[v2] mtd: cfi_cmdset_0002: cap the write-buffer chunk at 256 bytes on an x8 device

[PATCH v2] mtd: cfi_cmdset_0002: cap the write-buffer chunk at 256 bytes on an x8 device

Posted by Orgad Shaneh 1 week, 2 days ago

The word count of the Write to Buffer command is a single bus word per
device, so an x8 device can be told to program at most 256 bytes
regardless of the buffer size it advertises.

A Micron M29EW (an x16 part wired in x8 mode) advertises a 512-byte
write buffer. cfi_amdstd_write_buffers() used the full 512, CMD(511)
truncated the count to 0xff on the way out, and the chip aborted the
program on the 257th data byte. Every full-size chunk failed while the
partial ones at the start of a write went through:

  MTD do_write_buffer_wait(): software timeout, address:0x03278bff.
  jffs2: Write of 4164 bytes at 0x02c789b4 failed. returned -5, retlen 68
  jffs2: No space for garbage collection. Aborting GC thread

Clamp MaxBufWriteSize in the write-buffer fixup for x8 devices, and keep
mtd->writebufsize (computed before the fixups run) consistent with it.

The bug predates the git history, so there is no Fixes: tag.

Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-5
Signed-off-by: Orgad Shaneh <orgads@gmail.com>
---

v2: test the device width (cfi->device_type) instead of the aggregate bus
    width. map_bankwidth_is_1() is false for x8 devices interleaved on a
    wider bus, which have the same 256-byte ceiling: do_write_buffer()
    sends CMD(words - 1), and CMD() replicates that count into each
    device's lane, where it is truncated to 8 bits - so two x8 chips with
    a 512-byte buffer are told 255 words and are still sent 512 bytes
    each. device_type is also immune to map_bankwidth_is_1() compiling to
    a constant 0 when CONFIG_MTD_MAP_BANK_WIDTH_1 is off. Caught by the
    Sashiko review bot.

diff --git a/drivers/mtd/chips/cfi_cmdset_0002.c b/drivers/mtd/chips/cfi_cmdset_0002.c
--- a/drivers/mtd/chips/cfi_cmdset_0002.c
+++ b/drivers/mtd/chips/cfi_cmdset_0002.c
@@ -283,6 +283,21 @@ static void fixup_use_write_buffers(struct mtd_info *mtd)
 		pr_debug("Using buffer write method\n");
 		mtd->_write = cfi_amdstd_write_buffers;
 	}
+
+	/*
+	 * The word count of the Write to Buffer command is a single bus
+	 * word per device, so an x8 device can be told to program at most
+	 * 256 bytes however large a buffer it advertises - including when
+	 * several of them are interleaved on a wider bus, where CMD()
+	 * replicates the count into each device's lane and it is truncated
+	 * there.
+	 */
+	if (cfi->device_type == CFI_DEVICETYPE_X8 &&
+	    cfi->cfiq->MaxBufWriteSize > 8) {
+		cfi->cfiq->MaxBufWriteSize = 8;
+		mtd->writebufsize = cfi_interleave(cfi) <<
+				    cfi->cfiq->MaxBufWriteSize;
+	}
 }
 #endif /* !FORCE_WORD_WRITE */
 
-- 
2.47.0

Re: [PATCH v2] mtd: cfi_cmdset_0002: cap the write-buffer chunk at 256 bytes on an x8 device

Posted by Miquel Raynal 1 week, 1 day ago

On 15/09/2026 at 07:50:03 GMT, Orgad Shaneh <orgads@gmail.com> wrote:

> The word count of the Write to Buffer command is a single bus word per
> device, so an x8 device can be told to program at most 256 bytes
> regardless of the buffer size it advertises.
>
> A Micron M29EW (an x16 part wired in x8 mode) advertises a 512-byte
> write buffer. cfi_amdstd_write_buffers() used the full 512, CMD(511)
> truncated the count to 0xff on the way out, and the chip aborted the
> program on the 257th data byte.

This sentence does not mean anything, I'm sorry.

> Every full-size chunk failed while the

failed? do you have hardware that actually triggered that issue?

> partial ones at the start of a write went through:
>
>   MTD do_write_buffer_wait(): software timeout, address:0x03278bff.
>   jffs2: Write of 4164 bytes at 0x02c789b4 failed. returned -5, retlen 68
>   jffs2: No space for garbage collection. Aborting GC thread
>
> Clamp MaxBufWriteSize in the write-buffer fixup for x8 devices, and keep
> mtd->writebufsize (computed before the fixups run) consistent with it.
>
> The bug predates the git history, so there is no Fixes: tag.

