[PATCHv4 00/14] mm: Eliminate fake head pages from vmemmap optimization

[PATCHv4 00/14] mm: Eliminate fake head pages from vmemmap optimization

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

This series removes "fake head pages" from the HugeTLB vmemmap
optimization (HVO) by changing how tail pages encode their relationship
to the head page.

It simplifies compound_head() and page_ref_add_unless(). Both are in the
hot path.

Background
==========

HVO reduces memory overhead by freeing vmemmap pages for HugeTLB pages
and remapping the freed virtual addresses to a single physical page.
Previously, all tail page vmemmap entries were remapped to the first
vmemmap page (containing the head struct page), creating "fake heads" -
tail pages that appear to have PG_head set when accessed through the
deduplicated vmemmap.

This required special handling in compound_head() to detect and work
around fake heads, adding complexity and overhead to a very hot path.

New Approach
============

For architectures/configs where sizeof(struct page) is a power of 2 (the
common case), this series changes how position of the head page is encoded
in the tail pages.

Instead of storing a pointer to the head page, the ->compound_info
(renamed from ->compound_head) now stores a mask.

The mask can be applied to any tail page's virtual address to compute
the head page address. Critically, all tail pages of the same order now
have identical compound_info values, regardless of which compound page
they belong to.

The key insight is that all tail pages of the same order now have
identical compound_info values, regardless of which compound page they
belong to. This allows a single page of tail struct pages to be shared
across all huge pages of the same order on a NUMA node.

Benefits
========

1. Simplified compound_head(): No fake head detection needed, can be
   implemented in a branchless manner.

2. Simplified page_ref_add_unless(): RCU protection removed since there's
   no race with fake head remapping.

3. Cleaner architecture: The shared tail pages are truly read-only and
   contain valid tail page metadata.

If sizeof(struct page) is not power-of-2, there are no functional changes.
HVO is not supported in this configuration.

I had hoped to see performance improvement, but my testing thus far has
shown either no change or only a slight improvement within the noise.

Series Organization
===================

Patch 1: Preparation - move MAX_FOLIO_ORDER to mmzone.h
Patches 2-4: Refactoring - interface changes, field rename, code movement
Patch 5: Core change - new mask-based compound_head() encoding
Patch 6: Correctness fix - page_zonenum() must use head page
Patch 7: Add memmap alignment check for compound_info_has_mask()
Patch 8: Refactor vmemmap_walk for new design
Patch 9: Eliminate fake heads with shared tail pages
Patches 10-13: Cleanup - remove fake head infrastructure
Patch 14: Documentation update

Changes in v4:
==============
  - Fix build issues due to linux/mmzone.h <-> linux/pgtable.h
    dependency loop by avoiding including linux/pgtable.h into
    linux/mmzone.h

  - Rework vmemmap_remap_alloc() interface. (Muchun)

  - Use &folio->page instead of folio address for optimization
    target. (Muchun)

Changes in v3:
==============
  - Fixed error recovery path in vmemmap_remap_free() to pass correct start
    address for TLB flush. (Muchun)

  - Wrapped the mask-based compound_info encoding within CONFIG_SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP
    check via compound_info_has_mask(). For other memory models, alignment
    guarantees are harder to verify. (Muchun)

  - Updated vmemmap_dedup.rst documentation wording: changed "vmemmap_tail
    shared for the struct hstate" to "A single, per-node page frame shared
    among all hugepages of the same size". (Muchun)

  - Fixed build error with MAX_FOLIO_ORDER expanding to undefined PUD_ORDER
    in certain configurations. (kernel test robot)

Changes in v2:
==============

- Handle boot-allocated huge pages correctly. (Frank)

- Changed from per-hstate vmemmap_tail to per-node vmemmap_tails[] array
  in pglist_data. (Muchun)

- Added spin_lock(&hugetlb_lock) protection in vmemmap_get_tail() to fix
  a race condition where two threads could both allocate tail pages.
  The losing thread now properly frees its allocated page. (Usama)

- Add warning if memmap is not aligned to MAX_FOLIO_SIZE, which is
  required for the mask approach. (Muchun)

- Make page_zonenum() use head page - correctness fix since shared
  tail pages cannot have valid zone information. (Muchun)

- Added 'const' qualifier to head parameter in set_compound_head() and
  prep_compound_tail(). (Usama)

- Updated commit messages.

Kiryl Shutsemau (14):
  mm: Move MAX_FOLIO_ORDER definition to mmzone.h
  mm: Change the interface of prep_compound_tail()
  mm: Rename the 'compound_head' field in the 'struct page' to
    'compound_info'
  mm: Move set/clear_compound_head() next to compound_head()
  mm: Rework compound_head() for power-of-2 sizeof(struct page)
  mm: Make page_zonenum() use head page
  mm/sparse: Check memmap alignment for compound_info_has_mask()
  mm/hugetlb: Refactor code around vmemmap_walk
  mm/hugetlb: Remove fake head pages
  mm: Drop fake head checks
  hugetlb: Remove VMEMMAP_SYNCHRONIZE_RCU
  mm/hugetlb: Remove hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key static key
  mm: Remove the branch from compound_head()
  hugetlb: Update vmemmap_dedup.rst

 .../admin-guide/kdump/vmcoreinfo.rst          |   2 +-
 Documentation/mm/vmemmap_dedup.rst            |  62 ++--
 include/linux/mm.h                            |  31 --
 include/linux/mm_types.h                      |  20 +-
 include/linux/mmzone.h                        |  47 +++
 include/linux/page-flags.h                    | 167 +++++-----
 include/linux/page_ref.h                      |   8 +-
 include/linux/types.h                         |   2 +-
 kernel/vmcore_info.c                          |   2 +-
 mm/hugetlb.c                                  |   8 +-
 mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c                          | 300 ++++++++----------
 mm/internal.h                                 |  12 +-
 mm/mm_init.c                                  |   2 +-
 mm/page_alloc.c                               |   4 +-
 mm/slab.h                                     |   2 +-
 mm/sparse-vmemmap.c                           |  44 ++-
 mm/sparse.c                                   |   5 +
 mm/util.c                                     |  16 +-
 18 files changed, 369 insertions(+), 365 deletions(-)

-- 
2.51.2

[PATCHv4 01/14] mm: Move MAX_FOLIO_ORDER definition to mmzone.h

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

Move MAX_FOLIO_ORDER definition from mm.h to mmzone.h.

This is preparation for adding the vmemmap_tails array to struct
pglist_data, which requires MAX_FOLIO_ORDER to be available in mmzone.h.

Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
Acked-by: David Hildenbrand (Red Hat) <david@kernel.org>
---
 include/linux/mm.h     | 31 -------------------------------
 include/linux/mmzone.h | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 31 insertions(+), 31 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/linux/mm.h b/include/linux/mm.h
index 7c79b3369b82..2c409f583569 100644
--- a/include/linux/mm.h
+++ b/include/linux/mm.h
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 #include <linux/page-flags.h>
 #include <linux/page_ref.h>
 #include <linux/overflow.h>
-#include <linux/sizes.h>
 #include <linux/sched.h>
 #include <linux/pgtable.h>
 #include <linux/kasan.h>
@@ -2074,36 +2073,6 @@ static inline unsigned long folio_nr_pages(const struct folio *folio)
 	return folio_large_nr_pages(folio);
 }
 
-#if !defined(CONFIG_HAVE_GIGANTIC_FOLIOS)
-/*
- * We don't expect any folios that exceed buddy sizes (and consequently
- * memory sections).
- */
-#define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER		MAX_PAGE_ORDER
-#elif defined(CONFIG_SPARSEMEM) && !defined(CONFIG_SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP)
-/*
- * Only pages within a single memory section are guaranteed to be
- * contiguous. By limiting folios to a single memory section, all folio
- * pages are guaranteed to be contiguous.
- */
-#define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER		PFN_SECTION_SHIFT
-#elif defined(CONFIG_HUGETLB_PAGE)
-/*
- * There is no real limit on the folio size. We limit them to the maximum we
- * currently expect (see CONFIG_HAVE_GIGANTIC_FOLIOS): with hugetlb, we expect
- * no folios larger than 16 GiB on 64bit and 1 GiB on 32bit.
- */
-#define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER		get_order(IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_64BIT) ? SZ_16G : SZ_1G)
-#else
-/*
- * Without hugetlb, gigantic folios that are bigger than a single PUD are
- * currently impossible.
- */
-#define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER		PUD_ORDER
-#endif
-
-#define MAX_FOLIO_NR_PAGES	(1UL << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
-
 /*
  * compound_nr() returns the number of pages in this potentially compound
  * page.  compound_nr() can be called on a tail page, and is defined to
diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
index 7fb7331c5725..6cfede39570a 100644
--- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
+++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #include <linux/page-flags.h>
 #include <linux/local_lock.h>
 #include <linux/zswap.h>
+#include <linux/sizes.h>
 #include <asm/page.h>
 
 /* Free memory management - zoned buddy allocator.  */
@@ -61,6 +62,36 @@
  */
 #define PAGE_ALLOC_COSTLY_ORDER 3
 
+#if !defined(CONFIG_HAVE_GIGANTIC_FOLIOS)
+/*
+ * We don't expect any folios that exceed buddy sizes (and consequently
+ * memory sections).
+ */
+#define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER		MAX_PAGE_ORDER
+#elif defined(CONFIG_SPARSEMEM) && !defined(CONFIG_SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP)
+/*
+ * Only pages within a single memory section are guaranteed to be
+ * contiguous. By limiting folios to a single memory section, all folio
+ * pages are guaranteed to be contiguous.
+ */
+#define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER		PFN_SECTION_SHIFT
+#elif defined(CONFIG_HUGETLB_PAGE)
+/*
+ * There is no real limit on the folio size. We limit them to the maximum we
+ * currently expect (see CONFIG_HAVE_GIGANTIC_FOLIOS): with hugetlb, we expect
+ * no folios larger than 16 GiB on 64bit and 1 GiB on 32bit.
+ */
+#define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER		get_order(IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_64BIT) ? SZ_16G : SZ_1G)
+#else
+/*
+ * Without hugetlb, gigantic folios that are bigger than a single PUD are
+ * currently impossible.
+ */
+#define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER		PUD_ORDER
+#endif
+
+#define MAX_FOLIO_NR_PAGES	(1UL << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
+
 enum migratetype {
 	MIGRATE_UNMOVABLE,
 	MIGRATE_MOVABLE,
-- 
2.51.2

Re: [PATCHv4 01/14] mm: Move MAX_FOLIO_ORDER definition to mmzone.h

[Zi Yan]

On 21 Jan 2026, at 11:22, Kiryl Shutsemau wrote:

> Move MAX_FOLIO_ORDER definition from mm.h to mmzone.h.
>
> This is preparation for adding the vmemmap_tails array to struct
> pglist_data, which requires MAX_FOLIO_ORDER to be available in mmzone.h.
>
> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
> Acked-by: David Hildenbrand (Red Hat) <david@kernel.org>
> ---
>  include/linux/mm.h     | 31 -------------------------------
>  include/linux/mmzone.h | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  2 files changed, 31 insertions(+), 31 deletions(-)
>
Acked-by: Zi Yan <ziy@nvidia.com>

Best Regards,
Yan, Zi

Re: [PATCHv4 01/14] mm: Move MAX_FOLIO_ORDER definition to mmzone.h

[Muchun Song]

> On Jan 22, 2026, at 00:22, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> 
> Move MAX_FOLIO_ORDER definition from mm.h to mmzone.h.
> 
> This is preparation for adding the vmemmap_tails array to struct
> pglist_data, which requires MAX_FOLIO_ORDER to be available in mmzone.h.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
> Acked-by: David Hildenbrand (Red Hat) <david@kernel.org>

Acked-by: Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev>

[PATCHv4 02/14] mm: Change the interface of prep_compound_tail()

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

Instead of passing down the head page and tail page index, pass the tail
and head pages directly, as well as the order of the compound page.

This is a preparation for changing how the head position is encoded in
the tail page.

Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev>
---
 include/linux/page-flags.h |  4 +++-
 mm/hugetlb.c               |  8 +++++---
 mm/internal.h              | 12 ++++++------
 mm/mm_init.c               |  2 +-
 mm/page_alloc.c            |  2 +-
 5 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/linux/page-flags.h b/include/linux/page-flags.h
index 0091ad1986bf..d4952573a4af 100644
--- a/include/linux/page-flags.h
+++ b/include/linux/page-flags.h
@@ -865,7 +865,9 @@ static inline bool folio_test_large(const struct folio *folio)
 	return folio_test_head(folio);
 }
 
-static __always_inline void set_compound_head(struct page *page, struct page *head)
+static __always_inline void set_compound_head(struct page *page,
+					      const struct page *head,
+					      unsigned int order)
 {
 	WRITE_ONCE(page->compound_head, (unsigned long)head + 1);
 }
diff --git a/mm/hugetlb.c b/mm/hugetlb.c
index 0455119716ec..a55d638975bd 100644
--- a/mm/hugetlb.c
+++ b/mm/hugetlb.c
@@ -3212,6 +3212,7 @@ int __alloc_bootmem_huge_page(struct hstate *h, int nid)
 
 /* Initialize [start_page:end_page_number] tail struct pages of a hugepage */
 static void __init hugetlb_folio_init_tail_vmemmap(struct folio *folio,
+					struct hstate *h,
 					unsigned long start_page_number,
 					unsigned long end_page_number)
 {
@@ -3220,6 +3221,7 @@ static void __init hugetlb_folio_init_tail_vmemmap(struct folio *folio,
 	struct page *page = folio_page(folio, start_page_number);
 	unsigned long head_pfn = folio_pfn(folio);
 	unsigned long pfn, end_pfn = head_pfn + end_page_number;
+	unsigned int order = huge_page_order(h);
 
 	/*
 	 * As we marked all tail pages with memblock_reserved_mark_noinit(),
@@ -3227,7 +3229,7 @@ static void __init hugetlb_folio_init_tail_vmemmap(struct folio *folio,
 	 */
 	for (pfn = head_pfn + start_page_number; pfn < end_pfn; page++, pfn++) {
 		__init_single_page(page, pfn, zone, nid);
-		prep_compound_tail((struct page *)folio, pfn - head_pfn);
+		prep_compound_tail(page, &folio->page, order);
 		set_page_count(page, 0);
 	}
 }
@@ -3247,7 +3249,7 @@ static void __init hugetlb_folio_init_vmemmap(struct folio *folio,
 	__folio_set_head(folio);
 	ret = folio_ref_freeze(folio, 1);
 	VM_BUG_ON(!ret);
-	hugetlb_folio_init_tail_vmemmap(folio, 1, nr_pages);
+	hugetlb_folio_init_tail_vmemmap(folio, h, 1, nr_pages);
 	prep_compound_head((struct page *)folio, huge_page_order(h));
 }
 
@@ -3304,7 +3306,7 @@ static void __init prep_and_add_bootmem_folios(struct hstate *h,
 			 * time as this is early in boot and there should
 			 * be no contention.
 			 */
-			hugetlb_folio_init_tail_vmemmap(folio,
+			hugetlb_folio_init_tail_vmemmap(folio, h,
 					HUGETLB_VMEMMAP_RESERVE_PAGES,
 					pages_per_huge_page(h));
 		}
diff --git a/mm/internal.h b/mm/internal.h
index 1561fc2ff5b8..f385370256b9 100644
--- a/mm/internal.h
+++ b/mm/internal.h
@@ -810,13 +810,13 @@ static inline void prep_compound_head(struct page *page, unsigned int order)
 		INIT_LIST_HEAD(&folio->_deferred_list);
 }
 
-static inline void prep_compound_tail(struct page *head, int tail_idx)
+static inline void prep_compound_tail(struct page *tail,
+				      const struct page *head,
+				      unsigned int order)
 {
-	struct page *p = head + tail_idx;
-
-	p->mapping = TAIL_MAPPING;
-	set_compound_head(p, head);
-	set_page_private(p, 0);
+	tail->mapping = TAIL_MAPPING;
+	set_compound_head(tail, head, order);
+	set_page_private(tail, 0);
 }
 
 void post_alloc_hook(struct page *page, unsigned int order, gfp_t gfp_flags);
diff --git a/mm/mm_init.c b/mm/mm_init.c
index 7712d887b696..87d1e0277318 100644
--- a/mm/mm_init.c
+++ b/mm/mm_init.c
@@ -1102,7 +1102,7 @@ static void __ref memmap_init_compound(struct page *head,
 		struct page *page = pfn_to_page(pfn);
 
 		__init_zone_device_page(page, pfn, zone_idx, nid, pgmap);
-		prep_compound_tail(head, pfn - head_pfn);
+		prep_compound_tail(page, head, order);
 		set_page_count(page, 0);
 	}
 	prep_compound_head(head, order);
diff --git a/mm/page_alloc.c b/mm/page_alloc.c
index ed82ee55e66a..fe77c00c99df 100644
--- a/mm/page_alloc.c
+++ b/mm/page_alloc.c
@@ -717,7 +717,7 @@ void prep_compound_page(struct page *page, unsigned int order)
 
 	__SetPageHead(page);
 	for (i = 1; i < nr_pages; i++)
-		prep_compound_tail(page, i);
+		prep_compound_tail(page + i, page, order);
 
 	prep_compound_head(page, order);
 }
-- 
2.51.2

Re: [PATCHv4 02/14] mm: Change the interface of prep_compound_tail()

[Zi Yan]

On 21 Jan 2026, at 11:22, Kiryl Shutsemau wrote:

> Instead of passing down the head page and tail page index, pass the tail
> and head pages directly, as well as the order of the compound page.
>
> This is a preparation for changing how the head position is encoded in
> the tail page.
>
> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
> Reviewed-by: Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev>
> ---
>  include/linux/page-flags.h |  4 +++-
>  mm/hugetlb.c               |  8 +++++---
>  mm/internal.h              | 12 ++++++------
>  mm/mm_init.c               |  2 +-
>  mm/page_alloc.c            |  2 +-
>  5 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)
>
Reviewed-by: Zi Yan <ziy@nvidia.com>

Best Regards,
Yan, Zi

[PATCHv4 03/14] mm: Rename the 'compound_head' field in the 'struct page' to 'compound_info'

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

The 'compound_head' field in the 'struct page' encodes whether the page
is a tail and where to locate the head page. Bit 0 is set if the page is
a tail, and the remaining bits in the field point to the head page.

As preparation for changing how the field encodes information about the
head page, rename the field to 'compound_info'.

Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev>
---
 .../admin-guide/kdump/vmcoreinfo.rst          |  2 +-
 Documentation/mm/vmemmap_dedup.rst            |  6 +++---
 include/linux/mm_types.h                      | 20 +++++++++----------
 include/linux/page-flags.h                    | 18 ++++++++---------
 include/linux/types.h                         |  2 +-
 kernel/vmcore_info.c                          |  2 +-
 mm/page_alloc.c                               |  2 +-
 mm/slab.h                                     |  2 +-
 mm/util.c                                     |  2 +-
 9 files changed, 28 insertions(+), 28 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/kdump/vmcoreinfo.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/kdump/vmcoreinfo.rst
index 404a15f6782c..7663c610fe90 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/kdump/vmcoreinfo.rst
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/kdump/vmcoreinfo.rst
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ nodemask_t
 The size of a nodemask_t type. Used to compute the number of online
 nodes.
 
-(page, flags|_refcount|mapping|lru|_mapcount|private|compound_order|compound_head)
+(page, flags|_refcount|mapping|lru|_mapcount|private|compound_order|compound_info)
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 User-space tools compute their values based on the offset of these
diff --git a/Documentation/mm/vmemmap_dedup.rst b/Documentation/mm/vmemmap_dedup.rst
index b4a55b6569fa..1863d88d2dcb 100644
--- a/Documentation/mm/vmemmap_dedup.rst
+++ b/Documentation/mm/vmemmap_dedup.rst
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ For each base page, there is a corresponding ``struct page``.
 Within the HugeTLB subsystem, only the first 4 ``struct page`` are used to
 contain unique information about a HugeTLB page. ``__NR_USED_SUBPAGE`` provides
 this upper limit. The only 'useful' information in the remaining ``struct page``
-is the compound_head field, and this field is the same for all tail pages.
+is the compound_info field, and this field is the same for all tail pages.
 
