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authorPaul E. McKenney <paulmck@kernel.org>2026-08-14 15:43:51 -0700
committerPaul E. McKenney <paulmck@kernel.org>2026-08-14 15:43:51 -0700
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Merge branches 'expcb.2026.07.24a', 'misc.2026.07.30a', 'rcu-tasks.2026.07.30a', 'srcu.2026.08.11a' and 'torture.2026.08.14a' into HEADgrafted
Changes: Make expedited grace periods expedite normal RCU callbacks Miscellaneous fixes: * Improve diagnostic output with character task states. * Mark accesses to inform KCSAN of concurrency design. * Move from kmalloc() to kmalloc_obj(). * Documentation updates. * Improve handling of RCU deferred quiescent states. * Clean up unused function arguments and structure fields. * Reduce show_rcu_gp_kthreads() stack space. Tasks RCU updates: * Clean up after SRCU re-implementation of Tasks Trace RCU. * Mark accesses to inform KCSAN of concurrency design. * Add ->lazy_timer status to diagnostic output. * Remove an unnecessary memory barrier. * Fix a data race, courtesy of KCSAN. * Documentation updates. * Convert cond_resched_tasks_rcu_qs() from macro to static inline function. SRCU updates: * Add Rust helpers for SRCU. * Avoid losing queued work at cleanup_srcu_struct() time. Torture-test updates: * Preparation work for immediate RCU priority deboosting. * Test RCU readers from real interrupt handlers (as opposed to softirq). * Simplify code through use of cpumask_next_wrap(). * Improve diagnostic output with character task states. * Add rcutorture.nwriters parameter to allow lightweight stall testing, and rcutorture.stall_only to make doing so easier. * Test an RCU Tasks Trace grace period implying an RCU grace period. * Make RCU Tasks Trace torturing track reader batches. * Fix a data race, courtesy of KCSAN. * Plug a shuffle_tmp_mask memory leak on kthread spawn failure.
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+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+============================================
+Debugging advice for Linux Kernel developers
+============================================
+
+general guides
+--------------
+
+.. toctree::
+ :maxdepth: 1
+
+ driver_development_debugging_guide
+ gdb-kernel-debugging
+ kgdb
+ userspace_debugging_guide
+
+subsystem specific guides
+-------------------------
+
+.. toctree::
+ :maxdepth: 1
+
+ media_specific_debugging_guide
+
+General debugging advice
+========================
+
+Depending on the issue, a different set of tools is available to track down the
+problem or even to realize whether there is one in the first place.
+
+As a first step you have to figure out what kind of issue you want to debug.
+Depending on the answer, your methodology and choice of tools may vary.
+
+Do I need to debug with limited access?
+---------------------------------------
+
+Do you have limited access to the machine or are you unable to stop the running
+execution?
+
+In this case your debugging capability depends on built-in debugging support of
+provided distribution kernel.
+The :doc:`/process/debugging/userspace_debugging_guide` provides a brief
+overview over a range of possible debugging tools in that situation. You can
+check the capability of your kernel, in most cases, by looking into config file
+within the /boot directory.
+
+Do I have root access to the system?
+------------------------------------
+
+Are you easily able to replace the module in question or to install a new
+kernel?
+
+In that case your range of available tools is a lot bigger, you can find the
+tools in the :doc:`/process/debugging/driver_development_debugging_guide`.
+
+Is timing a factor?
+-------------------
+
+It is important to understand if the problem you want to debug manifests itself
+consistently (i.e. given a set of inputs you always get the same, incorrect
+output), or inconsistently. If it manifests itself inconsistently, some timing
+factor might be at play. If inserting delays into the code does change the
+behavior, then quite likely timing is a factor.
+
+When timing does alter the outcome of the code execution using a simple
+printk() for debugging purposes may not work, a similar alternative is to use
+trace_printk() , which logs the debug messages to the trace file instead of the
+kernel log.
+
+**Copyright** ©2024 : Collabora