That's incorrect. It indicates until when we need to backport it. So if
it's the first Git commit, it's the first Git commit.

> Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
> Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-5
> Signed-off-by: Orgad Shaneh <orgads@gmail.com>
> ---
>
> v2: test the device width (cfi->device_type) instead of the aggregate bus
>     width. map_bankwidth_is_1() is false for x8 devices interleaved on a
>     wider bus, which have the same 256-byte ceiling: do_write_buffer()
>     sends CMD(words - 1), and CMD() replicates that count into each
>     device's lane, where it is truncated to 8 bits - so two x8 chips with
>     a 512-byte buffer are told 255 words and are still sent 512 bytes
>     each. device_type is also immune to map_bankwidth_is_1() compiling to
>     a constant 0 when CONFIG_MTD_MAP_BANK_WIDTH_1 is off. Caught by the
>     Sashiko review bot.
>
> diff --git a/drivers/mtd/chips/cfi_cmdset_0002.c b/drivers/mtd/chips/cfi_cmdset_0002.c
> --- a/drivers/mtd/chips/cfi_cmdset_0002.c
> +++ b/drivers/mtd/chips/cfi_cmdset_0002.c
> @@ -283,6 +283,21 @@ static void fixup_use_write_buffers(struct mtd_info *mtd)
>  		pr_debug("Using buffer write method\n");
>  		mtd->_write = cfi_amdstd_write_buffers;
>  	}
> +
> +	/*
> +	 * The word count of the Write to Buffer command is a single bus
> +	 * word per device, so an x8 device can be told to program at most
> +	 * 256 bytes however large a buffer it advertises - including when
> +	 * several of them are interleaved on a wider bus, where CMD()
> +	 * replicates the count into each device's lane and it is truncated
> +	 * there.
> +	 */
> +	if (cfi->device_type == CFI_DEVICETYPE_X8 &&
> +	    cfi->cfiq->MaxBufWriteSize > 8) {
> +		cfi->cfiq->MaxBufWriteSize = 8;
> +		mtd->writebufsize = cfi_interleave(cfi) <<
> +				    cfi->cfiq->MaxBufWriteSize;

Ideally, I'd like feedback from Vignesh on this.

Thanks,
Miquèl

Re: [PATCH v2] mtd: cfi_cmdset_0002: cap the write-buffer chunk at 256 bytes on an x8 device

Posted by Orgad Shaneh 1 week, 1 day ago

Hi Miquel,

Thanks for the review. v3 sent as a reply to v2.

> This sentence does not mean anything, I'm sorry.

Rewritten: the count goes out as a single bus word, CMD() replicates it
into every device lane, and an x8 part reads it off eight data lines, so
anything above 255 is truncated there.

> failed? do you have hardware that actually triggered that issue?

Yes - a Cavium Octeon CN6335 board whose NOR is an M29EW strapped to x8.
The log in the commit message is from it, and the clamp fixes it. v3
names the board.

> That's incorrect. It indicates until when we need to backport it.

Added. I checked the code is really there: 1da177e4c3f4 already sends
CMD(words - 1) and already takes the chunk size from MaxBufWriteSize.

Vignesh is on To: for v3.

Thanks,
Orgad

Re: [PATCH v2] mtd: cfi_cmdset_0002: cap the write-buffer chunk at 256 bytes on an x8 device

Posted by Miquel Raynal 1 week ago

On 16/09/2026 at 16:27:45 GMT, Orgad Shaneh <orgads@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Miquel,
>
> Thanks for the review. v3 sent as a reply to v2.
>
>> This sentence does not mean anything, I'm sorry.
>
> Rewritten: the count goes out as a single bus word, CMD() replicates it
> into every device lane, and an x8 part reads it off eight data lines, so
> anything above 255 is truncated there.
>
>> failed? do you have hardware that actually triggered that issue?
>
> Yes - a Cavium Octeon CN6335 board whose NOR is an M29EW strapped to x8.
> The log in the commit message is from it, and the clamp fixes it. v3
> names the board.

Ok, this matters a lot to me today, because we get dozens and dozens of
hardening changes which do not always have an actual reality. If you fix
a real problem you encountered, that's relevant.

>
>> That's incorrect. It indicates until when we need to backport it.
>
> Added. I checked the code is really there: 1da177e4c3f4 already sends
> CMD(words - 1) and already takes the chunk size from MaxBufWriteSize.
>
> Vignesh is on To: for v3.