 By removing redundant ``struct page`` for HugeTLB pages, memory can be returned
 to the buddy allocator for other uses.
@@ -124,10 +124,10 @@ Here is how things look before optimization::
  |           |
  +-----------+
 
-The value of page->compound_head is the same for all tail pages. The first
+The value of page->compound_info is the same for all tail pages. The first
 page of ``struct page`` (page 0) associated with the HugeTLB page contains the 4
 ``struct page`` necessary to describe the HugeTLB. The only use of the remaining
-pages of ``struct page`` (page 1 to page 7) is to point to page->compound_head.
+pages of ``struct page`` (page 1 to page 7) is to point to page->compound_info.
 Therefore, we can remap pages 1 to 7 to page 0. Only 1 page of ``struct page``
 will be used for each HugeTLB page. This will allow us to free the remaining
 7 pages to the buddy allocator.
diff --git a/include/linux/mm_types.h b/include/linux/mm_types.h
index 90e5790c318f..a94683272869 100644
--- a/include/linux/mm_types.h
+++ b/include/linux/mm_types.h
@@ -125,14 +125,14 @@ struct page {
 			atomic_long_t pp_ref_count;
 		};
 		struct {	/* Tail pages of compound page */
-			unsigned long compound_head;	/* Bit zero is set */
+			unsigned long compound_info;	/* Bit zero is set */
 		};
 		struct {	/* ZONE_DEVICE pages */
 			/*
-			 * The first word is used for compound_head or folio
+			 * The first word is used for compound_info or folio
 			 * pgmap
 			 */
-			void *_unused_pgmap_compound_head;
+			void *_unused_pgmap_compound_info;
 			void *zone_device_data;
 			/*
 			 * ZONE_DEVICE private pages are counted as being
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ struct folio {
 	/* private: avoid cluttering the output */
 				/* For the Unevictable "LRU list" slot */
 				struct {
-					/* Avoid compound_head */
+					/* Avoid compound_info */
 					void *__filler;
 	/* public: */
 					unsigned int mlock_count;
@@ -484,7 +484,7 @@ struct folio {
 FOLIO_MATCH(flags, flags);
 FOLIO_MATCH(lru, lru);
 FOLIO_MATCH(mapping, mapping);
-FOLIO_MATCH(compound_head, lru);
+FOLIO_MATCH(compound_info, lru);
 FOLIO_MATCH(__folio_index, index);
 FOLIO_MATCH(private, private);
 FOLIO_MATCH(_mapcount, _mapcount);
@@ -503,7 +503,7 @@ FOLIO_MATCH(_last_cpupid, _last_cpupid);
 	static_assert(offsetof(struct folio, fl) ==			\
 			offsetof(struct page, pg) + sizeof(struct page))
 FOLIO_MATCH(flags, _flags_1);
-FOLIO_MATCH(compound_head, _head_1);
+FOLIO_MATCH(compound_info, _head_1);
 FOLIO_MATCH(_mapcount, _mapcount_1);
 FOLIO_MATCH(_refcount, _refcount_1);
 #undef FOLIO_MATCH
@@ -511,13 +511,13 @@ FOLIO_MATCH(_refcount, _refcount_1);
 	static_assert(offsetof(struct folio, fl) ==			\
 			offsetof(struct page, pg) + 2 * sizeof(struct page))
 FOLIO_MATCH(flags, _flags_2);
-FOLIO_MATCH(compound_head, _head_2);
+FOLIO_MATCH(compound_info, _head_2);
 #undef FOLIO_MATCH
 #define FOLIO_MATCH(pg, fl)						\
 	static_assert(offsetof(struct folio, fl) ==			\
 			offsetof(struct page, pg) + 3 * sizeof(struct page))
 FOLIO_MATCH(flags, _flags_3);
-FOLIO_MATCH(compound_head, _head_3);
+FOLIO_MATCH(compound_info, _head_3);
 #undef FOLIO_MATCH
 
 /**
@@ -583,8 +583,8 @@ struct ptdesc {
 #define TABLE_MATCH(pg, pt)						\
 	static_assert(offsetof(struct page, pg) == offsetof(struct ptdesc, pt))
 TABLE_MATCH(flags, pt_flags);
-TABLE_MATCH(compound_head, pt_list);
-TABLE_MATCH(compound_head, _pt_pad_1);
+TABLE_MATCH(compound_info, pt_list);
+TABLE_MATCH(compound_info, _pt_pad_1);
 TABLE_MATCH(mapping, __page_mapping);
 TABLE_MATCH(__folio_index, pt_index);
 TABLE_MATCH(rcu_head, pt_rcu_head);
diff --git a/include/linux/page-flags.h b/include/linux/page-flags.h
index d4952573a4af..72c933a43b6a 100644
--- a/include/linux/page-flags.h
+++ b/include/linux/page-flags.h
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ static __always_inline const struct page *page_fixed_fake_head(const struct page
 	/*
 	 * Only addresses aligned with PAGE_SIZE of struct page may be fake head
 	 * struct page. The alignment check aims to avoid access the fields (
-	 * e.g. compound_head) of the @page[1]. It can avoid touch a (possibly)
+	 * e.g. compound_info) of the @page[1]. It can avoid touch a (possibly)
 	 * cold cacheline in some cases.
 	 */
 	if (IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)page, PAGE_SIZE) &&
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ static __always_inline const struct page *page_fixed_fake_head(const struct page
 		 * because the @page is a compound page composed with at least
 		 * two contiguous pages.
 		 */
-		unsigned long head = READ_ONCE(page[1].compound_head);
+		unsigned long head = READ_ONCE(page[1].compound_info);
 
 		if (likely(head & 1))
 			return (const struct page *)(head - 1);
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ static __always_inline int page_is_fake_head(const struct page *page)
 
 static __always_inline unsigned long _compound_head(const struct page *page)
 {
-	unsigned long head = READ_ONCE(page->compound_head);
+	unsigned long head = READ_ONCE(page->compound_info);
 
 	if (unlikely(head & 1))
 		return head - 1;
@@ -320,13 +320,13 @@ static __always_inline unsigned long _compound_head(const struct page *page)
 
 static __always_inline int PageTail(const struct page *page)
 {
-	return READ_ONCE(page->compound_head) & 1 || page_is_fake_head(page);
+	return READ_ONCE(page->compound_info) & 1 || page_is_fake_head(page);
 }
 
 static __always_inline int PageCompound(const struct page *page)
 {
 	return test_bit(PG_head, &page->flags.f) ||
-	       READ_ONCE(page->compound_head) & 1;
+	       READ_ONCE(page->compound_info) & 1;
 }
 
 #define	PAGE_POISON_PATTERN	-1l
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ static const unsigned long *const_folio_flags(const struct folio *folio,
 {
 	const struct page *page = &folio->page;
 
-	VM_BUG_ON_PGFLAGS(page->compound_head & 1, page);
+	VM_BUG_ON_PGFLAGS(page->compound_info & 1, page);
 	VM_BUG_ON_PGFLAGS(n > 0 && !test_bit(PG_head, &page->flags.f), page);
 	return &page[n].flags.f;
 }
@@ -357,7 +357,7 @@ static unsigned long *folio_flags(struct folio *folio, unsigned n)
 {
 	struct page *page = &folio->page;
 
-	VM_BUG_ON_PGFLAGS(page->compound_head & 1, page);
+	VM_BUG_ON_PGFLAGS(page->compound_info & 1, page);
 	VM_BUG_ON_PGFLAGS(n > 0 && !test_bit(PG_head, &page->flags.f), page);
 	return &page[n].flags.f;
 }
@@ -869,12 +869,12 @@ static __always_inline void set_compound_head(struct page *page,
 					      const struct page *head,
 					      unsigned int order)
 {
-	WRITE_ONCE(page->compound_head, (unsigned long)head + 1);
+	WRITE_ONCE(page->compound_info, (unsigned long)head + 1);
 }
 
 static __always_inline void clear_compound_head(struct page *page)
 {
-	WRITE_ONCE(page->compound_head, 0);
+	WRITE_ONCE(page->compound_info, 0);
 }
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_TRANSPARENT_HUGEPAGE
diff --git a/include/linux/types.h b/include/linux/types.h
index 6dfdb8e8e4c3..3a65f0ef4a73 100644
--- a/include/linux/types.h
+++ b/include/linux/types.h
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ struct ustat {
  *
  * This guarantee is important for few reasons:
  *  - future call_rcu_lazy() will make use of lower bits in the pointer;
- *  - the structure shares storage space in struct page with @compound_head,
+ *  - the structure shares storage space in struct page with @compound_info,
  *    which encode PageTail() in bit 0. The guarantee is needed to avoid
  *    false-positive PageTail().
  */
diff --git a/kernel/vmcore_info.c b/kernel/vmcore_info.c
index e066d31d08f8..782bc2050a40 100644
--- a/kernel/vmcore_info.c
+++ b/kernel/vmcore_info.c
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ static int __init crash_save_vmcoreinfo_init(void)
 	VMCOREINFO_OFFSET(page, lru);
 	VMCOREINFO_OFFSET(page, _mapcount);
 	VMCOREINFO_OFFSET(page, private);
-	VMCOREINFO_OFFSET(page, compound_head);
+	VMCOREINFO_OFFSET(page, compound_info);
 	VMCOREINFO_OFFSET(pglist_data, node_zones);
 	VMCOREINFO_OFFSET(pglist_data, nr_zones);
 #ifdef CONFIG_FLATMEM
diff --git a/mm/page_alloc.c b/mm/page_alloc.c
index fe77c00c99df..cecd6d89ff60 100644
--- a/mm/page_alloc.c
+++ b/mm/page_alloc.c
@@ -704,7 +704,7 @@ static inline bool pcp_allowed_order(unsigned int order)
  * The first PAGE_SIZE page is called the "head page" and have PG_head set.
  *
  * The remaining PAGE_SIZE pages are called "tail pages". PageTail() is encoded
- * in bit 0 of page->compound_head. The rest of bits is pointer to head page.
+ * in bit 0 of page->compound_info. The rest of bits is pointer to head page.
  *
  * The first tail page's ->compound_order holds the order of allocation.
  * This usage means that zero-order pages may not be compound.
diff --git a/mm/slab.h b/mm/slab.h
index 078daecc7cf5..b471877af296 100644
--- a/mm/slab.h
+++ b/mm/slab.h
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ struct slab {
 #define SLAB_MATCH(pg, sl)						\
 	static_assert(offsetof(struct page, pg) == offsetof(struct slab, sl))
 SLAB_MATCH(flags, flags);
-SLAB_MATCH(compound_head, slab_cache);	/* Ensure bit 0 is clear */
+SLAB_MATCH(compound_info, slab_cache);	/* Ensure bit 0 is clear */
 SLAB_MATCH(_refcount, __page_refcount);
 #ifdef CONFIG_MEMCG
 SLAB_MATCH(memcg_data, obj_exts);
diff --git a/mm/util.c b/mm/util.c
index 8989d5767528..cbf93cf3223a 100644
--- a/mm/util.c
+++ b/mm/util.c
@@ -1244,7 +1244,7 @@ void snapshot_page(struct page_snapshot *ps, const struct page *page)
 again:
 	memset(&ps->folio_snapshot, 0, sizeof(struct folio));
 	memcpy(&ps->page_snapshot, page, sizeof(*page));
-	head = ps->page_snapshot.compound_head;
+	head = ps->page_snapshot.compound_info;
 	if ((head & 1) == 0) {
 		ps->idx = 0;
 		foliop = (struct folio *)&ps->page_snapshot;
-- 
2.51.2

Re: [PATCHv4 03/14] mm: Rename the 'compound_head' field in the 'struct page' to 'compound_info'

[Zi Yan]

On 21 Jan 2026, at 11:22, Kiryl Shutsemau wrote:

> The 'compound_head' field in the 'struct page' encodes whether the page
> is a tail and where to locate the head page. Bit 0 is set if the page is
> a tail, and the remaining bits in the field point to the head page.
>
> As preparation for changing how the field encodes information about the
> head page, rename the field to 'compound_info'.
>
> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
> Reviewed-by: Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev>
> ---
>  .../admin-guide/kdump/vmcoreinfo.rst          |  2 +-
>  Documentation/mm/vmemmap_dedup.rst            |  6 +++---
>  include/linux/mm_types.h                      | 20 +++++++++----------
>  include/linux/page-flags.h                    | 18 ++++++++---------
>  include/linux/types.h                         |  2 +-
>  kernel/vmcore_info.c                          |  2 +-
>  mm/page_alloc.c                               |  2 +-
>  mm/slab.h                                     |  2 +-
>  mm/util.c                                     |  2 +-
>  9 files changed, 28 insertions(+), 28 deletions(-)
>
LGTM.

Reviewed-by: Zi Yan <ziy@nvidia.com>

Best Regards,
Yan, Zi

[PATCHv4 04/14] mm: Move set/clear_compound_head() next to compound_head()

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

Move set_compound_head() and clear_compound_head() to be adjacent to the
compound_head() function in page-flags.h.

These functions encode and decode the same compound_info field, so
keeping them together makes it easier to verify their logic is
consistent, especially when the encoding changes.

Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev>
---
 include/linux/page-flags.h | 24 ++++++++++++------------
 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/linux/page-flags.h b/include/linux/page-flags.h
index 72c933a43b6a..0de7db7efb00 100644
--- a/include/linux/page-flags.h
+++ b/include/linux/page-flags.h
@@ -290,6 +290,18 @@ static __always_inline unsigned long _compound_head(const struct page *page)
 
 #define compound_head(page)	((typeof(page))_compound_head(page))
 
+static __always_inline void set_compound_head(struct page *page,
+					      const struct page *head,
+					      unsigned int order)
+{
+	WRITE_ONCE(page->compound_info, (unsigned long)head + 1);
+}
+
+static __always_inline void clear_compound_head(struct page *page)
+{
+	WRITE_ONCE(page->compound_info, 0);
+}
+
 /**
  * page_folio - Converts from page to folio.
  * @p: The page.
@@ -865,18 +877,6 @@ static inline bool folio_test_large(const struct folio *folio)
 	return folio_test_head(folio);
 }
 
-static __always_inline void set_compound_head(struct page *page,
-					      const struct page *head,
-					      unsigned int order)
-{
-	WRITE_ONCE(page->compound_info, (unsigned long)head + 1);
-}
-
-static __always_inline void clear_compound_head(struct page *page)
-{
-	WRITE_ONCE(page->compound_info, 0);
-}
-
 #ifdef CONFIG_TRANSPARENT_HUGEPAGE
 static inline void ClearPageCompound(struct page *page)
 {
-- 
2.51.2

Re: [PATCHv4 04/14] mm: Move set/clear_compound_head() next to compound_head()

[Zi Yan]

On 21 Jan 2026, at 11:22, Kiryl Shutsemau wrote:

> Move set_compound_head() and clear_compound_head() to be adjacent to the
> compound_head() function in page-flags.h.
>
> These functions encode and decode the same compound_info field, so
> keeping them together makes it easier to verify their logic is
> consistent, especially when the encoding changes.
>
> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
> Reviewed-by: Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev>
> ---
>  include/linux/page-flags.h | 24 ++++++++++++------------
>  1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)
>
Make sense.

Reviewed-by: Zi Yan <ziy@nvidia.com>

Best Regards,
Yan, Zi

[PATCHv4 05/14] mm: Rework compound_head() for power-of-2 sizeof(struct page)

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

For tail pages, the kernel uses the 'compound_info' field to get to the
head page. The bit 0 of the field indicates whether the page is a
tail page, and if set, the remaining bits represent a pointer to the
head page.

For cases when size of struct page is power-of-2, change the encoding of
compound_info to store a mask that can be applied to the virtual address
of the tail page in order to access the head page. It is possible
because struct page of the head page is naturally aligned with regards
to order of the page.

The significant impact of this modification is that all tail pages of
the same order will now have identical 'compound_info', regardless of
the compound page they are associated with. This paves the way for
eliminating fake heads.

The HugeTLB Vmemmap Optimization (HVO) creates fake heads and it is only
applied when the sizeof(struct page) is power-of-2. Having identical
tail pages allows the same page to be mapped into the vmemmap of all
pages, maintaining memory savings without fake heads.

If sizeof(struct page) is not power-of-2, there is no functional
changes.

Limit mask usage to SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP where it makes a difference
because HVO. The approach with mask would work for any memory model,
but it requires validating that struct pages are naturally aligned for
all orders up to the MAX_FOLIO order, which can be tricky.

Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev>
---
 include/linux/page-flags.h | 81 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----
 mm/util.c                  | 16 ++++++--
 2 files changed, 85 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/linux/page-flags.h b/include/linux/page-flags.h
index 0de7db7efb00..e16a4bc82856 100644
--- a/include/linux/page-flags.h
+++ b/include/linux/page-flags.h
@@ -198,6 +198,29 @@ enum pageflags {
 
 #ifndef __GENERATING_BOUNDS_H
 
+/*
+ * For tail pages, if the size of struct page is power-of-2 ->compound_info
+ * encodes the mask that converts the address of the tail page address to
+ * the head page address.
+ *
+ * Otherwise, ->compound_info has direct pointer to head pages.
+ */
+static __always_inline bool compound_info_has_mask(void)
+{
+	/*
+	 * Limit mask usage to SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP where it makes a difference
+	 * because of the HugeTLB vmemmap optimization (HVO).
+	 *
+	 * The approach with mask would work for any memory model, but it
+	 * requires validating that struct pages are naturally aligned for
+	 * all orders up to the MAX_FOLIO order, which can be tricky.
+	 */
+	if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP))
+		return false;
+
+	return is_power_of_2(sizeof(struct page));
+}
+
 #ifdef CONFIG_HUGETLB_PAGE_OPTIMIZE_VMEMMAP
 DECLARE_STATIC_KEY_FALSE(hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
 
@@ -210,6 +233,10 @@ static __always_inline const struct page *page_fixed_fake_head(const struct page
 	if (!static_branch_unlikely(&hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key))
 		return page;
 
+	/* Fake heads only exists if compound_info_has_mask() is true */
+	if (!compound_info_has_mask())
+		return page;
+
 	/*
 	 * Only addresses aligned with PAGE_SIZE of struct page may be fake head
 	 * struct page. The alignment check aims to avoid access the fields (
@@ -223,10 +250,14 @@ static __always_inline const struct page *page_fixed_fake_head(const struct page
 		 * because the @page is a compound page composed with at least
 		 * two contiguous pages.
 		 */
-		unsigned long head = READ_ONCE(page[1].compound_info);
+		unsigned long info = READ_ONCE(page[1].compound_info);
 
-		if (likely(head & 1))
-			return (const struct page *)(head - 1);
+		/* See set_compound_head() */
+		if (likely(info & 1)) {
+			unsigned long p = (unsigned long)page;
+
+			return (const struct page *)(p & info);
+		}
 	}
 	return page;
 }
@@ -281,11 +312,26 @@ static __always_inline int page_is_fake_head(const struct page *page)
 
 static __always_inline unsigned long _compound_head(const struct page *page)
 {
-	unsigned long head = READ_ONCE(page->compound_info);
+	unsigned long info = READ_ONCE(page->compound_info);
 
-	if (unlikely(head & 1))
-		return head - 1;
-	return (unsigned long)page_fixed_fake_head(page);
+	/* Bit 0 encodes PageTail() */
+	if (!(info & 1))
+		return (unsigned long)page_fixed_fake_head(page);
+
+	/*
+	 * If compound_info_has_mask() is false, the rest of compound_info is
+	 * the pointer to the head page.
+	 */
+	if (!compound_info_has_mask())
+		return info - 1;
+
+	/*
+	 * If compoun_info_has_mask() is true the rest of the info encodes
+	 * the mask that converts the address of the tail page to the head page.
+	 *
+	 * No need to clear bit 0 in the mask as 'page' always has it clear.
+	 */
+	return (unsigned long)page & info;
 }
 
 #define compound_head(page)	((typeof(page))_compound_head(page))
@@ -294,7 +340,26 @@ static __always_inline void set_compound_head(struct page *page,
 					      const struct page *head,
 					      unsigned int order)
 {
-	WRITE_ONCE(page->compound_info, (unsigned long)head + 1);
+	unsigned int shift;
+	unsigned long mask;
+
+	if (!compound_info_has_mask()) {
+		WRITE_ONCE(page->compound_info, (unsigned long)head | 1);
+		return;
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * If the size of struct page is power-of-2, bits [shift:0] of the
+	 * virtual address of compound head are zero.
+	 *
+	 * Calculate mask that can be applied to the virtual address of
+	 * the tail page to get address of the head page.
+	 */
+	shift = order + order_base_2(sizeof(struct page));
+	mask = GENMASK(BITS_PER_LONG - 1, shift);
+
+	/* Bit 0 encodes PageTail() */
+	WRITE_ONCE(page->compound_info, mask | 1);
 }
 
 static __always_inline void clear_compound_head(struct page *page)
diff --git a/mm/util.c b/mm/util.c
index cbf93cf3223a..f01a9655067f 100644
--- a/mm/util.c
+++ b/mm/util.c
@@ -1234,7 +1234,7 @@ static void set_ps_flags(struct page_snapshot *ps, const struct folio *folio,
  */
 void snapshot_page(struct page_snapshot *ps, const struct page *page)
 {
-	unsigned long head, nr_pages = 1;
+	unsigned long info, nr_pages = 1;
 	struct folio *foliop;
 	int loops = 5;
 
@@ -1244,8 +1244,8 @@ void snapshot_page(struct page_snapshot *ps, const struct page *page)
 again:
 	memset(&ps->folio_snapshot, 0, sizeof(struct folio));
 	memcpy(&ps->page_snapshot, page, sizeof(*page));
-	head = ps->page_snapshot.compound_info;
-	if ((head & 1) == 0) {
+	info = ps->page_snapshot.compound_info;
+	if ((info & 1) == 0) {
 		ps->idx = 0;
 		foliop = (struct folio *)&ps->page_snapshot;
 		if (!folio_test_large(foliop)) {
@@ -1256,7 +1256,15 @@ void snapshot_page(struct page_snapshot *ps, const struct page *page)
 		}
 		foliop = (struct folio *)page;
 	} else {
-		foliop = (struct folio *)(head - 1);
+		/* See compound_head() */
+		if (compound_info_has_mask()) {
+			unsigned long p = (unsigned long)page;
+
+			foliop = (struct folio *)(p & info);
+		} else {
+			foliop = (struct folio *)(info - 1);
+		}
+
 		ps->idx = folio_page_idx(foliop, page);
 	}
 
-- 
2.51.2

Re: [PATCHv4 05/14] mm: Rework compound_head() for power-of-2 sizeof(struct page)

[Zi Yan]

On 21 Jan 2026, at 11:22, Kiryl Shutsemau wrote:

> For tail pages, the kernel uses the 'compound_info' field to get to the
> head page. The bit 0 of the field indicates whether the page is a
> tail page, and if set, the remaining bits represent a pointer to the
> head page.
>
> For cases when size of struct page is power-of-2, change the encoding of
> compound_info to store a mask that can be applied to the virtual address
> of the tail page in order to access the head page. It is possible
> because struct page of the head page is naturally aligned with regards
> to order of the page.
>
> The significant impact of this modification is that all tail pages of
> the same order will now have identical 'compound_info', regardless of
> the compound page they are associated with. This paves the way for
> eliminating fake heads.
>
> The HugeTLB Vmemmap Optimization (HVO) creates fake heads and it is only
> applied when the sizeof(struct page) is power-of-2. Having identical
> tail pages allows the same page to be mapped into the vmemmap of all
> pages, maintaining memory savings without fake heads.
>
> If sizeof(struct page) is not power-of-2, there is no functional
> changes.
>
> Limit mask usage to SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP where it makes a difference
> because HVO. The approach with mask would work for any memory model,
> but it requires validating that struct pages are naturally aligned for
> all orders up to the MAX_FOLIO order, which can be tricky.
>
> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
> Reviewed-by: Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev>
> ---
>  include/linux/page-flags.h | 81 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----
>  mm/util.c                  | 16 ++++++--
>  2 files changed, 85 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)
>

<snip>

> diff --git a/mm/util.c b/mm/util.c
> index cbf93cf3223a..f01a9655067f 100644
> --- a/mm/util.c
> +++ b/mm/util.c
> @@ -1234,7 +1234,7 @@ static void set_ps_flags(struct page_snapshot *ps, const struct folio *folio,
>   */
>  void snapshot_page(struct page_snapshot *ps, const struct page *page)
>  {
> -	unsigned long head, nr_pages = 1;
> +	unsigned long info, nr_pages = 1;
>  	struct folio *foliop;
>  	int loops = 5;
>
> @@ -1244,8 +1244,8 @@ void snapshot_page(struct page_snapshot *ps, const struct page *page)
>  again:
>  	memset(&ps->folio_snapshot, 0, sizeof(struct folio));
>  	memcpy(&ps->page_snapshot, page, sizeof(*page));
> -	head = ps->page_snapshot.compound_info;
> -	if ((head & 1) == 0) {
> +	info = ps->page_snapshot.compound_info;
> +	if ((info & 1) == 0) {

This could be “if (!(info & 1))” like _compound_head(), right?

