max_ram_below_4g) {
>> -            pcms->max_ram_below_4g = 0xe0000000; /* default: 3.5G */
>> -        }
>> -        lowmem = pcms->max_ram_below_4g;
>> -        if (machine->ram_size >= pcms->max_ram_below_4g) {
>> -            if (pcmc->gigabyte_align) {
>> -                if (lowmem > 0xc0000000) {
>> -                    lowmem = 0xc0000000;
>> -                }
>> -                if (lowmem & (1 * GiB - 1)) {
>> -                    warn_report("Large machine and max_ram_below_4g "
>> -                                "(%" PRIu64 ") not a multiple of 1G; "
>> -                                "possible bad performance.",
>> -                                pcms->max_ram_below_4g);
>> -                }
>> -            }
>> -        }
>> -        if (machine->ram_size >= lowmem) {
>> -            x86ms->above_4g_mem_size = machine->ram_size - lowmem;
>> -            x86ms->below_4g_mem_size = lowmem;
>> -        } else {
>> -            x86ms->above_4g_mem_size = 0;
>> -            x86ms->below_4g_mem_size = machine->ram_size;
>> -        }
>> +        pcms->max_ram_below_4g = 0xe0000000; /* default: 3.5G */
> 
> Since nothing to split, I'd expect the whole 4*GiB space here.

That's true: there is some logic in pc_q35_init() that sets it to 4G if 
the property is unset, so I think that makes sense.

>> +        x86ms->above_4g_mem_size = 0;
>> +        x86ms->below_4g_mem_size = machine->ram_size;
>>       }
>>       /*


ATB,

Mark.