You should use checkpatch.pl or b4's option --auto-to-cc to create the Cc
list.

Thanks for the v3.

Miquèl

[PATCH v3] mtd: cfi_cmdset_0002: cap the write-buffer chunk at 256 bytes on an x8 device

Posted by Orgad Shaneh 1 week, 1 day ago

The Write to Buffer command takes the number of words to program minus
one, and do_write_buffer() sends that count as a single bus word:

	map_write(map, CMD(words - 1), cmd_adr);

CMD() replicates the value into every device lane, so each device reads
the count off its own data lines - eight of them on an x8 part. A count
that does not fit in eight bits is truncated there, which limits one
Write to Buffer to 256 words on an x8 device, however large a buffer the
chip advertises in its CFI query.

The M29EW on a Cavium Octeon CN6335 board (an x16 part strapped to x8)
advertises MaxBufWriteSize = 512 bytes, so cfi_amdstd_write_buffers()
split the data into 512-byte chunks and do_write_buffer() sent a count of
511. The chip saw 511 & 0xff = 255, expected 256 bytes, and aborted the
program when the 257th arrived. Chunks below 256 bytes - the leading
partial chunk of a write - completed normally, so only the full-size ones
failed:

  MTD do_write_buffer_wait(): software timeout, address:0x03278bff.
  jffs2: Write of 4164 bytes at 0x02c789b4 failed. returned -5, retlen 68
  jffs2: No space for garbage collection. Aborting GC thread

Clamp MaxBufWriteSize for x8 devices in the write-buffer fixup, and
recompute mtd->writebufsize, which cfi_cmdset_0002_setup() derives from
MaxBufWriteSize before the fixups run.

The clamp deliberately keys off the device width rather than the part,
even though the driver already recognises this one in is_m29ew(): the
ceiling comes from the width of a device's data bus, not from the chip,
so any x8 device advertising a larger buffer is told a count it cannot
receive. The M29EW is only where it was found.

Fixes: 1da177e4c3f4 ("Linux-2.6.12-rc2")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-5
Signed-off-by: Orgad Shaneh <orgads@gmail.com>
---

v3: rewrite the description - the v2 wording of the failure was not
    comprehensible (Miquel). Name the board it was found on: the failure
    is not theoretical, the log above is from that board and the clamp
    fixes it. Add the Fixes: tag - do_write_buffer() already sent
    CMD(words - 1) in 1da177e4c3f4, so the first git commit is where the
    backport has to reach.

v2: test the device width (cfi->device_type) instead of the aggregate bus
    width. map_bankwidth_is_1() is false for x8 devices interleaved on a
    wider bus, which have the same 256-byte ceiling: do_write_buffer()
    sends CMD(words - 1), and CMD() replicates that count into each
    device's lane, where it is truncated to 8 bits - so two x8 chips with
    a 512-byte buffer are told 255 words and are still sent 512 bytes
    each. device_type is also immune to map_bankwidth_is_1() compiling to
    a constant 0 when CONFIG_MTD_MAP_BANK_WIDTH_1 is off. Caught by the
    Sashiko review bot.

diff --git a/drivers/mtd/chips/cfi_cmdset_0002.c b/drivers/mtd/chips/cfi_cmdset_0002.c
--- a/drivers/mtd/chips/cfi_cmdset_0002.c
+++ b/drivers/mtd/chips/cfi_cmdset_0002.c
@@ -283,6 +283,21 @@ static void fixup_use_write_buffers(struct mtd_info *mtd)
 		pr_debug("Using buffer write method\n");
 		mtd->_write = cfi_amdstd_write_buffers;
 	}
+
+	/*
+	 * The word count of the Write to Buffer command is a single bus
+	 * word per device, so an x8 device can be told to program at most
+	 * 256 bytes however large a buffer it advertises - including when
+	 * several of them are interleaved on a wider bus, where CMD()
+	 * replicates the count into each device's lane and it is truncated
+	 * there.
+	 */
+	if (cfi->device_type == CFI_DEVICETYPE_X8 &&
+	    cfi->cfiq->MaxBufWriteSize > 8) {
+		cfi->cfiq->MaxBufWriteSize = 8;
+		mtd->writebufsize = cfi_interleave(cfi) <<
+				    cfi->cfiq->MaxBufWriteSize;
+	}
 }
 #endif /* !FORCE_WORD_WRITE */
 
-- 
2.47.0