>  		ps->idx = 0;
>  		foliop = (struct folio *)&ps->page_snapshot;
>  		if (!folio_test_large(foliop)) {
> @@ -1256,7 +1256,15 @@ void snapshot_page(struct page_snapshot *ps, const struct page *page)
>  		}
>  		foliop = (struct folio *)page;
>  	} else {
> -		foliop = (struct folio *)(head - 1);
> +		/* See compound_head() */
> +		if (compound_info_has_mask()) {
> +			unsigned long p = (unsigned long)page;
> +
> +			foliop = (struct folio *)(p & info);
> +		} else {
> +			foliop = (struct folio *)(info - 1);
> +		}
> +
>  		ps->idx = folio_page_idx(foliop, page);
>  	}

LGTM.

Reviewed-by: Zi Yan <ziy@nvidia.com>

Best Regards,
Yan, Zi

Re: [PATCHv4 05/14] mm: Rework compound_head() for power-of-2 sizeof(struct page)

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

On Wed, Jan 21, 2026 at 12:12:13PM -0500, Zi Yan wrote:
> > @@ -1244,8 +1244,8 @@ void snapshot_page(struct page_snapshot *ps, const struct page *page)
> >  again:
> >  	memset(&ps->folio_snapshot, 0, sizeof(struct folio));
> >  	memcpy(&ps->page_snapshot, page, sizeof(*page));
> > -	head = ps->page_snapshot.compound_info;
> > -	if ((head & 1) == 0) {
> > +	info = ps->page_snapshot.compound_info;
> > +	if ((info & 1) == 0) {
> 
> This could be “if (!(info & 1))” like _compound_head(), right?

Right. But I don't see why it has to change.


-- 
  Kiryl Shutsemau / Kirill A. Shutemov

Re: [PATCHv4 05/14] mm: Rework compound_head() for power-of-2 sizeof(struct page)

[Muchun Song]

> On Jan 22, 2026, at 19:29, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> 
> On Wed, Jan 21, 2026 at 12:12:13PM -0500, Zi Yan wrote:
>>> @@ -1244,8 +1244,8 @@ void snapshot_page(struct page_snapshot *ps, const struct page *page)
>>> again:
>>> memset(&ps->folio_snapshot, 0, sizeof(struct folio));
>>> memcpy(&ps->page_snapshot, page, sizeof(*page));
>>> - head = ps->page_snapshot.compound_info;
>>> - if ((head & 1) == 0) {
>>> + info = ps->page_snapshot.compound_info;
>>> + if ((info & 1) == 0) {
>> 
>> This could be “if (!(info & 1))” like _compound_head(), right?
> 
> Right. But I don't see why it has to change.

Let me briefly explain my programming habits. I guess this might
be Zi Yan's idea.

When I use a variable as a boolean type, my habit is to use the
"!var" operator to check if it is 0 (false). When I use a variable
as a number (with a value range exceeding 0 and 1), and I need to
check if this variable is 0, I usually use "var == 0".

The least significant bit here seems to be used as a boolean type.

> 
> 
> -- 
>  Kiryl Shutsemau / Kirill A. Shutemov

[PATCHv4 06/14] mm: Make page_zonenum() use head page

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

With the upcoming changes to HVO, a single page of tail struct pages
will be shared across all huge pages of the same order on a node. Since
huge pages on the same node may belong to different zones, the zone
information stored in shared tail page flags would be incorrect.

Always fetch zone information from the head page, which has unique and
correct zone flags for each compound page.

Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
---
 include/linux/mmzone.h | 1 +
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)

diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
index 6cfede39570a..390ce11b3765 100644
--- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
+++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
@@ -1223,6 +1223,7 @@ static inline enum zone_type memdesc_zonenum(memdesc_flags_t flags)
 
 static inline enum zone_type page_zonenum(const struct page *page)
 {
+	page = compound_head(page);
 	return memdesc_zonenum(page->flags);
 }
 
-- 
2.51.2

Re: [PATCHv4 06/14] mm: Make page_zonenum() use head page

[Zi Yan]

On 21 Jan 2026, at 11:22, Kiryl Shutsemau wrote:

> With the upcoming changes to HVO, a single page of tail struct pages
> will be shared across all huge pages of the same order on a node. Since
> huge pages on the same node may belong to different zones, the zone
> information stored in shared tail page flags would be incorrect.
>
> Always fetch zone information from the head page, which has unique and
> correct zone flags for each compound page.
>
> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
> ---
>  include/linux/mmzone.h | 1 +
>  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
>
Make sense.

Acked-by: Zi Yan <ziy@nvidia.com>

Best Regards,
Yan, Zi

[PATCHv4 07/14] mm/sparse: Check memmap alignment for compound_info_has_mask()

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

If page->compound_info encodes a mask, it is expected that memmap to be
naturally aligned to the maximum folio size.

Add a warning if it is not.

A warning is sufficient as MAX_FOLIO_ORDER is very rarely used, so the
kernel is still likely to be functional if this strict check fails.

Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
---
 include/linux/mmzone.h | 1 +
 mm/sparse.c            | 5 +++++
 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+)

diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
index 390ce11b3765..7e4f69b9d760 100644
--- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
+++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@
 #endif
 
 #define MAX_FOLIO_NR_PAGES	(1UL << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
+#define MAX_FOLIO_SIZE		(PAGE_SIZE << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
 
 enum migratetype {
 	MIGRATE_UNMOVABLE,
diff --git a/mm/sparse.c b/mm/sparse.c
index 17c50a6415c2..5f41a3edcc24 100644
--- a/mm/sparse.c
+++ b/mm/sparse.c
@@ -600,6 +600,11 @@ void __init sparse_init(void)
 	BUILD_BUG_ON(!is_power_of_2(sizeof(struct mem_section)));
 	memblocks_present();
 
+	if (compound_info_has_mask()) {
+		WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)pfn_to_page(0),
+				    MAX_FOLIO_SIZE / sizeof(struct page)));
+	}
+
 	pnum_begin = first_present_section_nr();
 	nid_begin = sparse_early_nid(__nr_to_section(pnum_begin));
 
-- 
2.51.2

Re: [PATCHv4 07/14] mm/sparse: Check memmap alignment for compound_info_has_mask()

[Zi Yan]

On 21 Jan 2026, at 11:22, Kiryl Shutsemau wrote:

> If page->compound_info encodes a mask, it is expected that memmap to be
> naturally aligned to the maximum folio size.
>
> Add a warning if it is not.
>
> A warning is sufficient as MAX_FOLIO_ORDER is very rarely used, so the
> kernel is still likely to be functional if this strict check fails.
>
> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
> ---
>  include/linux/mmzone.h | 1 +
>  mm/sparse.c            | 5 +++++
>  2 files changed, 6 insertions(+)
>
> diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> index 390ce11b3765..7e4f69b9d760 100644
> --- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
> +++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> @@ -91,6 +91,7 @@
>  #endif
>
>  #define MAX_FOLIO_NR_PAGES	(1UL << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
> +#define MAX_FOLIO_SIZE		(PAGE_SIZE << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
>
>  enum migratetype {
>  	MIGRATE_UNMOVABLE,
> diff --git a/mm/sparse.c b/mm/sparse.c
> index 17c50a6415c2..5f41a3edcc24 100644
> --- a/mm/sparse.c
> +++ b/mm/sparse.c
> @@ -600,6 +600,11 @@ void __init sparse_init(void)
>  	BUILD_BUG_ON(!is_power_of_2(sizeof(struct mem_section)));
>  	memblocks_present();
>
> +	if (compound_info_has_mask()) {
> +		WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)pfn_to_page(0),
> +				    MAX_FOLIO_SIZE / sizeof(struct page)));
> +	}
> +

16GB is only possible in arm64 with 64KB base page. Would it be overkill
to align vmemmap to it unconditionally? Or how likely will this cause
false positive warning?

>  	pnum_begin = first_present_section_nr();
>  	nid_begin = sparse_early_nid(__nr_to_section(pnum_begin));
>

Anyway,

Acked-by: Zi Yan <ziy@nvidia.com>


Best Regards,
Yan, Zi

Re: [PATCHv4 07/14] mm/sparse: Check memmap alignment for compound_info_has_mask()

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

On Wed, Jan 21, 2026 at 12:58:36PM -0500, Zi Yan wrote:
> On 21 Jan 2026, at 11:22, Kiryl Shutsemau wrote:
> 
> > If page->compound_info encodes a mask, it is expected that memmap to be
> > naturally aligned to the maximum folio size.
> >
> > Add a warning if it is not.
> >
> > A warning is sufficient as MAX_FOLIO_ORDER is very rarely used, so the
> > kernel is still likely to be functional if this strict check fails.
> >
> > Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
> > ---
> >  include/linux/mmzone.h | 1 +
> >  mm/sparse.c            | 5 +++++
> >  2 files changed, 6 insertions(+)
> >
> > diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> > index 390ce11b3765..7e4f69b9d760 100644
> > --- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
> > +++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> > @@ -91,6 +91,7 @@
> >  #endif
> >
> >  #define MAX_FOLIO_NR_PAGES	(1UL << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
> > +#define MAX_FOLIO_SIZE		(PAGE_SIZE << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
> >
> >  enum migratetype {
> >  	MIGRATE_UNMOVABLE,
> > diff --git a/mm/sparse.c b/mm/sparse.c
> > index 17c50a6415c2..5f41a3edcc24 100644
> > --- a/mm/sparse.c
> > +++ b/mm/sparse.c
> > @@ -600,6 +600,11 @@ void __init sparse_init(void)
> >  	BUILD_BUG_ON(!is_power_of_2(sizeof(struct mem_section)));
> >  	memblocks_present();
> >
> > +	if (compound_info_has_mask()) {
> > +		WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)pfn_to_page(0),
> > +				    MAX_FOLIO_SIZE / sizeof(struct page)));
> > +	}
> > +
> 
> 16GB is only possible in arm64 with 64KB base page. Would it be overkill
> to align vmemmap to it unconditionally? Or how likely will this cause
> false positive warning?

CMA can give you 16GiB page on x86.

-- 
  Kiryl Shutsemau / Kirill A. Shutemov

Re: [PATCHv4 07/14] mm/sparse: Check memmap alignment for compound_info_has_mask()

[Muchun Song]

> On Jan 22, 2026, at 00:22, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> 
> If page->compound_info encodes a mask, it is expected that memmap to be
> naturally aligned to the maximum folio size.
> 
> Add a warning if it is not.
> 
> A warning is sufficient as MAX_FOLIO_ORDER is very rarely used, so the
> kernel is still likely to be functional if this strict check fails.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
> ---
> include/linux/mmzone.h | 1 +
> mm/sparse.c            | 5 +++++
> 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+)
> 
> diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> index 390ce11b3765..7e4f69b9d760 100644
> --- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
> +++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> @@ -91,6 +91,7 @@
> #endif
> 
> #define MAX_FOLIO_NR_PAGES (1UL << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
> +#define MAX_FOLIO_SIZE (PAGE_SIZE << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
> 
> enum migratetype {
> MIGRATE_UNMOVABLE,
> diff --git a/mm/sparse.c b/mm/sparse.c
> index 17c50a6415c2..5f41a3edcc24 100644
> --- a/mm/sparse.c
> +++ b/mm/sparse.c
> @@ -600,6 +600,11 @@ void __init sparse_init(void)
> 	BUILD_BUG_ON(!is_power_of_2(sizeof(struct mem_section)));
> 	memblocks_present();
> 
> + 	if (compound_info_has_mask()) {
> + 		WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)pfn_to_page(0),
> +    			MAX_FOLIO_SIZE / sizeof(struct page)));

I still have concerns about this. If certain architectures or configurations,
especially when KASLR is enabled, do not meet the requirements during the
boot stage, only specific folios larger than a certain size might end up with
incorrect struct page entries as the system runs. How can we detect issues
arising from either updating the struct page or making incorrect logical
judgments based on information retrieved from the struct page?

After all, when we see this warning, we don't know when or if a problem will
occur in the future. It's like a time bomb in the system, isn't it? Therefore,
I would like to add a warning check to the memory allocation place, for
example: 

  WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)&folio->page, folio_size / sizeof(struct page)));

However, in order to minimize the impact on the buddy allocator, I personally
suggest changing `WARN_ON` to `BUG_ON` here, and changing the checked size from
`MAX_FOLIO_SIZE` to the maximum size that the buddy can allocate, in order to
ensure the buddy allocator works fine. This check requirement is much weaker
than `MAX_FOLIO_SIZE`, so I think `BUG_ON` should not be easily triggered and
therefore should not be a problem. For non-buddy allocator interfaces (such
as `folio_alloc_gigantic` or `cma_alloc_folio`, etc.), we need to check whether
their struct page address is aligned as required. If it is not aligned, return
failure and print relevant prompt information to remind the reason.

> + 	}
> +
> 	pnum_begin = first_present_section_nr();
> 	nid_begin = sparse_early_nid(__nr_to_section(pnum_begin));
> 
> -- 
> 2.51.2
> 

Re: [PATCHv4 07/14] mm/sparse: Check memmap alignment for compound_info_has_mask()

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 11:10:26AM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
> 
> 
> > On Jan 22, 2026, at 00:22, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> > 
> > If page->compound_info encodes a mask, it is expected that memmap to be
> > naturally aligned to the maximum folio size.
> > 
> > Add a warning if it is not.
> > 
> > A warning is sufficient as MAX_FOLIO_ORDER is very rarely used, so the
> > kernel is still likely to be functional if this strict check fails.
> > 
> > Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
> > ---
> > include/linux/mmzone.h | 1 +
> > mm/sparse.c            | 5 +++++
> > 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+)
> > 
> > diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> > index 390ce11b3765..7e4f69b9d760 100644
> > --- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
> > +++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> > @@ -91,6 +91,7 @@
> > #endif
> > 
> > #define MAX_FOLIO_NR_PAGES (1UL << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
> > +#define MAX_FOLIO_SIZE (PAGE_SIZE << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
> > 
> > enum migratetype {
> > MIGRATE_UNMOVABLE,
> > diff --git a/mm/sparse.c b/mm/sparse.c
> > index 17c50a6415c2..5f41a3edcc24 100644
> > --- a/mm/sparse.c
> > +++ b/mm/sparse.c
> > @@ -600,6 +600,11 @@ void __init sparse_init(void)
> > 	BUILD_BUG_ON(!is_power_of_2(sizeof(struct mem_section)));
> > 	memblocks_present();
> > 
> > + 	if (compound_info_has_mask()) {
> > + 		WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)pfn_to_page(0),
> > +    			MAX_FOLIO_SIZE / sizeof(struct page)));
> 
> I still have concerns about this. If certain architectures or configurations,
> especially when KASLR is enabled, do not meet the requirements during the
> boot stage, only specific folios larger than a certain size might end up with
> incorrect struct page entries as the system runs. How can we detect issues
> arising from either updating the struct page or making incorrect logical
> judgments based on information retrieved from the struct page?
> 
> After all, when we see this warning, we don't know when or if a problem will
> occur in the future. It's like a time bomb in the system, isn't it? Therefore,
> I would like to add a warning check to the memory allocation place, for
> example: 
> 
>   WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)&folio->page, folio_size / sizeof(struct page)));

I don't think it is needed. Any compound page usage would trigger the
problem. It should happen pretty early.

-- 
  Kiryl Shutsemau / Kirill A. Shutemov

Re: [PATCHv4 07/14] mm/sparse: Check memmap alignment for compound_info_has_mask()

[Muchun Song]

> On Jan 22, 2026, at 19:28, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> 
> On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 11:10:26AM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
>> 
>> 
>>> On Jan 22, 2026, at 00:22, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> If page->compound_info encodes a mask, it is expected that memmap to be
>>> naturally aligned to the maximum folio size.
>>> 
>>> Add a warning if it is not.
>>> 
>>> A warning is sufficient as MAX_FOLIO_ORDER is very rarely used, so the
>>> kernel is still likely to be functional if this strict check fails.
>>> 
>>> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
>>> ---
>>> include/linux/mmzone.h | 1 +
>>> mm/sparse.c            | 5 +++++
>>> 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+)
>>> 
>>> diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
>>> index 390ce11b3765..7e4f69b9d760 100644
>>> --- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
>>> +++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
>>> @@ -91,6 +91,7 @@
>>> #endif
>>> 
>>> #define MAX_FOLIO_NR_PAGES (1UL << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
>>> +#define MAX_FOLIO_SIZE (PAGE_SIZE << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
>>> 
>>> enum migratetype {
>>> MIGRATE_UNMOVABLE,
>>> diff --git a/mm/sparse.c b/mm/sparse.c
>>> index 17c50a6415c2..5f41a3edcc24 100644
>>> --- a/mm/sparse.c
>>> +++ b/mm/sparse.c
>>> @@ -600,6 +600,11 @@ void __init sparse_init(void)
>>> BUILD_BUG_ON(!is_power_of_2(sizeof(struct mem_section)));
>>> memblocks_present();
>>> 
>>> +  if (compound_info_has_mask()) {
>>> +  WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)pfn_to_page(0),
>>> +     MAX_FOLIO_SIZE / sizeof(struct page)));
>> 
>> I still have concerns about this. If certain architectures or configurations,
>> especially when KASLR is enabled, do not meet the requirements during the
>> boot stage, only specific folios larger than a certain size might end up with
>> incorrect struct page entries as the system runs. How can we detect issues
>> arising from either updating the struct page or making incorrect logical
>> judgments based on information retrieved from the struct page?
>> 
>> After all, when we see this warning, we don't know when or if a problem will
>> occur in the future. It's like a time bomb in the system, isn't it? Therefore,
>> I would like to add a warning check to the memory allocation place, for
>> example: 
>> 
>>  WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)&folio->page, folio_size / sizeof(struct page)));
> 
> I don't think it is needed. Any compound page usage would trigger the
> problem. It should happen pretty early.

Why would you think it would be discovered early? If the alignment of struct page
can only meet the needs of 4M pages (i.e., the largest pages that buddy can
allocate), how can you be sure that there will be a similar path using CMA
early on if the system allocates through CMA in the future (after all, CMA
is used much less than buddy)?

> 
> -- 
>  Kiryl Shutsemau / Kirill A. Shutemov

Re: [PATCHv4 07/14] mm/sparse: Check memmap alignment for compound_info_has_mask()

[Muchun Song]

> On Jan 22, 2026, at 19:33, Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
>> On Jan 22, 2026, at 19:28, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
>> 
>> On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 11:10:26AM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Jan 22, 2026, at 00:22, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> If page->compound_info encodes a mask, it is expected that memmap to be
>>>> naturally aligned to the maximum folio size.
>>>> 
>>>> Add a warning if it is not.
>>>> 
>>>> A warning is sufficient as MAX_FOLIO_ORDER is very rarely used, so the
>>>> kernel is still likely to be functional if this strict check fails.
>>>> 
>>>> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
>>>> ---
>>>> include/linux/mmzone.h | 1 +
>>>> mm/sparse.c            | 5 +++++
>>>> 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+)
>>>> 
>>>> diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
>>>> index 390ce11b3765..7e4f69b9d760 100644
>>>> --- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
>>>> +++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
>>>> @@ -91,6 +91,7 @@
>>>> #endif
>>>> 
>>>> #define MAX_FOLIO_NR_PAGES (1UL << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
>>>> +#define MAX_FOLIO_SIZE (PAGE_SIZE << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
>>>> 
>>>> enum migratetype {
>>>> MIGRATE_UNMOVABLE,
>>>> diff --git a/mm/sparse.c b/mm/sparse.c
>>>> index 17c50a6415c2..5f41a3edcc24 100644
>>>> --- a/mm/sparse.c
>>>> +++ b/mm/sparse.c
>>>> @@ -600,6 +600,11 @@ void __init sparse_init(void)
>>>> BUILD_BUG_ON(!is_power_of_2(sizeof(struct mem_section)));
>>>> memblocks_present();
>>>> 
>>>> +  if (compound_info_has_mask()) {
>>>> +  WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)pfn_to_page(0),
>>>> +     MAX_FOLIO_SIZE / sizeof(struct page)));
>>> 
>>> I still have concerns about this. If certain architectures or configurations,
>>> especially when KASLR is enabled, do not meet the requirements during the
>>> boot stage, only specific folios larger than a certain size might end up with
>>> incorrect struct page entries as the system runs. How can we detect issues
>>> arising from either updating the struct page or making incorrect logical
>>> judgments based on information retrieved from the struct page?
>>> 
>>> After all, when we see this warning, we don't know when or if a problem will
>>> occur in the future. It's like a time bomb in the system, isn't it? Therefore,
>>> I would like to add a warning check to the memory allocation place, for
>>> example: 
>>> 
>>> WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)&folio->page, folio_size / sizeof(struct page)));
>> 
>> I don't think it is needed. Any compound page usage would trigger the
>> problem. It should happen pretty early.
> 
> Why would you think it would be discovered early? If the alignment of struct page
> can only meet the needs of 4M pages (i.e., the largest pages that buddy can
> allocate), how can you be sure that there will be a similar path using CMA
> early on if the system allocates through CMA in the future (after all, CMA
> is used much less than buddy)?

Suppose we are more aggressive. If the alignment requirement of struct page
cannot meet the needs of 2GB pages (which is an uncommon memory allocation
requirement), then users might not care about such a warning message after
the system boots. And if there is no allocation of pages greater than or
equal to 2GB for a period of time in the future, the system will have no
problems. But once some path allocates pages greater than or equal to 2GB,
the system will go into chaos. And by that time, the system log may no
longer have this warning message. Is that not the case?

> 
>> 
>> -- 
>> Kiryl Shutsemau / Kirill A. Shutemov

Re: [PATCHv4 07/14] mm/sparse: Check memmap alignment for compound_info_has_mask()

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 07:42:47PM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
> 
> 
> > On Jan 22, 2026, at 19:33, Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev> wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >> On Jan 22, 2026, at 19:28, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> >> 
> >> On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 11:10:26AM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>>> On Jan 22, 2026, at 00:22, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> >>>> 
> >>>> If page->compound_info encodes a mask, it is expected that memmap to be
> >>>> naturally aligned to the maximum folio size.
> >>>> 
> >>>> Add a warning if it is not.
> >>>> 
> >>>> A warning is sufficient as MAX_FOLIO_ORDER is very rarely used, so the
> >>>> kernel is still likely to be functional if this strict check fails.
> >>>> 
> >>>> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
> >>>> ---
> >>>> include/linux/mmzone.h | 1 +
> >>>> mm/sparse.c            | 5 +++++
> >>>> 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+)
> >>>> 
> >>>> diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> >>>> index 390ce11b3765..7e4f69b9d760 100644
> >>>> --- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
> >>>> +++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> >>>> @@ -91,6 +91,7 @@
> >>>> #endif
> >>>> 
> >>>> #define MAX_FOLIO_NR_PAGES (1UL << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
> >>>> +#define MAX_FOLIO_SIZE (PAGE_SIZE << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
> >>>> 
> >>>> enum migratetype {
> >>>> MIGRATE_UNMOVABLE,
> >>>> diff --git a/mm/sparse.c b/mm/sparse.c
> >>>> index 17c50a6415c2..5f41a3edcc24 100644
> >>>> --- a/mm/sparse.c
> >>>> +++ b/mm/sparse.c
> >>>> @@ -600,6 +600,11 @@ void __init sparse_init(void)
> >>>> BUILD_BUG_ON(!is_power_of_2(sizeof(struct mem_section)));
> >>>> memblocks_present();
> >>>> 
> >>>> +  if (compound_info_has_mask()) {
> >>>> +  WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)pfn_to_page(0),
> >>>> +     MAX_FOLIO_SIZE / sizeof(struct page)));
> >>> 
> >>> I still have concerns about this. If certain architectures or configurations,
> >>> especially when KASLR is enabled, do not meet the requirements during the
> >>> boot stage, only specific folios larger than a certain size might end up with
> >>> incorrect struct page entries as the system runs. How can we detect issues
> >>> arising from either updating the struct page or making incorrect logical
> >>> judgments based on information retrieved from the struct page?
> >>> 
> >>> After all, when we see this warning, we don't know when or if a problem will
> >>> occur in the future. It's like a time bomb in the system, isn't it? Therefore,
> >>> I would like to add a warning check to the memory allocation place, for
> >>> example: 
> >>> 
> >>> WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)&folio->page, folio_size / sizeof(struct page)));
> >> 
> >> I don't think it is needed. Any compound page usage would trigger the
> >> problem. It should happen pretty early.
> > 
> > Why would you think it would be discovered early? If the alignment of struct page
> > can only meet the needs of 4M pages (i.e., the largest pages that buddy can
> > allocate), how can you be sure that there will be a similar path using CMA
> > early on if the system allocates through CMA in the future (after all, CMA
> > is used much less than buddy)?

True.

> Suppose we are more aggressive. If the alignment requirement of struct page
> cannot meet the needs of 2GB pages (which is an uncommon memory allocation
> requirement), then users might not care about such a warning message after
> the system boots. And if there is no allocation of pages greater than or
> equal to 2GB for a period of time in the future, the system will have no
> problems. But once some path allocates pages greater than or equal to 2GB,
> the system will go into chaos. And by that time, the system log may no
> longer have this warning message. Is that not the case?

It is.

I expect the warning to be reported early if we have configurations that
do not satisfy the alignment requirement even in absence of the crash.

Adding a check to the allocation path if way too high price for a
theoretical problem.

-- 
  Kiryl Shutsemau / Kirill A. Shutemov

Re: [PATCHv4 07/14] mm/sparse: Check memmap alignment for compound_info_has_mask()

[Muchun Song]

> On Jan 22, 2026, at 20:43, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> 
> On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 07:42:47PM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
>> 
>> 
>>>> On Jan 22, 2026, at 19:33, Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev> wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Jan 22, 2026, at 19:28, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 11:10:26AM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Jan 22, 2026, at 00:22, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> If page->compound_info encodes a mask, it is expected that memmap to be
>>>>>> naturally aligned to the maximum folio size.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Add a warning if it is not.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> A warning is sufficient as MAX_FOLIO_ORDER is very rarely used, so the
>>>>>> kernel is still likely to be functional if this strict check fails.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
>>>>>> ---
>>>>>> include/linux/mmzone.h | 1 +
>>>>>> mm/sparse.c            | 5 +++++
>>>>>> 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
>>>>>> index 390ce11b3765..7e4f69b9d760 100644
>>>>>> --- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
>>>>>> +++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
>>>>>> @@ -91,6 +91,7 @@
>>>>>> #endif
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> #define MAX_FOLIO_NR_PAGES (1UL << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
>>>>>> +#define MAX_FOLIO_SIZE (PAGE_SIZE << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> enum migratetype {
>>>>>> MIGRATE_UNMOVABLE,
>>>>>> diff --git a/mm/sparse.c b/mm/sparse.c
>>>>>> index 17c50a6415c2..5f41a3edcc24 100644
>>>>>> --- a/mm/sparse.c
>>>>>> +++ b/mm/sparse.c
>>>>>> @@ -600,6 +600,11 @@ void __init sparse_init(void)
>>>>>> BUILD_BUG_ON(!is_power_of_2(sizeof(struct mem_section)));
>>>>>> memblocks_present();
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> +  if (compound_info_has_mask()) {
>>>>>> +  WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)pfn_to_page(0),
>>>>>> +     MAX_FOLIO_SIZE / sizeof(struct page)));
>>>>> 
>>>>> I still have concerns about this. If certain architectures or configurations,
>>>>> especially when KASLR is enabled, do not meet the requirements during the
>>>>> boot stage, only specific folios larger than a certain size might end up with
>>>>> incorrect struct page entries as the system runs. How can we detect issues
>>>>> arising from either updating the struct page or making incorrect logical
>>>>> judgments based on information retrieved from the struct page?
>>>>> 
>>>>> After all, when we see this warning, we don't know when or if a problem will
>>>>> occur in the future. It's like a time bomb in the system, isn't it? Therefore,
>>>>> I would like to add a warning check to the memory allocation place, for
>>>>> example:
>>>>> 
>>>>> WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)&folio->page, folio_size / sizeof(struct page)));
>>>> 
>>>> I don't think it is needed. Any compound page usage would trigger the
>>>> problem. It should happen pretty early.
>>> 
>>> Why would you think it would be discovered early? If the alignment of struct page
>>> can only meet the needs of 4M pages (i.e., the largest pages that buddy can
>>> allocate), how can you be sure that there will be a similar path using CMA
>>> early on if the system allocates through CMA in the future (after all, CMA
>>> is used much less than buddy)?
> 
> True.
> 
>> Suppose we are more aggressive. If the alignment requirement of struct page
>> cannot meet the needs of 2GB pages (which is an uncommon memory allocation
>> requirement), then users might not care about such a warning message after
>> the system boots. And if there is no allocation of pages greater than or
>> equal to 2GB for a period of time in the future, the system will have no
>> problems. But once some path allocates pages greater than or equal to 2GB,
>> the system will go into chaos. And by that time, the system log may no
>> longer have this warning message. Is that not the case?
> 
> It is.
> 
> I expect the warning to be reported early if we have configurations that
> do not satisfy the alignment requirement even in absence of the crash.

If you’re saying the issue was only caught during
testing, keep in mind that with KASLR enabled the
warning is triggered at run-time; you can’t assume it
will never appear in production.

So I don't think the administrator will notice a
warning in practice. 

> 
> Adding a check to the allocation path if way too high price for a
> theoretical problem.

Not theoretical. It’s a problem indeed. We should
 make the system works properly in production. And
 I don’t think it’s too high price, as I said only adding
 the check to CMA not buddy allocator, CMA
 allocation is not supposed to be in a hot path 
(Please carefully read the reply plan I gave at the
 very beginning.
). 

> 
> --
>  Kiryl Shutsemau / Kirill A. Shutemov

Re: [PATCHv4 07/14] mm/sparse: Check memmap alignment for compound_info_has_mask()

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 10:02:24PM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
> 
> 
> > On Jan 22, 2026, at 20:43, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> > 
> > On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 07:42:47PM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
> >> 
> >> 
> >>>> On Jan 22, 2026, at 19:33, Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev> wrote:
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>>> On Jan 22, 2026, at 19:28, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> >>>> 
> >>>> On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 11:10:26AM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> 
> >>>>>> On Jan 22, 2026, at 00:22, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> >>>>>> 
> >>>>>> If page->compound_info encodes a mask, it is expected that memmap to be
> >>>>>> naturally aligned to the maximum folio size.
> >>>>>> 
> >>>>>> Add a warning if it is not.
> >>>>>> 
> >>>>>> A warning is sufficient as MAX_FOLIO_ORDER is very rarely used, so the
> >>>>>> kernel is still likely to be functional if this strict check fails.
> >>>>>> 
> >>>>>> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
> >>>>>> ---
> >>>>>> include/linux/mmzone.h | 1 +
> >>>>>> mm/sparse.c            | 5 +++++
> >>>>>> 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+)
> >>>>>> 
> >>>>>> diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> >>>>>> index 390ce11b3765..7e4f69b9d760 100644
> >>>>>> --- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
> >>>>>> +++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> >>>>>> @@ -91,6 +91,7 @@
> >>>>>> #endif
> >>>>>> 
> >>>>>> #define MAX_FOLIO_NR_PAGES (1UL << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
> >>>>>> +#define MAX_FOLIO_SIZE (PAGE_SIZE << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
> >>>>>> 
> >>>>>> enum migratetype {
> >>>>>> MIGRATE_UNMOVABLE,
> >>>>>> diff --git a/mm/sparse.c b/mm/sparse.c
> >>>>>> index 17c50a6415c2..5f41a3edcc24 100644
> >>>>>> --- a/mm/sparse.c
> >>>>>> +++ b/mm/sparse.c
> >>>>>> @@ -600,6 +600,11 @@ void __init sparse_init(void)
> >>>>>> BUILD_BUG_ON(!is_power_of_2(sizeof(struct mem_section)));
> >>>>>> memblocks_present();
> >>>>>> 
> >>>>>> +  if (compound_info_has_mask()) {
> >>>>>> +  WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)pfn_to_page(0),
> >>>>>> +     MAX_FOLIO_SIZE / sizeof(struct page)));
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> I still have concerns about this. If certain architectures or configurations,
> >>>>> especially when KASLR is enabled, do not meet the requirements during the
> >>>>> boot stage, only specific folios larger than a certain size might end up with
> >>>>> incorrect struct page entries as the system runs. How can we detect issues
> >>>>> arising from either updating the struct page or making incorrect logical
> >>>>> judgments based on information retrieved from the struct page?
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> After all, when we see this warning, we don't know when or if a problem will
> >>>>> occur in the future. It's like a time bomb in the system, isn't it? Therefore,
> >>>>> I would like to add a warning check to the memory allocation place, for
> >>>>> example:
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)&folio->page, folio_size / sizeof(struct page)));
> >>>> 
> >>>> I don't think it is needed. Any compound page usage would trigger the
> >>>> problem. It should happen pretty early.
> >>> 
> >>> Why would you think it would be discovered early? If the alignment of struct page
> >>> can only meet the needs of 4M pages (i.e., the largest pages that buddy can
> >>> allocate), how can you be sure that there will be a similar path using CMA
> >>> early on if the system allocates through CMA in the future (after all, CMA
> >>> is used much less than buddy)?
> > 
> > True.
> > 
> >> Suppose we are more aggressive. If the alignment requirement of struct page
> >> cannot meet the needs of 2GB pages (which is an uncommon memory allocation
> >> requirement), then users might not care about such a warning message after
> >> the system boots. And if there is no allocation of pages greater than or
> >> equal to 2GB for a period of time in the future, the system will have no
> >> problems. But once some path allocates pages greater than or equal to 2GB,
> >> the system will go into chaos. And by that time, the system log may no
> >> longer have this warning message. Is that not the case?
> > 
> > It is.
> > 
> > I expect the warning to be reported early if we have configurations that
> > do not satisfy the alignment requirement even in absence of the crash.
> 
> If you’re saying the issue was only caught during
> testing, keep in mind that with KASLR enabled the
> warning is triggered at run-time; you can’t assume it
> will never appear in production.

Let's look at what architectures actually do with vmemmap.

On 64-bit machines, we want vmemmap to be naturally aligned to
accommodate 16GiB pages.

Assuming 64 byte struct page, it requires 256 MiB alignment for 4K
PAGE_SIZE, 64MiB for 16K PAGE_SIZE and 16MiB for 64K PAGE_SIZE.

Only 3 architectures support HVO (select ARCH_WANT_OPTIMIZE_HUGETLB_VMEMMAP):
loongarch, riscv and x86. We should make the feature conditional to HVO
to limit exposure.

I am not sure why arm64 is not in the club.

x86 aligns vmemmap to 1G - OK.

loongarch aligns vmemmap to PMD_SIZE does not fit us with 4K and 16K
PAGE_SIZE. It should be easily fixable. No KALSR.

riscv aligns vmemmap to section size (128MiB) which is not enough.
Again, easily fixable.

-- 
  Kiryl Shutsemau / Kirill A. Shutemov

Re: [PATCHv4 07/14] mm/sparse: Check memmap alignment for compound_info_has_mask()

[Muchun Song]

> On Jan 23, 2026, at 01:59, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> 
> On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 10:02:24PM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
>> 
>> 
>>> On Jan 22, 2026, at 20:43, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 07:42:47PM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>>> On Jan 22, 2026, at 19:33, Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Jan 22, 2026, at 19:28, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 11:10:26AM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> On Jan 22, 2026, at 00:22, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> If page->compound_info encodes a mask, it is expected that memmap to be
>>>>>>>> naturally aligned to the maximum folio size.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Add a warning if it is not.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> A warning is sufficient as MAX_FOLIO_ORDER is very rarely used, so the
>>>>>>>> kernel is still likely to be functional if this strict check fails.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
>>>>>>>> ---
>>>>>>>> include/linux/mmzone.h | 1 +
>>>>>>>> mm/sparse.c            | 5 +++++
>>>>>>>> 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+)
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
>>>>>>>> index 390ce11b3765..7e4f69b9d760 100644
>>>>>>>> --- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
>>>>>>>> +++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
>>>>>>>> @@ -91,6 +91,7 @@
>>>>>>>> #endif
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> #define MAX_FOLIO_NR_PAGES (1UL << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
>>>>>>>> +#define MAX_FOLIO_SIZE (PAGE_SIZE << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> enum migratetype {
>>>>>>>> MIGRATE_UNMOVABLE,
>>>>>>>> diff --git a/mm/sparse.c b/mm/sparse.c
>>>>>>>> index 17c50a6415c2..5f41a3edcc24 100644
>>>>>>>> --- a/mm/sparse.c
>>>>>>>> +++ b/mm/sparse.c
>>>>>>>> @@ -600,6 +600,11 @@ void __init sparse_init(void)
>>>>>>>> BUILD_BUG_ON(!is_power_of_2(sizeof(struct mem_section)));
>>>>>>>> memblocks_present();
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> +  if (compound_info_has_mask()) {
>>>>>>>> +  WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)pfn_to_page(0),
>>>>>>>> +     MAX_FOLIO_SIZE / sizeof(struct page)));
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> I still have concerns about this. If certain architectures or configurations,
>>>>>>> especially when KASLR is enabled, do not meet the requirements during the
>>>>>>> boot stage, only specific folios larger than a certain size might end up with
>>>>>>> incorrect struct page entries as the system runs. How can we detect issues
>>>>>>> arising from either updating the struct page or making incorrect logical
>>>>>>> judgments based on information retrieved from the struct page?
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> After all, when we see this warning, we don't know when or if a problem will
>>>>>>> occur in the future. It's like a time bomb in the system, isn't it? Therefore,
>>>>>>> I would like to add a warning check to the memory allocation place, for
>>>>>>> example:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)&folio->page, folio_size / sizeof(struct page)));
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I don't think it is needed. Any compound page usage would trigger the
>>>>>> problem. It should happen pretty early.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Why would you think it would be discovered early? If the alignment of struct page
>>>>> can only meet the needs of 4M pages (i.e., the largest pages that buddy can
>>>>> allocate), how can you be sure that there will be a similar path using CMA
>>>>> early on if the system allocates through CMA in the future (after all, CMA
>>>>> is used much less than buddy)?
>>> 
>>> True.
>>> 
>>>> Suppose we are more aggressive. If the alignment requirement of struct page
>>>> cannot meet the needs of 2GB pages (which is an uncommon memory allocation
>>>> requirement), then users might not care about such a warning message after
>>>> the system boots. And if there is no allocation of pages greater than or
>>>> equal to 2GB for a period of time in the future, the system will have no
>>>> problems. But once some path allocates pages greater than or equal to 2GB,
>>>> the system will go into chaos. And by that time, the system log may no
>>>> longer have this warning message. Is that not the case?
>>> 
>>> It is.
>>> 
>>> I expect the warning to be reported early if we have configurations that
>>> do not satisfy the alignment requirement even in absence of the crash.
>> 
>> If you’re saying the issue was only caught during
>> testing, keep in mind that with KASLR enabled the
>> warning is triggered at run-time; you can’t assume it
>> will never appear in production.
> 
> Let's look at what architectures actually do with vmemmap.
> 
> On 64-bit machines, we want vmemmap to be naturally aligned to
> accommodate 16GiB pages.
> 
> Assuming 64 byte struct page, it requires 256 MiB alignment for 4K
> PAGE_SIZE, 64MiB for 16K PAGE_SIZE and 16MiB for 64K PAGE_SIZE.
> 
> Only 3 architectures support HVO (select ARCH_WANT_OPTIMIZE_HUGETLB_VMEMMAP):
> loongarch, riscv and x86. We should make the feature conditional to HVO
> to limit exposure.
> 
> I am not sure why arm64 is not in the club.
> 
> x86 aligns vmemmap to 1G - OK.
> 
> loongarch aligns vmemmap to PMD_SIZE does not fit us with 4K and 16K
> PAGE_SIZE. It should be easily fixable. No KALSR.
> 
> riscv aligns vmemmap to section size (128MiB) which is not enough.
> Again, easily fixable.
> 

OK. After we fix all problems, I think changing WARN_ON to BUG_ON is fine.

> -- 
>  Kiryl Shutsemau / Kirill A. Shutemov

Re: [PATCHv4 07/14] mm/sparse: Check memmap alignment for compound_info_has_mask()

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

On Fri, Jan 23, 2026 at 10:32:28AM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
> 
> 
> > On Jan 23, 2026, at 01:59, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> > 
> > On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 10:02:24PM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
> >> 
> >> 
> >>> On Jan 22, 2026, at 20:43, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> >>> 
> >>> On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 07:42:47PM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>>>> On Jan 22, 2026, at 19:33, Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev> wrote:
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> 
> >>>>>> On Jan 22, 2026, at 19:28, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> >>>>>> 
> >>>>>> On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 11:10:26AM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
> >>>>>>> 
> >>>>>>> 
> >>>>>>>> On Jan 22, 2026, at 00:22, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> >>>>>>>> 
> >>>>>>>> If page->compound_info encodes a mask, it is expected that memmap to be
> >>>>>>>> naturally aligned to the maximum folio size.
> >>>>>>>> 
> >>>>>>>> Add a warning if it is not.
> >>>>>>>> 
> >>>>>>>> A warning is sufficient as MAX_FOLIO_ORDER is very rarely used, so the
> >>>>>>>> kernel is still likely to be functional if this strict check fails.
> >>>>>>>> 
> >>>>>>>> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
> >>>>>>>> ---
> >>>>>>>> include/linux/mmzone.h | 1 +
> >>>>>>>> mm/sparse.c            | 5 +++++
> >>>>>>>> 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+)
> >>>>>>>> 
> >>>>>>>> diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> >>>>>>>> index 390ce11b3765..7e4f69b9d760 100644
> >>>>>>>> --- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
> >>>>>>>> +++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> >>>>>>>> @@ -91,6 +91,7 @@
> >>>>>>>> #endif
> >>>>>>>> 
> >>>>>>>> #define MAX_FOLIO_NR_PAGES (1UL << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
> >>>>>>>> +#define MAX_FOLIO_SIZE (PAGE_SIZE << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
> >>>>>>>> 
> >>>>>>>> enum migratetype {
> >>>>>>>> MIGRATE_UNMOVABLE,
> >>>>>>>> diff --git a/mm/sparse.c b/mm/sparse.c
> >>>>>>>> index 17c50a6415c2..5f41a3edcc24 100644
> >>>>>>>> --- a/mm/sparse.c
> >>>>>>>> +++ b/mm/sparse.c
> >>>>>>>> @@ -600,6 +600,11 @@ void __init sparse_init(void)
> >>>>>>>> BUILD_BUG_ON(!is_power_of_2(sizeof(struct mem_section)));
> >>>>>>>> memblocks_present();
> >>>>>>>> 
> >>>>>>>> +  if (compound_info_has_mask()) {
> >>>>>>>> +  WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)pfn_to_page(0),
> >>>>>>>> +     MAX_FOLIO_SIZE / sizeof(struct page)));
> >>>>>>> 
> >>>>>>> I still have concerns about this. If certain architectures or configurations,
> >>>>>>> especially when KASLR is enabled, do not meet the requirements during the
> >>>>>>> boot stage, only specific folios larger than a certain size might end up with
> >>>>>>> incorrect struct page entries as the system runs. How can we detect issues
> >>>>>>> arising from either updating the struct page or making incorrect logical
> >>>>>>> judgments based on information retrieved from the struct page?
> >>>>>>> 
> >>>>>>> After all, when we see this warning, we don't know when or if a problem will
> >>>>>>> occur in the future. It's like a time bomb in the system, isn't it? Therefore,
> >>>>>>> I would like to add a warning check to the memory allocation place, for
> >>>>>>> example:
> >>>>>>> 
> >>>>>>> WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)&folio->page, folio_size / sizeof(struct page)));
> >>>>>> 
> >>>>>> I don't think it is needed. Any compound page usage would trigger the
> >>>>>> problem. It should happen pretty early.
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> Why would you think it would be discovered early? If the alignment of struct page
> >>>>> can only meet the needs of 4M pages (i.e., the largest pages that buddy can
> >>>>> allocate), how can you be sure that there will be a similar path using CMA
> >>>>> early on if the system allocates through CMA in the future (after all, CMA
> >>>>> is used much less than buddy)?
> >>> 
> >>> True.
> >>> 
> >>>> Suppose we are more aggressive. If the alignment requirement of struct page
> >>>> cannot meet the needs of 2GB pages (which is an uncommon memory allocation
> >>>> requirement), then users might not care about such a warning message after
> >>>> the system boots. And if there is no allocation of pages greater than or
> >>>> equal to 2GB for a period of time in the future, the system will have no
> >>>> problems. But once some path allocates pages greater than or equal to 2GB,
> >>>> the system will go into chaos. And by that time, the system log may no
> >>>> longer have this warning message. Is that not the case?
> >>> 
> >>> It is.
> >>> 
> >>> I expect the warning to be reported early if we have configurations that
> >>> do not satisfy the alignment requirement even in absence of the crash.
> >> 
> >> If you’re saying the issue was only caught during
> >> testing, keep in mind that with KASLR enabled the
> >> warning is triggered at run-time; you can’t assume it
> >> will never appear in production.
> > 
> > Let's look at what architectures actually do with vmemmap.
> > 
> > On 64-bit machines, we want vmemmap to be naturally aligned to
> > accommodate 16GiB pages.
> > 
> > Assuming 64 byte struct page, it requires 256 MiB alignment for 4K
> > PAGE_SIZE, 64MiB for 16K PAGE_SIZE and 16MiB for 64K PAGE_SIZE.
> > 
> > Only 3 architectures support HVO (select ARCH_WANT_OPTIMIZE_HUGETLB_VMEMMAP):
> > loongarch, riscv and x86. We should make the feature conditional to HVO
> > to limit exposure.
> > 
> > I am not sure why arm64 is not in the club.
> > 
> > x86 aligns vmemmap to 1G - OK.
> > 
> > loongarch aligns vmemmap to PMD_SIZE does not fit us with 4K and 16K
> > PAGE_SIZE. It should be easily fixable. No KALSR.
> > 
> > riscv aligns vmemmap to section size (128MiB) which is not enough.
> > Again, easily fixable.
> > 
> 
> OK. After we fix all problems, I think changing WARN_ON to BUG_ON is fine.

David was explicitly against the BUG_ON() in the patch.

David, is it still the case?

-- 
  Kiryl Shutsemau / Kirill A. Shutemov

[PATCHv4 08/14] mm/hugetlb: Refactor code around vmemmap_walk

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

To prepare for removing fake head pages, the vmemmap_walk code is being reworked.

The reuse_page and reuse_addr variables are being eliminated. There will
no longer be an expectation regarding the reuse address in relation to
the operated range. Instead, the caller will provide head and tail
vmemmap pages, along with the vmemmap_start address where the head page
is located.

Currently, vmemmap_head and vmemmap_tail are set to the same page, but
this will change in the future.

The only functional change is that __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio()
will abandon optimization if memory allocation fails.

Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
---
 mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c | 200 ++++++++++++++++++-------------------------
 1 file changed, 84 insertions(+), 116 deletions(-)

diff --git a/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c b/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
index ba0fb1b6a5a8..a51c0e293175 100644
--- a/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
+++ b/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
@@ -24,8 +24,9 @@
  *
  * @remap_pte:		called for each lowest-level entry (PTE).
  * @nr_walked:		the number of walked pte.
- * @reuse_page:		the page which is reused for the tail vmemmap pages.
- * @reuse_addr:		the virtual address of the @reuse_page page.
+ * @vmemmap_start:	the start of vmemmap range, where head page is located
+ * @vmemmap_head:	the page to be installed as first in the vmemmap range
+ * @vmemmap_tail:	the page to be installed as non-first in the vmemmap range
  * @vmemmap_pages:	the list head of the vmemmap pages that can be freed
  *			or is mapped from.
  * @flags:		used to modify behavior in vmemmap page table walking
@@ -34,11 +35,14 @@
 struct vmemmap_remap_walk {
 	void			(*remap_pte)(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr,
 					     struct vmemmap_remap_walk *walk);
+
 	unsigned long		nr_walked;
-	struct page		*reuse_page;
-	unsigned long		reuse_addr;
+	unsigned long		vmemmap_start;
+	struct page		*vmemmap_head;
+	struct page		*vmemmap_tail;
 	struct list_head	*vmemmap_pages;
 
+
 /* Skip the TLB flush when we split the PMD */
 #define VMEMMAP_SPLIT_NO_TLB_FLUSH	BIT(0)
 /* Skip the TLB flush when we remap the PTE */
@@ -140,14 +144,7 @@ static int vmemmap_pte_entry(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr,
 {
 	struct vmemmap_remap_walk *vmemmap_walk = walk->private;
 
-	/*
-	 * The reuse_page is found 'first' in page table walking before
-	 * starting remapping.
-	 */
-	if (!vmemmap_walk->reuse_page)
-		vmemmap_walk->reuse_page = pte_page(ptep_get(pte));
-	else
-		vmemmap_walk->remap_pte(pte, addr, vmemmap_walk);
+	vmemmap_walk->remap_pte(pte, addr, vmemmap_walk);
 	vmemmap_walk->nr_walked++;
 
 	return 0;
@@ -207,18 +204,12 @@ static void free_vmemmap_page_list(struct list_head *list)
 static void vmemmap_remap_pte(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr,
 			      struct vmemmap_remap_walk *walk)
 {
-	/*
-	 * Remap the tail pages as read-only to catch illegal write operation
-	 * to the tail pages.
-	 */
-	pgprot_t pgprot = PAGE_KERNEL_RO;
 	struct page *page = pte_page(ptep_get(pte));
 	pte_t entry;
 
 	/* Remapping the head page requires r/w */
-	if (unlikely(addr == walk->reuse_addr)) {
-		pgprot = PAGE_KERNEL;
-		list_del(&walk->reuse_page->lru);
+	if (unlikely(addr == walk->vmemmap_start)) {
+		list_del(&walk->vmemmap_head->lru);
 
 		/*
 		 * Makes sure that preceding stores to the page contents from
@@ -226,9 +217,16 @@ static void vmemmap_remap_pte(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr,
 		 * write.
 		 */
 		smp_wmb();
+
+		entry = mk_pte(walk->vmemmap_head, PAGE_KERNEL);
+	} else {
+		/*
+		 * Remap the tail pages as read-only to catch illegal write
+		 * operation to the tail pages.
+		 */
+		entry = mk_pte(walk->vmemmap_tail, PAGE_KERNEL_RO);
 	}
 
-	entry = mk_pte(walk->reuse_page, pgprot);
 	list_add(&page->lru, walk->vmemmap_pages);
 	set_pte_at(&init_mm, addr, pte, entry);
 }
@@ -255,16 +253,13 @@ static inline void reset_struct_pages(struct page *start)
 static void vmemmap_restore_pte(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr,
 				struct vmemmap_remap_walk *walk)
 {
-	pgprot_t pgprot = PAGE_KERNEL;
 	struct page *page;
 	void *to;
 
-	BUG_ON(pte_page(ptep_get(pte)) != walk->reuse_page);
-
 	page = list_first_entry(walk->vmemmap_pages, struct page, lru);
 	list_del(&page->lru);
 	to = page_to_virt(page);
-	copy_page(to, (void *)walk->reuse_addr);
+	copy_page(to, (void *)walk->vmemmap_start);
 	reset_struct_pages(to);
 
 	/*
@@ -272,7 +267,7 @@ static void vmemmap_restore_pte(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr,
 	 * before the set_pte_at() write.
 	 */
 	smp_wmb();
-	set_pte_at(&init_mm, addr, pte, mk_pte(page, pgprot));
+	set_pte_at(&init_mm, addr, pte, mk_pte(page, PAGE_KERNEL));
 }
 
 /**
@@ -282,33 +277,29 @@ static void vmemmap_restore_pte(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr,
  *             to remap.
  * @end:       end address of the vmemmap virtual address range that we want to
  *             remap.
- * @reuse:     reuse address.
- *
  * Return: %0 on success, negative error code otherwise.
  */
-static int vmemmap_remap_split(unsigned long start, unsigned long end,
-			       unsigned long reuse)
+static int vmemmap_remap_split(unsigned long start, unsigned long end)
 {
 	struct vmemmap_remap_walk walk = {
 		.remap_pte	= NULL,
+		.vmemmap_start	= start,
 		.flags		= VMEMMAP_SPLIT_NO_TLB_FLUSH,
 	};
 
-	/* See the comment in the vmemmap_remap_free(). */
-	BUG_ON(start - reuse != PAGE_SIZE);
-
-	return vmemmap_remap_range(reuse, end, &walk);
+	return vmemmap_remap_range(start, end, &walk);
 }
 
 /**
  * vmemmap_remap_free - remap the vmemmap virtual address range [@start, @end)
- *			to the page which @reuse is mapped to, then free vmemmap
- *			which the range are mapped to.
+ *			to use @vmemmap_head/tail, then free vmemmap which
+ *			the range are mapped to.
  * @start:	start address of the vmemmap virtual address range that we want
  *		to remap.
  * @end:	end address of the vmemmap virtual address range that we want to
  *		remap.
- * @reuse:	reuse address.
+ * @vmemmap_head: the page to be installed as first in the vmemmap range
+ * @vmemmap_tail: the page to be installed as non-first in the vmemmap range
  * @vmemmap_pages: list to deposit vmemmap pages to be freed.  It is callers
  *		responsibility to free pages.
  * @flags:	modifications to vmemmap_remap_walk flags
@@ -316,69 +307,40 @@ static int vmemmap_remap_split(unsigned long start, unsigned long end,
  * Return: %0 on success, negative error code otherwise.
  */
 static int vmemmap_remap_free(unsigned long start, unsigned long end,
-			      unsigned long reuse,
+			      struct page *vmemmap_head,
+			      struct page *vmemmap_tail,
 			      struct list_head *vmemmap_pages,
 			      unsigned long flags)
 {
 	int ret;
 	struct vmemmap_remap_walk walk = {
 		.remap_pte	= vmemmap_remap_pte,
-		.reuse_addr	= reuse,
+		.vmemmap_start	= start,
+		.vmemmap_head	= vmemmap_head,
+		.vmemmap_tail	= vmemmap_tail,
 		.vmemmap_pages	= vmemmap_pages,
 		.flags		= flags,
 	};
-	int nid = page_to_nid((struct page *)reuse);
-	gfp_t gfp_mask = GFP_KERNEL | __GFP_NORETRY | __GFP_NOWARN;
+
+	ret = vmemmap_remap_range(start, end, &walk);
+	if (!ret || !walk.nr_walked)
+		return ret;
+
+	end = start + walk.nr_walked * PAGE_SIZE;
 
 	/*
-	 * Allocate a new head vmemmap page to avoid breaking a contiguous
-	 * block of struct page memory when freeing it back to page allocator
-	 * in free_vmemmap_page_list(). This will allow the likely contiguous
-	 * struct page backing memory to be kept contiguous and allowing for
-	 * more allocations of hugepages. Fallback to the currently
-	 * mapped head page in case should it fail to allocate.
+	 * vmemmap_pages contains pages from the previous vmemmap_remap_range()
+	 * call which failed.  These are pages which were removed from
+	 * the vmemmap. They will be restored in the following call.
 	 */
-	walk.reuse_page = alloc_pages_node(nid, gfp_mask, 0);
-	if (walk.reuse_page) {
-		copy_page(page_to_virt(walk.reuse_page),
-			  (void *)walk.reuse_addr);
-		list_add(&walk.reuse_page->lru, vmemmap_pages);
-		memmap_pages_add(1);
-	}
+	walk = (struct vmemmap_remap_walk) {
+		.remap_pte	= vmemmap_restore_pte,
+		.vmemmap_start	= start,
+		.vmemmap_pages	= vmemmap_pages,
+		.flags		= 0,
+	};
 
-	/*
-	 * In order to make remapping routine most efficient for the huge pages,
-	 * the routine of vmemmap page table walking has the following rules
-	 * (see more details from the vmemmap_pte_range()):
-	 *
-	 * - The range [@start, @end) and the range [@reuse, @reuse + PAGE_SIZE)
-	 *   should be continuous.
-	 * - The @reuse address is part of the range [@reuse, @end) that we are
-	 *   walking which is passed to vmemmap_remap_range().
-	 * - The @reuse address is the first in the complete range.
-	 *
-	 * So we need to make sure that @start and @reuse meet the above rules.
-	 */
-	BUG_ON(start - reuse != PAGE_SIZE);
-
-	ret = vmemmap_remap_range(reuse, end, &walk);
-	if (ret && walk.nr_walked) {
-		end = reuse + walk.nr_walked * PAGE_SIZE;
-		/*
-		 * vmemmap_pages contains pages from the previous
-		 * vmemmap_remap_range call which failed.  These
-		 * are pages which were removed from the vmemmap.
-		 * They will be restored in the following call.
-		 */
-		walk = (struct vmemmap_remap_walk) {
-			.remap_pte	= vmemmap_restore_pte,
-			.reuse_addr	= reuse,
-			.vmemmap_pages	= vmemmap_pages,
-			.flags		= 0,
-		};
-
-		vmemmap_remap_range(reuse, end, &walk);
-	}
+	vmemmap_remap_range(start, end, &walk);
 
 	return ret;
 }
@@ -415,29 +377,25 @@ static int alloc_vmemmap_page_list(unsigned long start, unsigned long end,
  *		to remap.
  * @end:	end address of the vmemmap virtual address range that we want to
  *		remap.
- * @reuse:	reuse address.
  * @flags:	modifications to vmemmap_remap_walk flags
  *
  * Return: %0 on success, negative error code otherwise.
  */
 static int vmemmap_remap_alloc(unsigned long start, unsigned long end,
-			       unsigned long reuse, unsigned long flags)
+			       unsigned long flags)
 {
 	LIST_HEAD(vmemmap_pages);
 	struct vmemmap_remap_walk walk = {
 		.remap_pte	= vmemmap_restore_pte,
-		.reuse_addr	= reuse,
+		.vmemmap_start	= start,
 		.vmemmap_pages	= &vmemmap_pages,
 		.flags		= flags,
 	};
 
-	/* See the comment in the vmemmap_remap_free(). */
-	BUG_ON(start - reuse != PAGE_SIZE);
-
 	if (alloc_vmemmap_page_list(start, end, &vmemmap_pages))
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
-	return vmemmap_remap_range(reuse, end, &walk);
+	return vmemmap_remap_range(start, end, &walk);
 }
 
 DEFINE_STATIC_KEY_FALSE(hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
@@ -454,8 +412,7 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_restore_folio(const struct hstate *h,
 					   struct folio *folio, unsigned long flags)
 {
 	int ret;
-	unsigned long vmemmap_start = (unsigned long)&folio->page, vmemmap_end;
-	unsigned long vmemmap_reuse;
+	unsigned long vmemmap_start, vmemmap_end;
 
 	VM_WARN_ON_ONCE_FOLIO(!folio_test_hugetlb(folio), folio);
 	VM_WARN_ON_ONCE_FOLIO(folio_ref_count(folio), folio);
@@ -466,18 +423,18 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_restore_folio(const struct hstate *h,
 	if (flags & VMEMMAP_SYNCHRONIZE_RCU)
 		synchronize_rcu();
 
+	vmemmap_start	= (unsigned long)&folio->page;
 	vmemmap_end	= vmemmap_start + hugetlb_vmemmap_size(h);
-	vmemmap_reuse	= vmemmap_start;
-	vmemmap_start	+= HUGETLB_VMEMMAP_RESERVE_SIZE;
+
+	vmemmap_start += HUGETLB_VMEMMAP_RESERVE_SIZE;
 
 	/*
 	 * The pages which the vmemmap virtual address range [@vmemmap_start,
-	 * @vmemmap_end) are mapped to are freed to the buddy allocator, and
-	 * the range is mapped to the page which @vmemmap_reuse is mapped to.
+	 * @vmemmap_end) are mapped to are freed to the buddy allocator.
 	 * When a HugeTLB page is freed to the buddy allocator, previously
 	 * discarded vmemmap pages must be allocated and remapping.
 	 */
-	ret = vmemmap_remap_alloc(vmemmap_start, vmemmap_end, vmemmap_reuse, flags);
+	ret = vmemmap_remap_alloc(vmemmap_start, vmemmap_end, flags);
 	if (!ret) {
 		folio_clear_hugetlb_vmemmap_optimized(folio);
 		static_branch_dec(&hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
@@ -565,9 +522,9 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h,
 					    struct list_head *vmemmap_pages,
 					    unsigned long flags)
 {
-	int ret = 0;
-	unsigned long vmemmap_start = (unsigned long)&folio->page, vmemmap_end;
-	unsigned long vmemmap_reuse;
+	unsigned long vmemmap_start, vmemmap_end;
+	struct page *vmemmap_head, *vmemmap_tail;
+	int nid, ret = 0;
 
 	VM_WARN_ON_ONCE_FOLIO(!folio_test_hugetlb(folio), folio);
 	VM_WARN_ON_ONCE_FOLIO(folio_ref_count(folio), folio);
@@ -592,18 +549,31 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h,
 	 */
 	folio_set_hugetlb_vmemmap_optimized(folio);
 
+	nid = folio_nid(folio);
+	vmemmap_head = alloc_pages_node(nid, GFP_KERNEL, 0);
+
+	if (!vmemmap_head) {
+		ret = -ENOMEM;
+		goto out;
+	}
+
+	copy_page(page_to_virt(vmemmap_head), folio);
+	list_add(&vmemmap_head->lru, vmemmap_pages);
+	memmap_pages_add(1);
+
+	vmemmap_tail	= vmemmap_head;
+	vmemmap_start	= (unsigned long)&folio->page;
 	vmemmap_end	= vmemmap_start + hugetlb_vmemmap_size(h);
-	vmemmap_reuse	= vmemmap_start;
-	vmemmap_start	+= HUGETLB_VMEMMAP_RESERVE_SIZE;
 
 	/*
-	 * Remap the vmemmap virtual address range [@vmemmap_start, @vmemmap_end)
-	 * to the page which @vmemmap_reuse is mapped to.  Add pages previously
-	 * mapping the range to vmemmap_pages list so that they can be freed by
-	 * the caller.
+	 * Remap the vmemmap virtual address range [@vmemmap_start, @vmemmap_end).
+	 * Add pages previously mapping the range to vmemmap_pages list so that
+	 * they can be freed by the caller.
 	 */
-	ret = vmemmap_remap_free(vmemmap_start, vmemmap_end, vmemmap_reuse,
+	ret = vmemmap_remap_free(vmemmap_start, vmemmap_end,
+				 vmemmap_head, vmemmap_tail,
 				 vmemmap_pages, flags);
+out:
 	if (ret) {
 		static_branch_dec(&hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
 		folio_clear_hugetlb_vmemmap_optimized(folio);
@@ -632,21 +602,19 @@ void hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h, struct folio *folio)
 
 static int hugetlb_vmemmap_split_folio(const struct hstate *h, struct folio *folio)
 {
-	unsigned long vmemmap_start = (unsigned long)&folio->page, vmemmap_end;
-	unsigned long vmemmap_reuse;
+	unsigned long vmemmap_start, vmemmap_end;
 
 	if (!vmemmap_should_optimize_folio(h, folio))
 		return 0;
 
+	vmemmap_start	= (unsigned long)&folio->page;
 	vmemmap_end	= vmemmap_start + hugetlb_vmemmap_size(h);
-	vmemmap_reuse	= vmemmap_start;
-	vmemmap_start	+= HUGETLB_VMEMMAP_RESERVE_SIZE;
 
 	/*
 	 * Split PMDs on the vmemmap virtual address range [@vmemmap_start,
 	 * @vmemmap_end]
 	 */
-	return vmemmap_remap_split(vmemmap_start, vmemmap_end, vmemmap_reuse);
+	return vmemmap_remap_split(vmemmap_start, vmemmap_end);
 }
 
 static void __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folios(struct hstate *h,
-- 
2.51.2

Re: [PATCHv4 08/14] mm/hugetlb: Refactor code around vmemmap_walk

[Muchun Song]

On 2026/1/22 00:22, Kiryl Shutsemau wrote:
> To prepare for removing fake head pages, the vmemmap_walk code is being reworked.
>
> The reuse_page and reuse_addr variables are being eliminated. There will
> no longer be an expectation regarding the reuse address in relation to
> the operated range. Instead, the caller will provide head and tail
> vmemmap pages, along with the vmemmap_start address where the head page
> is located.
>
> Currently, vmemmap_head and vmemmap_tail are set to the same page, but
> this will change in the future.
>
> The only functional change is that __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio()
> will abandon optimization if memory allocation fails.
>
> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
> ---
>   mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c | 200 ++++++++++++++++++-------------------------
>   1 file changed, 84 insertions(+), 116 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c b/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
> index ba0fb1b6a5a8..a51c0e293175 100644
> --- a/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
> +++ b/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
> @@ -24,8 +24,9 @@
>    *
>    * @remap_pte:		called for each lowest-level entry (PTE).
>    * @nr_walked:		the number of walked pte.
> - * @reuse_page:		the page which is reused for the tail vmemmap pages.
> - * @reuse_addr:		the virtual address of the @reuse_page page.
> + * @vmemmap_start:	the start of vmemmap range, where head page is located

For vmemmap_remap_alloc case, @vmemmap_start is not head page address.
Now I am considering if @vmemmap_start is needed.

> + * @vmemmap_head:	the page to be installed as first in the vmemmap range
> + * @vmemmap_tail:	the page to be installed as non-first in the vmemmap range
>    * @vmemmap_pages:	the list head of the vmemmap pages that can be freed
>    *			or is mapped from.
>    * @flags:		used to modify behavior in vmemmap page table walking
> @@ -34,11 +35,14 @@
>   struct vmemmap_remap_walk {
>   	void			(*remap_pte)(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr,
>   					     struct vmemmap_remap_walk *walk);
> +
>   	unsigned long		nr_walked;
> -	struct page		*reuse_page;
> -	unsigned long		reuse_addr;
> +	unsigned long		vmemmap_start;
> +	struct page		*vmemmap_head;
> +	struct page		*vmemmap_tail;
>   	struct list_head	*vmemmap_pages;
>   
> +
>   /* Skip the TLB flush when we split the PMD */
>   #define VMEMMAP_SPLIT_NO_TLB_FLUSH	BIT(0)
>   /* Skip the TLB flush when we remap the PTE */
> @@ -140,14 +144,7 @@ static int vmemmap_pte_entry(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr,
>   {
>   	struct vmemmap_remap_walk *vmemmap_walk = walk->private;
>   
> -	/*
> -	 * The reuse_page is found 'first' in page table walking before
> -	 * starting remapping.
> -	 */
> -	if (!vmemmap_walk->reuse_page)
> -		vmemmap_walk->reuse_page = pte_page(ptep_get(pte));
> -	else
> -		vmemmap_walk->remap_pte(pte, addr, vmemmap_walk);
> +	vmemmap_walk->remap_pte(pte, addr, vmemmap_walk);
>   	vmemmap_walk->nr_walked++;
>   
>   	return 0;
> @@ -207,18 +204,12 @@ static void free_vmemmap_page_list(struct list_head *list)
>   static void vmemmap_remap_pte(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr,
>   			      struct vmemmap_remap_walk *walk)
>   {
> -	/*
> -	 * Remap the tail pages as read-only to catch illegal write operation
> -	 * to the tail pages.
> -	 */
> -	pgprot_t pgprot = PAGE_KERNEL_RO;
>   	struct page *page = pte_page(ptep_get(pte));
>   	pte_t entry;
>   
>   	/* Remapping the head page requires r/w */
> -	if (unlikely(addr == walk->reuse_addr)) {
> -		pgprot = PAGE_KERNEL;
> -		list_del(&walk->reuse_page->lru);
> +	if (unlikely(addr == walk->vmemmap_start)) {

We can replace this check with

     vmemmap_walk->nr_walked == 0 && walk->vmemmap_head

> +		list_del(&walk->vmemmap_head->lru);
>   
>   		/*
>   		 * Makes sure that preceding stores to the page contents from
> @@ -226,9 +217,16 @@ static void vmemmap_remap_pte(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr,
>   		 * write.
>   		 */
>   		smp_wmb();
> +
> +		entry = mk_pte(walk->vmemmap_head, PAGE_KERNEL);
> +	} else {
> +		/*
> +		 * Remap the tail pages as read-only to catch illegal write
> +		 * operation to the tail pages.
> +		 */
> +		entry = mk_pte(walk->vmemmap_tail, PAGE_KERNEL_RO);
>   	}
>   
> -	entry = mk_pte(walk->reuse_page, pgprot);
>   	list_add(&page->lru, walk->vmemmap_pages);
>   	set_pte_at(&init_mm, addr, pte, entry);
>   }
> @@ -255,16 +253,13 @@ static inline void reset_struct_pages(struct page *start)
>   static void vmemmap_restore_pte(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr,
>   				struct vmemmap_remap_walk *walk)
>   {
> -	pgprot_t pgprot = PAGE_KERNEL;
>   	struct page *page;
>   	void *to;
>   
> -	BUG_ON(pte_page(ptep_get(pte)) != walk->reuse_page);
> -
>   	page = list_first_entry(walk->vmemmap_pages, struct page, lru);
>   	list_del(&page->lru);
>   	to = page_to_virt(page);
> -	copy_page(to, (void *)walk->reuse_addr);
> +	copy_page(to, (void *)walk->vmemmap_start);

And you've remoed walk->vmemmap_start in the next patch, so we
no longer need the ->vmemmap_start field.

>   	reset_struct_pages(to);
>   
>   	/*
> @@ -272,7 +267,7 @@ static void vmemmap_restore_pte(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr,
>   	 * before the set_pte_at() write.
>   	 */
>   	smp_wmb();
> -	set_pte_at(&init_mm, addr, pte, mk_pte(page, pgprot));
> +	set_pte_at(&init_mm, addr, pte, mk_pte(page, PAGE_KERNEL));
>   }
>   
>   /**
> @@ -282,33 +277,29 @@ static void vmemmap_restore_pte(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr,
>    *             to remap.
>    * @end:       end address of the vmemmap virtual address range that we want to
>    *             remap.
> - * @reuse:     reuse address.
> - *
>    * Return: %0 on success, negative error code otherwise.
>    */
> -static int vmemmap_remap_split(unsigned long start, unsigned long end,
> -			       unsigned long reuse)
> +static int vmemmap_remap_split(unsigned long start, unsigned long end)
>   {
>   	struct vmemmap_remap_walk walk = {
>   		.remap_pte	= NULL,
> +		.vmemmap_start	= start,
>   		.flags		= VMEMMAP_SPLIT_NO_TLB_FLUSH,
>   	};
>   
> -	/* See the comment in the vmemmap_remap_free(). */
> -	BUG_ON(start - reuse != PAGE_SIZE);
> -
> -	return vmemmap_remap_range(reuse, end, &walk);
> +	return vmemmap_remap_range(start, end, &walk);
>   }
>   
>   /**
>    * vmemmap_remap_free - remap the vmemmap virtual address range [@start, @end)
> - *			to the page which @reuse is mapped to, then free vmemmap
> - *			which the range are mapped to.
> + *			to use @vmemmap_head/tail, then free vmemmap which
> + *			the range are mapped to.
>    * @start:	start address of the vmemmap virtual address range that we want
>    *		to remap.
>    * @end:	end address of the vmemmap virtual address range that we want to
>    *		remap.
> - * @reuse:	reuse address.
> + * @vmemmap_head: the page to be installed as first in the vmemmap range
> + * @vmemmap_tail: the page to be installed as non-first in the vmemmap range
>    * @vmemmap_pages: list to deposit vmemmap pages to be freed.  It is callers
>    *		responsibility to free pages.
>    * @flags:	modifications to vmemmap_remap_walk flags
> @@ -316,69 +307,40 @@ static int vmemmap_remap_split(unsigned long start, unsigned long end,
>    * Return: %0 on success, negative error code otherwise.
>    */
>   static int vmemmap_remap_free(unsigned long start, unsigned long end,
> -			      unsigned long reuse,
> +			      struct page *vmemmap_head,
> +			      struct page *vmemmap_tail,
>   			      struct list_head *vmemmap_pages,
>   			      unsigned long flags)
>   {
>   	int ret;
>   	struct vmemmap_remap_walk walk = {
>   		.remap_pte	= vmemmap_remap_pte,
> -		.reuse_addr	= reuse,
> +		.vmemmap_start	= start,
> +		.vmemmap_head	= vmemmap_head,
> +		.vmemmap_tail	= vmemmap_tail,
>   		.vmemmap_pages	= vmemmap_pages,
>   		.flags		= flags,
>   	};
> -	int nid = page_to_nid((struct page *)reuse);
> -	gfp_t gfp_mask = GFP_KERNEL | __GFP_NORETRY | __GFP_NOWARN;
> +
> +	ret = vmemmap_remap_range(start, end, &walk);
> +	if (!ret || !walk.nr_walked)
> +		return ret;
> +
> +	end = start + walk.nr_walked * PAGE_SIZE;
>   
>   	/*
> -	 * Allocate a new head vmemmap page to avoid breaking a contiguous
> -	 * block of struct page memory when freeing it back to page allocator
> -	 * in free_vmemmap_page_list(). This will allow the likely contiguous
> -	 * struct page backing memory to be kept contiguous and allowing for
> -	 * more allocations of hugepages. Fallback to the currently
> -	 * mapped head page in case should it fail to allocate.
> +	 * vmemmap_pages contains pages from the previous vmemmap_remap_range()
> +	 * call which failed.  These are pages which were removed from
> +	 * the vmemmap. They will be restored in the following call.
>   	 */
> -	walk.reuse_page = alloc_pages_node(nid, gfp_mask, 0);
> -	if (walk.reuse_page) {
> -		copy_page(page_to_virt(walk.reuse_page),
> -			  (void *)walk.reuse_addr);
> -		list_add(&walk.reuse_page->lru, vmemmap_pages);
> -		memmap_pages_add(1);
> -	}
> +	walk = (struct vmemmap_remap_walk) {
> +		.remap_pte	= vmemmap_restore_pte,
> +		.vmemmap_start	= start,
> +		.vmemmap_pages	= vmemmap_pages,
> +		.flags		= 0,
> +	};
>   
> -	/*
> -	 * In order to make remapping routine most efficient for the huge pages,
> -	 * the routine of vmemmap page table walking has the following rules
> -	 * (see more details from the vmemmap_pte_range()):
> -	 *
> -	 * - The range [@start, @end) and the range [@reuse, @reuse + PAGE_SIZE)
> -	 *   should be continuous.
> -	 * - The @reuse address is part of the range [@reuse, @end) that we are
> -	 *   walking which is passed to vmemmap_remap_range().
> -	 * - The @reuse address is the first in the complete range.
> -	 *
> -	 * So we need to make sure that @start and @reuse meet the above rules.
> -	 */
> -	BUG_ON(start - reuse != PAGE_SIZE);
> -
> -	ret = vmemmap_remap_range(reuse, end, &walk);
> -	if (ret && walk.nr_walked) {
> -		end = reuse + walk.nr_walked * PAGE_SIZE;
> -		/*
> -		 * vmemmap_pages contains pages from the previous
> -		 * vmemmap_remap_range call which failed.  These
> -		 * are pages which were removed from the vmemmap.
> -		 * They will be restored in the following call.
> -		 */
> -		walk = (struct vmemmap_remap_walk) {
> -			.remap_pte	= vmemmap_restore_pte,
> -			.reuse_addr	= reuse,
> -			.vmemmap_pages	= vmemmap_pages,
> -			.flags		= 0,
> -		};
> -
> -		vmemmap_remap_range(reuse, end, &walk);
> -	}
> +	vmemmap_remap_range(start, end, &walk);
>   
>   	return ret;
>   }
> @@ -415,29 +377,25 @@ static int alloc_vmemmap_page_list(unsigned long start, unsigned long end,
>    *		to remap.
>    * @end:	end address of the vmemmap virtual address range that we want to
>    *		remap.
> - * @reuse:	reuse address.
>    * @flags:	modifications to vmemmap_remap_walk flags
>    *
>    * Return: %0 on success, negative error code otherwise.
>    */
>   static int vmemmap_remap_alloc(unsigned long start, unsigned long end,
> -			       unsigned long reuse, unsigned long flags)
> +			       unsigned long flags)
>   {
>   	LIST_HEAD(vmemmap_pages);
>   	struct vmemmap_remap_walk walk = {
>   		.remap_pte	= vmemmap_restore_pte,
> -		.reuse_addr	= reuse,
> +		.vmemmap_start	= start,
>   		.vmemmap_pages	= &vmemmap_pages,
>   		.flags		= flags,
>   	};
>   
> -	/* See the comment in the vmemmap_remap_free(). */
> -	BUG_ON(start - reuse != PAGE_SIZE);
> -
>   	if (alloc_vmemmap_page_list(start, end, &vmemmap_pages))
>   		return -ENOMEM;
>   
> -	return vmemmap_remap_range(reuse, end, &walk);
> +	return vmemmap_remap_range(start, end, &walk);
>   }
>   
>   DEFINE_STATIC_KEY_FALSE(hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
> @@ -454,8 +412,7 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_restore_folio(const struct hstate *h,
>   					   struct folio *folio, unsigned long flags)
>   {
>   	int ret;
> -	unsigned long vmemmap_start = (unsigned long)&folio->page, vmemmap_end;
> -	unsigned long vmemmap_reuse;
> +	unsigned long vmemmap_start, vmemmap_end;
>   
>   	VM_WARN_ON_ONCE_FOLIO(!folio_test_hugetlb(folio), folio);
>   	VM_WARN_ON_ONCE_FOLIO(folio_ref_count(folio), folio);
> @@ -466,18 +423,18 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_restore_folio(const struct hstate *h,
>   	if (flags & VMEMMAP_SYNCHRONIZE_RCU)
>   		synchronize_rcu();
>   
> +	vmemmap_start	= (unsigned long)&folio->page;
>   	vmemmap_end	= vmemmap_start + hugetlb_vmemmap_size(h);
> -	vmemmap_reuse	= vmemmap_start;
> -	vmemmap_start	+= HUGETLB_VMEMMAP_RESERVE_SIZE;
> +
> +	vmemmap_start += HUGETLB_VMEMMAP_RESERVE_SIZE;
>   
>   	/*
>   	 * The pages which the vmemmap virtual address range [@vmemmap_start,
> -	 * @vmemmap_end) are mapped to are freed to the buddy allocator, and
> -	 * the range is mapped to the page which @vmemmap_reuse is mapped to.
> +	 * @vmemmap_end) are mapped to are freed to the buddy allocator.
>   	 * When a HugeTLB page is freed to the buddy allocator, previously
>   	 * discarded vmemmap pages must be allocated and remapping.
>   	 */
> -	ret = vmemmap_remap_alloc(vmemmap_start, vmemmap_end, vmemmap_reuse, flags);
> +	ret = vmemmap_remap_alloc(vmemmap_start, vmemmap_end, flags);
>   	if (!ret) {
>   		folio_clear_hugetlb_vmemmap_optimized(folio);
>   		static_branch_dec(&hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
> @@ -565,9 +522,9 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h,
>   					    struct list_head *vmemmap_pages,
>   					    unsigned long flags)
>   {
> -	int ret = 0;
> -	unsigned long vmemmap_start = (unsigned long)&folio->page, vmemmap_end;
> -	unsigned long vmemmap_reuse;
> +	unsigned long vmemmap_start, vmemmap_end;
> +	struct page *vmemmap_head, *vmemmap_tail;
> +	int nid, ret = 0;
>   
>   	VM_WARN_ON_ONCE_FOLIO(!folio_test_hugetlb(folio), folio);
>   	VM_WARN_ON_ONCE_FOLIO(folio_ref_count(folio), folio);
> @@ -592,18 +549,31 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h,
>   	 */
>   	folio_set_hugetlb_vmemmap_optimized(folio);
>   
> +	nid = folio_nid(folio);
> +	vmemmap_head = alloc_pages_node(nid, GFP_KERNEL, 0);
> +
Do not need a new line here.
> +	if (!vmemmap_head) {
> +		ret = -ENOMEM;
> +		goto out;
> +	}
> +
> +	copy_page(page_to_virt(vmemmap_head), folio);
> +	list_add(&vmemmap_head->lru, vmemmap_pages);
> +	memmap_pages_add(1);
> +
> +	vmemmap_tail	= vmemmap_head;
> +	vmemmap_start	= (unsigned long)&folio->page;
>   	vmemmap_end	= vmemmap_start + hugetlb_vmemmap_size(h);
> -	vmemmap_reuse	= vmemmap_start;
> -	vmemmap_start	+= HUGETLB_VMEMMAP_RESERVE_SIZE;
>   
>   	/*
> -	 * Remap the vmemmap virtual address range [@vmemmap_start, @vmemmap_end)
> -	 * to the page which @vmemmap_reuse is mapped to.  Add pages previously
> -	 * mapping the range to vmemmap_pages list so that they can be freed by
> -	 * the caller.
> +	 * Remap the vmemmap virtual address range [@vmemmap_start, @vmemmap_end).
> +	 * Add pages previously mapping the range to vmemmap_pages list so that
> +	 * they can be freed by the caller.
>   	 */
> -	ret = vmemmap_remap_free(vmemmap_start, vmemmap_end, vmemmap_reuse,
> +	ret = vmemmap_remap_free(vmemmap_start, vmemmap_end,
> +				 vmemmap_head, vmemmap_tail,
>   				 vmemmap_pages, flags);
> +out:
>   	if (ret) {
>   		static_branch_dec(&hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
>   		folio_clear_hugetlb_vmemmap_optimized(folio);
> @@ -632,21 +602,19 @@ void hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h, struct folio *folio)
>   
>   static int hugetlb_vmemmap_split_folio(const struct hstate *h, struct folio *folio)
>   {
> -	unsigned long vmemmap_start = (unsigned long)&folio->page, vmemmap_end;
> -	unsigned long vmemmap_reuse;
> +	unsigned long vmemmap_start, vmemmap_end;
>   
>   	if (!vmemmap_should_optimize_folio(h, folio))
>   		return 0;
>   
> +	vmemmap_start	= (unsigned long)&folio->page;
>   	vmemmap_end	= vmemmap_start + hugetlb_vmemmap_size(h);
> -	vmemmap_reuse	= vmemmap_start;
> -	vmemmap_start	+= HUGETLB_VMEMMAP_RESERVE_SIZE;
>   
>   	/*
>   	 * Split PMDs on the vmemmap virtual address range [@vmemmap_start,
>   	 * @vmemmap_end]
>   	 */
> -	return vmemmap_remap_split(vmemmap_start, vmemmap_end, vmemmap_reuse);
> +	return vmemmap_remap_split(vmemmap_start, vmemmap_end);
>   }
>   
>   static void __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folios(struct hstate *h,

[PATCHv4 09/14] mm/hugetlb: Remove fake head pages

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

HugeTLB Vmemmap Optimization (HVO) reduces memory usage by freeing most
vmemmap pages for huge pages and remapping the freed range to a single
page containing the struct page metadata.

With the new mask-based compound_info encoding (for power-of-2 struct
page sizes), all tail pages of the same order are now identical
regardless of which compound page they belong to. This means the tail
pages can be truly shared without fake heads.

Allocate a single page of initialized tail struct pages per NUMA node
per order in the vmemmap_tails[] array in pglist_data. All huge pages of
that order on the node share this tail page, mapped read-only into their
vmemmap. The head page remains unique per huge page.

Redefine MAX_FOLIO_ORDER using ilog2(). The define has to produce a
compile-constant as it is used to specify vmemmap_tail array size.
For some reason, compiler is not able to solve get_order() at
compile-time, but ilog2() works.

Avoid PUD_ORDER to define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER as it adds dependency to
<linux/pgtable.h> which generates hard-to-break include loop.

This eliminates fake heads while maintaining the same memory savings,
and simplifies compound_head() by removing fake head detection.

Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
---
 include/linux/mmzone.h | 18 ++++++++--
 mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c   | 80 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--------------
 mm/sparse-vmemmap.c    | 44 ++++++++++++++++++-----
 3 files changed, 106 insertions(+), 36 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
index 7e4f69b9d760..7e6beeca4d40 100644
--- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
+++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
@@ -81,13 +81,17 @@
  * currently expect (see CONFIG_HAVE_GIGANTIC_FOLIOS): with hugetlb, we expect
  * no folios larger than 16 GiB on 64bit and 1 GiB on 32bit.
  */
-#define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER		get_order(IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_64BIT) ? SZ_16G : SZ_1G)
+#ifdef CONFIG_64BIT
+#define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER		(ilog2(SZ_16G) - PAGE_SHIFT)
+#else
+#define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER		(ilog2(SZ_1G) - PAGE_SHIFT)
+#endif
 #else
 /*
  * Without hugetlb, gigantic folios that are bigger than a single PUD are
  * currently impossible.
  */
-#define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER		PUD_ORDER
+#define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER		(PUD_SHIFT - PAGE_SHIFT)
 #endif
 
 #define MAX_FOLIO_NR_PAGES	(1UL << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
@@ -1407,6 +1411,13 @@ struct memory_failure_stats {
 };
 #endif
 
+/*
+ * vmemmap optimization (like HVO) is only possible for page orders that fill
+ * two or more pages with struct pages.
+ */
+#define VMEMMAP_TAIL_MIN_ORDER (ilog2(2 * PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct page)))
+#define NR_VMEMMAP_TAILS (MAX_FOLIO_ORDER - VMEMMAP_TAIL_MIN_ORDER + 1)
+
 /*
  * On NUMA machines, each NUMA node would have a pg_data_t to describe
  * it's memory layout. On UMA machines there is a single pglist_data which
@@ -1555,6 +1566,9 @@ typedef struct pglist_data {
 #ifdef CONFIG_MEMORY_FAILURE
 	struct memory_failure_stats mf_stats;
 #endif
+#ifdef CONFIG_SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP
+	unsigned long vmemmap_tails[NR_VMEMMAP_TAILS];
+#endif
 } pg_data_t;
 
 #define node_present_pages(nid)	(NODE_DATA(nid)->node_present_pages)
diff --git a/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c b/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
index a51c0e293175..51bb6c73db92 100644
--- a/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
+++ b/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 #include <asm/pgalloc.h>
 #include <asm/tlbflush.h>
 #include "hugetlb_vmemmap.h"
+#include "internal.h"
 
 /**
  * struct vmemmap_remap_walk - walk vmemmap page table
@@ -231,36 +232,25 @@ static void vmemmap_remap_pte(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr,
 	set_pte_at(&init_mm, addr, pte, entry);
 }
 
-/*
- * How many struct page structs need to be reset. When we reuse the head
- * struct page, the special metadata (e.g. page->flags or page->mapping)
- * cannot copy to the tail struct page structs. The invalid value will be
- * checked in the free_tail_page_prepare(). In order to avoid the message
- * of "corrupted mapping in tail page". We need to reset at least 4 (one
- * head struct page struct and three tail struct page structs) struct page
- * structs.
- */
-#define NR_RESET_STRUCT_PAGE		4
-
-static inline void reset_struct_pages(struct page *start)
-{
-	struct page *from = start + NR_RESET_STRUCT_PAGE;
-
-	BUILD_BUG_ON(NR_RESET_STRUCT_PAGE * 2 > PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct page));
-	memcpy(start, from, sizeof(*from) * NR_RESET_STRUCT_PAGE);
-}
-
 static void vmemmap_restore_pte(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr,
 				struct vmemmap_remap_walk *walk)
 {
 	struct page *page;
-	void *to;
+	struct page *from, *to;
 
 	page = list_first_entry(walk->vmemmap_pages, struct page, lru);
 	list_del(&page->lru);
+
+	/*
+	 * Initialize all tail pages with the value of the first non-special
+	 * tail pages. The first 4 tail pages of the hugetlb folio contain
+	 * special metadata.
+	 */
+	from = compound_head((struct page *)addr) + 4;
 	to = page_to_virt(page);
-	copy_page(to, (void *)walk->vmemmap_start);
-	reset_struct_pages(to);
+	for (int i = 0; i < PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct page); i++, to++) {
+		*to = *from;
+	}
 
 	/*
 	 * Makes sure that preceding stores to the page contents become visible
@@ -425,8 +415,7 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_restore_folio(const struct hstate *h,
 
 	vmemmap_start	= (unsigned long)&folio->page;
 	vmemmap_end	= vmemmap_start + hugetlb_vmemmap_size(h);
-
-	vmemmap_start += HUGETLB_VMEMMAP_RESERVE_SIZE;
+	vmemmap_start	+= HUGETLB_VMEMMAP_RESERVE_SIZE;
 
 	/*
 	 * The pages which the vmemmap virtual address range [@vmemmap_start,
@@ -517,6 +506,41 @@ static bool vmemmap_should_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h, struct folio *
 	return true;
 }
 
+static struct page *vmemmap_get_tail(unsigned int order, int node)
+{
+	unsigned long pfn;
+	unsigned int idx;
+	struct page *tail, *p;
+
+	idx = order - VMEMMAP_TAIL_MIN_ORDER;
+	pfn =  NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx];
+	if (pfn)
+		return pfn_to_page(pfn);
+
+	tail = alloc_pages_node(node, GFP_KERNEL | __GFP_ZERO, 0);
+	if (!tail)
+		return NULL;
+
+	p = page_to_virt(tail);
+	for (int i = 0; i < PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct page); i++)
+		prep_compound_tail(p + i, NULL, order);
+
+	spin_lock(&hugetlb_lock);
+	if (!NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx]) {
+		pfn = PHYS_PFN(virt_to_phys(p));
+		NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx] = pfn;
+		tail = NULL;
+	} else {
+		pfn = NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx];
+	}
+	spin_unlock(&hugetlb_lock);
+
+	if (tail)
+		__free_page(tail);
+
+	return pfn_to_page(pfn);
+}
+
 static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h,
 					    struct folio *folio,
 					    struct list_head *vmemmap_pages,
@@ -532,6 +556,12 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h,
 	if (!vmemmap_should_optimize_folio(h, folio))
 		return ret;
 
+	nid = folio_nid(folio);
+
+	vmemmap_tail = vmemmap_get_tail(h->order, nid);
+	if (!vmemmap_tail)
+		return -ENOMEM;
+
 	static_branch_inc(&hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
 
 	if (flags & VMEMMAP_SYNCHRONIZE_RCU)
@@ -549,7 +579,6 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h,
 	 */
 	folio_set_hugetlb_vmemmap_optimized(folio);
 
-	nid = folio_nid(folio);
 	vmemmap_head = alloc_pages_node(nid, GFP_KERNEL, 0);
 
 	if (!vmemmap_head) {
@@ -561,7 +590,6 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h,
 	list_add(&vmemmap_head->lru, vmemmap_pages);
 	memmap_pages_add(1);
 
-	vmemmap_tail	= vmemmap_head;
 	vmemmap_start	= (unsigned long)&folio->page;
 	vmemmap_end	= vmemmap_start + hugetlb_vmemmap_size(h);
 
diff --git a/mm/sparse-vmemmap.c b/mm/sparse-vmemmap.c
index dbd8daccade2..94b4e90fa00f 100644
--- a/mm/sparse-vmemmap.c
+++ b/mm/sparse-vmemmap.c
@@ -378,16 +378,45 @@ void vmemmap_wrprotect_hvo(unsigned long addr, unsigned long end,
 	}
 }
 
-/*
- * Populate vmemmap pages HVO-style. The first page contains the head
- * page and needed tail pages, the other ones are mirrors of the first
- * page.
- */
+static __meminit unsigned long vmemmap_get_tail(unsigned int order, int node)
+{
+	unsigned long pfn;
+	unsigned int idx;
+	struct page *p;
+
+	BUG_ON(order < VMEMMAP_TAIL_MIN_ORDER);
+	BUG_ON(order > MAX_FOLIO_ORDER);
+
+	idx = order - VMEMMAP_TAIL_MIN_ORDER;
+	pfn =  NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx];
+	if (pfn)
+		return pfn;
+
+	p = vmemmap_alloc_block_zero(PAGE_SIZE, node);
+	if (!p)
+		return 0;
+
+	for (int i = 0; i < PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct page); i++)
+		prep_compound_tail(p + i, NULL, order);
+
+	pfn = PHYS_PFN(virt_to_phys(p));
+	NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx] = pfn;
+
+	return pfn;
+}
+
 int __meminit vmemmap_populate_hvo(unsigned long addr, unsigned long end,
 				       int node, unsigned long headsize)
 {
+	unsigned long maddr, len, tail_pfn;
+	unsigned int order;
 	pte_t *pte;
-	unsigned long maddr;
+
+	len = end - addr;
+	order = ilog2(len * sizeof(struct page) / PAGE_SIZE);
+	tail_pfn = vmemmap_get_tail(order, node);
+	if (!tail_pfn)
+		return -ENOMEM;
 
 	for (maddr = addr; maddr < addr + headsize; maddr += PAGE_SIZE) {
 		pte = vmemmap_populate_address(maddr, node, NULL, -1, 0);
@@ -398,8 +427,7 @@ int __meminit vmemmap_populate_hvo(unsigned long addr, unsigned long end,
 	/*
 	 * Reuse the last page struct page mapped above for the rest.
 	 */
-	return vmemmap_populate_range(maddr, end, node, NULL,
-					pte_pfn(ptep_get(pte)), 0);
+	return vmemmap_populate_range(maddr, end, node, NULL, tail_pfn, 0);
 }
 
 void __weak __meminit vmemmap_set_pmd(pmd_t *pmd, void *p, int node,
-- 
2.51.2

Re: [PATCHv4 09/14] mm/hugetlb: Remove fake head pages

[Muchun Song]

On 2026/1/22 00:22, Kiryl Shutsemau wrote:
> HugeTLB Vmemmap Optimization (HVO) reduces memory usage by freeing most
> vmemmap pages for huge pages and remapping the freed range to a single
> page containing the struct page metadata.
>
> With the new mask-based compound_info encoding (for power-of-2 struct
> page sizes), all tail pages of the same order are now identical
> regardless of which compound page they belong to. This means the tail
> pages can be truly shared without fake heads.
>
> Allocate a single page of initialized tail struct pages per NUMA node
> per order in the vmemmap_tails[] array in pglist_data. All huge pages of
> that order on the node share this tail page, mapped read-only into their
> vmemmap. The head page remains unique per huge page.
>
> Redefine MAX_FOLIO_ORDER using ilog2(). The define has to produce a
> compile-constant as it is used to specify vmemmap_tail array size.
> For some reason, compiler is not able to solve get_order() at
> compile-time, but ilog2() works.
>
> Avoid PUD_ORDER to define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER as it adds dependency to
> <linux/pgtable.h> which generates hard-to-break include loop.
>
> This eliminates fake heads while maintaining the same memory savings,
> and simplifies compound_head() by removing fake head detection.
>
> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
> ---
>   include/linux/mmzone.h | 18 ++++++++--
>   mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c   | 80 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--------------
>   mm/sparse-vmemmap.c    | 44 ++++++++++++++++++-----
>   3 files changed, 106 insertions(+), 36 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> index 7e4f69b9d760..7e6beeca4d40 100644
> --- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
> +++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> @@ -81,13 +81,17 @@
>    * currently expect (see CONFIG_HAVE_GIGANTIC_FOLIOS): with hugetlb, we expect
>    * no folios larger than 16 GiB on 64bit and 1 GiB on 32bit.
>    */
> -#define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER		get_order(IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_64BIT) ? SZ_16G : SZ_1G)
> +#ifdef CONFIG_64BIT
> +#define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER		(ilog2(SZ_16G) - PAGE_SHIFT)
> +#else
> +#define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER		(ilog2(SZ_1G) - PAGE_SHIFT)
> +#endif
>   #else
>   /*
>    * Without hugetlb, gigantic folios that are bigger than a single PUD are
>    * currently impossible.
>    */
> -#define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER		PUD_ORDER
> +#define MAX_FOLIO_ORDER		(PUD_SHIFT - PAGE_SHIFT)
>   #endif
>   
>   #define MAX_FOLIO_NR_PAGES	(1UL << MAX_FOLIO_ORDER)
> @@ -1407,6 +1411,13 @@ struct memory_failure_stats {
>   };
>   #endif
>   
> +/*
> + * vmemmap optimization (like HVO) is only possible for page orders that fill
> + * two or more pages with struct pages.
> + */
> +#define VMEMMAP_TAIL_MIN_ORDER (ilog2(2 * PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct page)))
> +#define NR_VMEMMAP_TAILS (MAX_FOLIO_ORDER - VMEMMAP_TAIL_MIN_ORDER + 1)
> +
>   /*
>    * On NUMA machines, each NUMA node would have a pg_data_t to describe
>    * it's memory layout. On UMA machines there is a single pglist_data which
> @@ -1555,6 +1566,9 @@ typedef struct pglist_data {
>   #ifdef CONFIG_MEMORY_FAILURE
>   	struct memory_failure_stats mf_stats;
>   #endif
> +#ifdef CONFIG_SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP
> +	unsigned long vmemmap_tails[NR_VMEMMAP_TAILS];
> +#endif
>   } pg_data_t;
>   
>   #define node_present_pages(nid)	(NODE_DATA(nid)->node_present_pages)
> diff --git a/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c b/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
> index a51c0e293175..51bb6c73db92 100644
> --- a/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
> +++ b/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
> @@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
>   #include <asm/pgalloc.h>
>   #include <asm/tlbflush.h>
>   #include "hugetlb_vmemmap.h"
> +#include "internal.h"
>   
>   /**
>    * struct vmemmap_remap_walk - walk vmemmap page table
> @@ -231,36 +232,25 @@ static void vmemmap_remap_pte(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr,
>   	set_pte_at(&init_mm, addr, pte, entry);
>   }
>   
> -/*
> - * How many struct page structs need to be reset. When we reuse the head
> - * struct page, the special metadata (e.g. page->flags or page->mapping)
> - * cannot copy to the tail struct page structs. The invalid value will be
> - * checked in the free_tail_page_prepare(). In order to avoid the message
> - * of "corrupted mapping in tail page". We need to reset at least 4 (one
> - * head struct page struct and three tail struct page structs) struct page
> - * structs.
> - */
> -#define NR_RESET_STRUCT_PAGE		4
> -
> -static inline void reset_struct_pages(struct page *start)
> -{
> -	struct page *from = start + NR_RESET_STRUCT_PAGE;
> -
> -	BUILD_BUG_ON(NR_RESET_STRUCT_PAGE * 2 > PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct page));
> -	memcpy(start, from, sizeof(*from) * NR_RESET_STRUCT_PAGE);
> -}
> -
>   static void vmemmap_restore_pte(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr,
>   				struct vmemmap_remap_walk *walk)
>   {
>   	struct page *page;
> -	void *to;
> +	struct page *from, *to;
>   
>   	page = list_first_entry(walk->vmemmap_pages, struct page, lru);
>   	list_del(&page->lru);
> +
> +	/*
> +	 * Initialize all tail pages with the value of the first non-special
> +	 * tail pages. The first 4 tail pages of the hugetlb folio contain
> +	 * special metadata.
> +	 */
> +	from = compound_head((struct page *)addr) + 4;

If we can eliminate the hard-coded number 4 as much as possible,
we should do so. This is to avoid issues like the commit 274fe92de2c4.
Therefore, I suggest copying data from the last struct page. Something like:

from = compound_head((struct page *)addr) + PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct 
page) - 1;

>   	to = page_to_virt(page);
> -	copy_page(to, (void *)walk->vmemmap_start);
> -	reset_struct_pages(to);
> +	for (int i = 0; i < PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct page); i++, to++) {
> +		*to = *from;
> +	}

 From the code style, "{}" is not necessary for one-line-code block.

>   
>   	/*
>   	 * Makes sure that preceding stores to the page contents become visible
> @@ -425,8 +415,7 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_restore_folio(const struct hstate *h,
>   
>   	vmemmap_start	= (unsigned long)&folio->page;
>   	vmemmap_end	= vmemmap_start + hugetlb_vmemmap_size(h);
> -
> -	vmemmap_start += HUGETLB_VMEMMAP_RESERVE_SIZE;
> +	vmemmap_start	+= HUGETLB_VMEMMAP_RESERVE_SIZE;

Those two-line changes should go into patch 8.

>   
>   	/*
>   	 * The pages which the vmemmap virtual address range [@vmemmap_start,
> @@ -517,6 +506,41 @@ static bool vmemmap_should_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h, struct folio *
>   	return true;
>   }
>   
> +static struct page *vmemmap_get_tail(unsigned int order, int node)
> +{
> +	unsigned long pfn;
> +	unsigned int idx;
> +	struct page *tail, *p;
> +
> +	idx = order - VMEMMAP_TAIL_MIN_ORDER;
> +	pfn =  NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx];

READ_ONCE() for access of NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx].

> +	if (pfn)
> +		return pfn_to_page(pfn);
> +
> +	tail = alloc_pages_node(node, GFP_KERNEL | __GFP_ZERO, 0);
> +	if (!tail)
> +		return NULL;
> +
> +	p = page_to_virt(tail);
> +	for (int i = 0; i < PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct page); i++)
> +		prep_compound_tail(p + i, NULL, order);
> +
> +	spin_lock(&hugetlb_lock);

hugetlb_lock is considered a contended lock, better not to abuse it.
cmpxchg() is enought in this case.

> +	if (!NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx]) {
> +		pfn = PHYS_PFN(virt_to_phys(p));
> +		NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx] = pfn;
> +		tail = NULL;
> +	} else {
> +		pfn = NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx];
> +	}
> +	spin_unlock(&hugetlb_lock);
> +
> +	if (tail)
> +		__free_page(tail);
> +
> +	return pfn_to_page(pfn);
> +}
> +
>   static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h,
>   					    struct folio *folio,
>   					    struct list_head *vmemmap_pages,
> @@ -532,6 +556,12 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h,
>   	if (!vmemmap_should_optimize_folio(h, folio))
>   		return ret;
>   
> +	nid = folio_nid(folio);
> +

Do not add a new line here.

> +	vmemmap_tail = vmemmap_get_tail(h->order, nid);
> +	if (!vmemmap_tail)
> +		return -ENOMEM;
> +
>   	static_branch_inc(&hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
>   
>   	if (flags & VMEMMAP_SYNCHRONIZE_RCU)
> @@ -549,7 +579,6 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h,
>   	 */
>   	folio_set_hugetlb_vmemmap_optimized(folio);
>   
> -	nid = folio_nid(folio);
>   	vmemmap_head = alloc_pages_node(nid, GFP_KERNEL, 0);
>   
>   	if (!vmemmap_head) {
> @@ -561,7 +590,6 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h,
>   	list_add(&vmemmap_head->lru, vmemmap_pages);
>   	memmap_pages_add(1);
>   
> -	vmemmap_tail	= vmemmap_head;
>   	vmemmap_start	= (unsigned long)&folio->page;
>   	vmemmap_end	= vmemmap_start + hugetlb_vmemmap_size(h);
>   
> diff --git a/mm/sparse-vmemmap.c b/mm/sparse-vmemmap.c
> index dbd8daccade2..94b4e90fa00f 100644
> --- a/mm/sparse-vmemmap.c
> +++ b/mm/sparse-vmemmap.c
> @@ -378,16 +378,45 @@ void vmemmap_wrprotect_hvo(unsigned long addr, unsigned long end,
>   	}
>   }
>   
> -/*
> - * Populate vmemmap pages HVO-style. The first page contains the head
> - * page and needed tail pages, the other ones are mirrors of the first
> - * page.
> - */
> +static __meminit unsigned long vmemmap_get_tail(unsigned int order, int node)
> +{
> +	unsigned long pfn;
> +	unsigned int idx;
> +	struct page *p;
> +
> +	BUG_ON(order < VMEMMAP_TAIL_MIN_ORDER);
> +	BUG_ON(order > MAX_FOLIO_ORDER);
> +
> +	idx = order - VMEMMAP_TAIL_MIN_ORDER;
> +	pfn =  NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx];
> +	if (pfn)
> +		return pfn;
> +
> +	p = vmemmap_alloc_block_zero(PAGE_SIZE, node);
> +	if (!p)
> +		return 0;
> +
> +	for (int i = 0; i < PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct page); i++)
> +		prep_compound_tail(p + i, NULL, order);
> +
> +	pfn = PHYS_PFN(virt_to_phys(p));
> +	NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx] = pfn;
> +
> +	return pfn;
> +}
> +
>   int __meminit vmemmap_populate_hvo(unsigned long addr, unsigned long end,
>   				       int node, unsigned long headsize)
>   {
> +	unsigned long maddr, len, tail_pfn;
> +	unsigned int order;
>   	pte_t *pte;
> -	unsigned long maddr;
> +
> +	len = end - addr;
> +	order = ilog2(len * sizeof(struct page) / PAGE_SIZE);
> +	tail_pfn = vmemmap_get_tail(order, node);
> +	if (!tail_pfn)
> +		return -ENOMEM;
>   
>   	for (maddr = addr; maddr < addr + headsize; maddr += PAGE_SIZE) {
>   		pte = vmemmap_populate_address(maddr, node, NULL, -1, 0);
> @@ -398,8 +427,7 @@ int __meminit vmemmap_populate_hvo(unsigned long addr, unsigned long end,
>   	/*
>   	 * Reuse the last page struct page mapped above for the rest.
>   	 */
> -	return vmemmap_populate_range(maddr, end, node, NULL,
> -					pte_pfn(ptep_get(pte)), 0);
> +	return vmemmap_populate_range(maddr, end, node, NULL, tail_pfn, 0);
>   }
>   
>   void __weak __meminit vmemmap_set_pmd(pmd_t *pmd, void *p, int node,

Re: [PATCHv4 09/14] mm/hugetlb: Remove fake head pages

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 03:00:03PM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
> > +	if (pfn)
> > +		return pfn_to_page(pfn);
> > +
> > +	tail = alloc_pages_node(node, GFP_KERNEL | __GFP_ZERO, 0);
> > +	if (!tail)
> > +		return NULL;
> > +
> > +	p = page_to_virt(tail);
> > +	for (int i = 0; i < PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct page); i++)
> > +		prep_compound_tail(p + i, NULL, order);
> > +
> > +	spin_lock(&hugetlb_lock);
> 
> hugetlb_lock is considered a contended lock, better not to abuse it.
> cmpxchg() is enought in this case.

We hit the lock once per node (excluding races). Its contribution to the
lock contention is negligible. spin_lock() is easier to follow. I will
keep it.

Ack for the rest of your comments.


-- 
  Kiryl Shutsemau / Kirill A. Shutemov

Re: [PATCHv4 09/14] mm/hugetlb: Remove fake head pages

[Muchun Song]

> On Jan 27, 2026, at 22:51, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> 
> On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 03:00:03PM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
>>> + if (pfn)
>>> + 	return pfn_to_page(pfn);
>>> +
>>> + tail = alloc_pages_node(node, GFP_KERNEL | __GFP_ZERO, 0);
>>> + if (!tail)
>>> + 	return NULL;
>>> +
>>> + p = page_to_virt(tail);
>>> + for (int i = 0; i < PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct page); i++)
>>> + 	prep_compound_tail(p + i, NULL, order);
>>> +
>>> + spin_lock(&hugetlb_lock);
>> 
>> hugetlb_lock is considered a contended lock, better not to abuse it.
>> cmpxchg() is enought in this case.
> 
> We hit the lock once per node (excluding races). Its contribution to the
> lock contention is negligible. spin_lock() is easier to follow. I will
> keep it.

I don't think cmpxchg() is hard to follow. It’s precisely because of
your abuse that interrupts still have to be disabled here—hugetlb_lock
must be an irq-off lock. Are you really going to use spin_lock_irq just
because “it feels simpler” to you?

> 
> Ack for the rest of your comments.
> 
> 
> -- 
>  Kiryl Shutsemau / Kirill A. Shutemov

Re: [PATCHv4 09/14] mm/hugetlb: Remove fake head pages

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

On Wed, Jan 28, 2026 at 10:43:13AM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
> 
> 
> > On Jan 27, 2026, at 22:51, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> > 
> > On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 03:00:03PM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
> >>> + if (pfn)
> >>> + 	return pfn_to_page(pfn);
> >>> +
> >>> + tail = alloc_pages_node(node, GFP_KERNEL | __GFP_ZERO, 0);
> >>> + if (!tail)
> >>> + 	return NULL;
> >>> +
> >>> + p = page_to_virt(tail);
> >>> + for (int i = 0; i < PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct page); i++)
> >>> + 	prep_compound_tail(p + i, NULL, order);
> >>> +
> >>> + spin_lock(&hugetlb_lock);
> >> 
> >> hugetlb_lock is considered a contended lock, better not to abuse it.
> >> cmpxchg() is enought in this case.
> > 
> > We hit the lock once per node (excluding races). Its contribution to the
> > lock contention is negligible. spin_lock() is easier to follow. I will
> > keep it.
> 
> I don't think cmpxchg() is hard to follow. It’s precisely because of
> your abuse that interrupts still have to be disabled here—hugetlb_lock
> must be an irq-off lock. Are you really going to use spin_lock_irq just
> because “it feels simpler” to you?

I looked again at it and reconsidered. I will use cmpxchg(), but mostly
because hugetlb_lock is a bad fit to protect anything in pg_data_t.
vmemmap_tails can be used by code outside hugetlb.

Here's the fixup.

diff --git a/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c b/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
index 29e9bbb43178..63e7ca85c8c9 100644
--- a/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
+++ b/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
@@ -512,18 +512,11 @@ static struct page *vmemmap_get_tail(unsigned int order, int node)
 	for (int i = 0; i < PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct page); i++)
 		prep_compound_tail(p + i, NULL, order);
 
-	spin_lock(&hugetlb_lock);
-	if (!NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx]) {
-		pfn = PHYS_PFN(virt_to_phys(p));
-		NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx] = pfn;
-		tail = NULL;
-	} else {
-		pfn = NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx];
-	}
-	spin_unlock(&hugetlb_lock);
-
-	if (tail)
+	pfn = PHYS_PFN(virt_to_phys(p));
+	if (cmpxchg(&NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx], 0, pfn)) {
 		__free_page(tail);
+		pfn = READ_ONCE(NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx]);
+	}
 
 	return pfn_to_page(pfn);
 }
-- 
  Kiryl Shutsemau / Kirill A. Shutemov

Re: [PATCHv4 09/14] mm/hugetlb: Remove fake head pages

[Muchun Song]

> On Jan 28, 2026, at 20:59, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> 
> On Wed, Jan 28, 2026 at 10:43:13AM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
>> 
>> 
>>> On Jan 27, 2026, at 22:51, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 03:00:03PM +0800, Muchun Song wrote:
>>>>> + if (pfn)
>>>>> +  return pfn_to_page(pfn);
>>>>> +
>>>>> + tail = alloc_pages_node(node, GFP_KERNEL | __GFP_ZERO, 0);
>>>>> + if (!tail)
>>>>> +  return NULL;
>>>>> +
>>>>> + p = page_to_virt(tail);
>>>>> + for (int i = 0; i < PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct page); i++)
>>>>> +  prep_compound_tail(p + i, NULL, order);
>>>>> +
>>>>> + spin_lock(&hugetlb_lock);
>>>> 
>>>> hugetlb_lock is considered a contended lock, better not to abuse it.
>>>> cmpxchg() is enought in this case.
>>> 
>>> We hit the lock once per node (excluding races). Its contribution to the
>>> lock contention is negligible. spin_lock() is easier to follow. I will
>>> keep it.
>> 
>> I don't think cmpxchg() is hard to follow. It’s precisely because of
>> your abuse that interrupts still have to be disabled here—hugetlb_lock
>> must be an irq-off lock. Are you really going to use spin_lock_irq just
>> because “it feels simpler” to you?
> 
> I looked again at it and reconsidered. I will use cmpxchg(), but mostly
> because hugetlb_lock is a bad fit to protect anything in pg_data_t.
> vmemmap_tails can be used by code outside hugetlb.
> 
> Here's the fixup.
> 
> diff --git a/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c b/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
> index 29e9bbb43178..63e7ca85c8c9 100644
> --- a/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
> +++ b/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
> @@ -512,18 +512,11 @@ static struct page *vmemmap_get_tail(unsigned int order, int node)
> 	for (int i = 0; i < PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct page); i++)
> 		prep_compound_tail(p + i, NULL, order);
> 
> - 	spin_lock(&hugetlb_lock);
> - 	if (!NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx]) {
> - 		pfn = PHYS_PFN(virt_to_phys(p));
> - 		NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx] = pfn;
> - 		tail = NULL;
> - 	} else {
> - 		pfn = NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx];
> - 	}
> - 	spin_unlock(&hugetlb_lock);
> -
> - 	if (tail)
> + 	pfn = PHYS_PFN(virt_to_phys(p));
> + 	if (cmpxchg(&NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx], 0, pfn)) {
> 		__free_page(tail);
> + 		pfn = READ_ONCE(NODE_DATA(node)->vmemmap_tails[idx]);
> + 	}

Simpler than before.

> 
> 	return pfn_to_page(pfn);
> }
> -- 
>  Kiryl Shutsemau / Kirill A. Shutemov

[PATCHv4 10/14] mm: Drop fake head checks

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

With fake head pages eliminated in the previous commit, remove the
supporting infrastructure:

  - page_fixed_fake_head(): no longer needed to detect fake heads;
  - page_is_fake_head(): no longer needed;
  - page_count_writable(): no longer needed for RCU protection;
  - RCU read_lock in page_ref_add_unless(): no longer needed;

This substantially simplifies compound_head() and page_ref_add_unless(),
removing both branches and RCU overhead from these hot paths.

Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev>
---
 include/linux/page-flags.h | 93 ++------------------------------------
 include/linux/page_ref.h   |  8 +---
 2 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 97 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/linux/page-flags.h b/include/linux/page-flags.h
index e16a4bc82856..660f9154a211 100644
--- a/include/linux/page-flags.h
+++ b/include/linux/page-flags.h
@@ -221,102 +221,15 @@ static __always_inline bool compound_info_has_mask(void)
 	return is_power_of_2(sizeof(struct page));
 }
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_HUGETLB_PAGE_OPTIMIZE_VMEMMAP
 DECLARE_STATIC_KEY_FALSE(hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
 
-/*
- * Return the real head page struct iff the @page is a fake head page, otherwise
- * return the @page itself. See Documentation/mm/vmemmap_dedup.rst.
- */
-static __always_inline const struct page *page_fixed_fake_head(const struct page *page)
-{
-	if (!static_branch_unlikely(&hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key))
-		return page;
-
-	/* Fake heads only exists if compound_info_has_mask() is true */
-	if (!compound_info_has_mask())
-		return page;
-
-	/*
-	 * Only addresses aligned with PAGE_SIZE of struct page may be fake head
-	 * struct page. The alignment check aims to avoid access the fields (
-	 * e.g. compound_info) of the @page[1]. It can avoid touch a (possibly)
-	 * cold cacheline in some cases.
-	 */
-	if (IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)page, PAGE_SIZE) &&
-	    test_bit(PG_head, &page->flags.f)) {
-		/*
-		 * We can safely access the field of the @page[1] with PG_head
-		 * because the @page is a compound page composed with at least
-		 * two contiguous pages.
-		 */
-		unsigned long info = READ_ONCE(page[1].compound_info);
-
-		/* See set_compound_head() */
-		if (likely(info & 1)) {
-			unsigned long p = (unsigned long)page;
-
-			return (const struct page *)(p & info);
-		}
-	}
-	return page;
-}
-
-static __always_inline bool page_count_writable(const struct page *page, int u)
-{
-	if (!static_branch_unlikely(&hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key))
-		return true;
-
-	/*
-	 * The refcount check is ordered before the fake-head check to prevent
-	 * the following race:
-	 *   CPU 1 (HVO)                     CPU 2 (speculative PFN walker)
-	 *
-	 *   page_ref_freeze()
-	 *   synchronize_rcu()
-	 *                                   rcu_read_lock()
-	 *                                   page_is_fake_head() is false
-	 *   vmemmap_remap_pte()
-	 *   XXX: struct page[] becomes r/o
-	 *
-	 *   page_ref_unfreeze()
-	 *                                   page_ref_count() is not zero
-	 *
-	 *                                   atomic_add_unless(&page->_refcount)
-	 *                                   XXX: try to modify r/o struct page[]
-	 *
-	 * The refcount check also prevents modification attempts to other (r/o)
-	 * tail pages that are not fake heads.
-	 */
-	if (atomic_read_acquire(&page->_refcount) == u)
-		return false;
-
-	return page_fixed_fake_head(page) == page;
-}
-#else
-static inline const struct page *page_fixed_fake_head(const struct page *page)
-{
-	return page;
-}
-
-static inline bool page_count_writable(const struct page *page, int u)
-{
-	return true;
-}
-#endif
-
-static __always_inline int page_is_fake_head(const struct page *page)
-{
-	return page_fixed_fake_head(page) != page;
-}
-
 static __always_inline unsigned long _compound_head(const struct page *page)
 {
 	unsigned long info = READ_ONCE(page->compound_info);
 
 	/* Bit 0 encodes PageTail() */
 	if (!(info & 1))
-		return (unsigned long)page_fixed_fake_head(page);
+		return (unsigned long)page;
 
 	/*
 	 * If compound_info_has_mask() is false, the rest of compound_info is
@@ -397,7 +310,7 @@ static __always_inline void clear_compound_head(struct page *page)
 
 static __always_inline int PageTail(const struct page *page)
 {
-	return READ_ONCE(page->compound_info) & 1 || page_is_fake_head(page);
+	return READ_ONCE(page->compound_info) & 1;
 }
 
 static __always_inline int PageCompound(const struct page *page)
@@ -924,7 +837,7 @@ static __always_inline bool folio_test_head(const struct folio *folio)
 static __always_inline int PageHead(const struct page *page)
 {
 	PF_POISONED_CHECK(page);
-	return test_bit(PG_head, &page->flags.f) && !page_is_fake_head(page);
+	return test_bit(PG_head, &page->flags.f);
 }
 
 __SETPAGEFLAG(Head, head, PF_ANY)
diff --git a/include/linux/page_ref.h b/include/linux/page_ref.h
index 544150d1d5fd..490d0ad6e56d 100644
--- a/include/linux/page_ref.h
+++ b/include/linux/page_ref.h
@@ -230,13 +230,7 @@ static inline int folio_ref_dec_return(struct folio *folio)
 
 static inline bool page_ref_add_unless(struct page *page, int nr, int u)
 {
-	bool ret = false;
-
-	rcu_read_lock();
-	/* avoid writing to the vmemmap area being remapped */
-	if (page_count_writable(page, u))
-		ret = atomic_add_unless(&page->_refcount, nr, u);
-	rcu_read_unlock();
+	bool ret = atomic_add_unless(&page->_refcount, nr, u);
 
 	if (page_ref_tracepoint_active(page_ref_mod_unless))
 		__page_ref_mod_unless(page, nr, ret);
-- 
2.51.2

Re: [PATCHv4 10/14] mm: Drop fake head checks

[Zi Yan]

On 21 Jan 2026, at 11:22, Kiryl Shutsemau wrote:

> With fake head pages eliminated in the previous commit, remove the
> supporting infrastructure:
>
>   - page_fixed_fake_head(): no longer needed to detect fake heads;
>   - page_is_fake_head(): no longer needed;
>   - page_count_writable(): no longer needed for RCU protection;
>   - RCU read_lock in page_ref_add_unless(): no longer needed;
>
> This substantially simplifies compound_head() and page_ref_add_unless(),
> removing both branches and RCU overhead from these hot paths.
>
> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
> Reviewed-by: Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev>
> ---
>  include/linux/page-flags.h | 93 ++------------------------------------
>  include/linux/page_ref.h   |  8 +---
>  2 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 97 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/include/linux/page-flags.h b/include/linux/page-flags.h
> index e16a4bc82856..660f9154a211 100644
> --- a/include/linux/page-flags.h
> +++ b/include/linux/page-flags.h
> @@ -221,102 +221,15 @@ static __always_inline bool compound_info_has_mask(void)
>  	return is_power_of_2(sizeof(struct page));
>  }
>
> -#ifdef CONFIG_HUGETLB_PAGE_OPTIMIZE_VMEMMAP
>  DECLARE_STATIC_KEY_FALSE(hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
>
> -/*
> - * Return the real head page struct iff the @page is a fake head page, otherwise
> - * return the @page itself. See Documentation/mm/vmemmap_dedup.rst.
> - */
> -static __always_inline const struct page *page_fixed_fake_head(const struct page *page)
> -{
> -	if (!static_branch_unlikely(&hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key))
> -		return page;
> -
> -	/* Fake heads only exists if compound_info_has_mask() is true */
> -	if (!compound_info_has_mask())
> -		return page;
> -
> -	/*
> -	 * Only addresses aligned with PAGE_SIZE of struct page may be fake head
> -	 * struct page. The alignment check aims to avoid access the fields (
> -	 * e.g. compound_info) of the @page[1]. It can avoid touch a (possibly)
> -	 * cold cacheline in some cases.
> -	 */
> -	if (IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)page, PAGE_SIZE) &&
> -	    test_bit(PG_head, &page->flags.f)) {
> -		/*
> -		 * We can safely access the field of the @page[1] with PG_head
> -		 * because the @page is a compound page composed with at least
> -		 * two contiguous pages.
> -		 */
> -		unsigned long info = READ_ONCE(page[1].compound_info);
> -
> -		/* See set_compound_head() */
> -		if (likely(info & 1)) {
> -			unsigned long p = (unsigned long)page;
> -
> -			return (const struct page *)(p & info);
> -		}
> -	}
> -	return page;
> -}
> -

<snip>

>  static __always_inline unsigned long _compound_head(const struct page *page)
>  {
>  	unsigned long info = READ_ONCE(page->compound_info);
>
>  	/* Bit 0 encodes PageTail() */
>  	if (!(info & 1))
> -		return (unsigned long)page_fixed_fake_head(page);
> +		return (unsigned long)page;

Is this right? Assuming 64B struct page and 4KB page size, thus 64 struct pages
in a page, the 64th struct page (0-indexed) is mapped to the head page and
has !(info & 1). But _compound_head() should return page & info here.
Am I missing something? Thanks.


Best Regards,
Yan, Zi

Re: [PATCHv4 10/14] mm: Drop fake head checks

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

On Wed, Jan 21, 2026 at 01:16:23PM -0500, Zi Yan wrote:
> On 21 Jan 2026, at 11:22, Kiryl Shutsemau wrote:
> 
> > With fake head pages eliminated in the previous commit, remove the
> > supporting infrastructure:
> >
> >   - page_fixed_fake_head(): no longer needed to detect fake heads;
> >   - page_is_fake_head(): no longer needed;
> >   - page_count_writable(): no longer needed for RCU protection;
> >   - RCU read_lock in page_ref_add_unless(): no longer needed;
> >
> > This substantially simplifies compound_head() and page_ref_add_unless(),
> > removing both branches and RCU overhead from these hot paths.
> >
> > Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
> > Reviewed-by: Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev>
> > ---
> >  include/linux/page-flags.h | 93 ++------------------------------------
> >  include/linux/page_ref.h   |  8 +---
> >  2 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 97 deletions(-)
> >
> > diff --git a/include/linux/page-flags.h b/include/linux/page-flags.h
> > index e16a4bc82856..660f9154a211 100644
> > --- a/include/linux/page-flags.h
> > +++ b/include/linux/page-flags.h
> > @@ -221,102 +221,15 @@ static __always_inline bool compound_info_has_mask(void)
> >  	return is_power_of_2(sizeof(struct page));
> >  }
> >
> > -#ifdef CONFIG_HUGETLB_PAGE_OPTIMIZE_VMEMMAP
> >  DECLARE_STATIC_KEY_FALSE(hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
> >
> > -/*
> > - * Return the real head page struct iff the @page is a fake head page, otherwise
> > - * return the @page itself. See Documentation/mm/vmemmap_dedup.rst.
> > - */
> > -static __always_inline const struct page *page_fixed_fake_head(const struct page *page)
> > -{
> > -	if (!static_branch_unlikely(&hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key))
> > -		return page;
> > -
> > -	/* Fake heads only exists if compound_info_has_mask() is true */
> > -	if (!compound_info_has_mask())
> > -		return page;
> > -
> > -	/*
> > -	 * Only addresses aligned with PAGE_SIZE of struct page may be fake head
> > -	 * struct page. The alignment check aims to avoid access the fields (
> > -	 * e.g. compound_info) of the @page[1]. It can avoid touch a (possibly)
> > -	 * cold cacheline in some cases.
> > -	 */
> > -	if (IS_ALIGNED((unsigned long)page, PAGE_SIZE) &&
> > -	    test_bit(PG_head, &page->flags.f)) {
> > -		/*
> > -		 * We can safely access the field of the @page[1] with PG_head
> > -		 * because the @page is a compound page composed with at least
> > -		 * two contiguous pages.
> > -		 */
> > -		unsigned long info = READ_ONCE(page[1].compound_info);
> > -
> > -		/* See set_compound_head() */
> > -		if (likely(info & 1)) {
> > -			unsigned long p = (unsigned long)page;
> > -
> > -			return (const struct page *)(p & info);
> > -		}
> > -	}
> > -	return page;
> > -}
> > -
> 
> <snip>
> 
> >  static __always_inline unsigned long _compound_head(const struct page *page)
> >  {
> >  	unsigned long info = READ_ONCE(page->compound_info);
> >
> >  	/* Bit 0 encodes PageTail() */
> >  	if (!(info & 1))
> > -		return (unsigned long)page_fixed_fake_head(page);
> > +		return (unsigned long)page;
> 
> Is this right? Assuming 64B struct page and 4KB page size, thus 64 struct pages
> in a page, the 64th struct page (0-indexed) is mapped to the head page and
> has !(info & 1). But _compound_head() should return page & info here.
> Am I missing something? Thanks.

The point of removing fake heads is the we don't have head aliases
anymore. 64-th struct page will be a tail page that. No special
treatment is required.

-- 
  Kiryl Shutsemau / Kirill A. Shutemov

[PATCHv4 11/14] hugetlb: Remove VMEMMAP_SYNCHRONIZE_RCU

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

The VMEMMAP_SYNCHRONIZE_RCU flag triggered synchronize_rcu() calls to
prevent a race between HVO remapping and page_ref_add_unless(). The
race could occur when a speculative PFN walker tried to modify the
refcount on a struct page that was in the process of being remapped
to a fake head.

With fake heads eliminated, page_ref_add_unless() no longer needs RCU
protection.

Remove the flag and synchronize_rcu() calls.

Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev>
---
 mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c | 20 ++++----------------
 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)

diff --git a/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c b/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
index 51bb6c73db92..f2a3340c8e22 100644
--- a/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
+++ b/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
@@ -48,8 +48,6 @@ struct vmemmap_remap_walk {
 #define VMEMMAP_SPLIT_NO_TLB_FLUSH	BIT(0)
 /* Skip the TLB flush when we remap the PTE */
 #define VMEMMAP_REMAP_NO_TLB_FLUSH	BIT(1)
-/* synchronize_rcu() to avoid writes from page_ref_add_unless() */
-#define VMEMMAP_SYNCHRONIZE_RCU		BIT(2)
 	unsigned long		flags;
 };
 
@@ -410,9 +408,6 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_restore_folio(const struct hstate *h,
 	if (!folio_test_hugetlb_vmemmap_optimized(folio))
 		return 0;
 
-	if (flags & VMEMMAP_SYNCHRONIZE_RCU)
-		synchronize_rcu();
-
 	vmemmap_start	= (unsigned long)&folio->page;
 	vmemmap_end	= vmemmap_start + hugetlb_vmemmap_size(h);
 	vmemmap_start	+= HUGETLB_VMEMMAP_RESERVE_SIZE;
@@ -444,7 +439,7 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_restore_folio(const struct hstate *h,
  */
 int hugetlb_vmemmap_restore_folio(const struct hstate *h, struct folio *folio)
 {
-	return __hugetlb_vmemmap_restore_folio(h, folio, VMEMMAP_SYNCHRONIZE_RCU);
+	return __hugetlb_vmemmap_restore_folio(h, folio, 0);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -467,14 +462,11 @@ long hugetlb_vmemmap_restore_folios(const struct hstate *h,
 	struct folio *folio, *t_folio;
 	long restored = 0;
 	long ret = 0;
-	unsigned long flags = VMEMMAP_REMAP_NO_TLB_FLUSH | VMEMMAP_SYNCHRONIZE_RCU;
+	unsigned long flags = VMEMMAP_REMAP_NO_TLB_FLUSH;
 
 	list_for_each_entry_safe(folio, t_folio, folio_list, lru) {
 		if (folio_test_hugetlb_vmemmap_optimized(folio)) {
 			ret = __hugetlb_vmemmap_restore_folio(h, folio, flags);
-			/* only need to synchronize_rcu() once for each batch */
-			flags &= ~VMEMMAP_SYNCHRONIZE_RCU;
-
 			if (ret)
 				break;
 			restored++;
@@ -564,8 +556,6 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h,
 
 	static_branch_inc(&hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
 
-	if (flags & VMEMMAP_SYNCHRONIZE_RCU)
-		synchronize_rcu();
 	/*
 	 * Very Subtle
 	 * If VMEMMAP_REMAP_NO_TLB_FLUSH is set, TLB flushing is not performed
@@ -624,7 +614,7 @@ void hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h, struct folio *folio)
 {
 	LIST_HEAD(vmemmap_pages);
 
-	__hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(h, folio, &vmemmap_pages, VMEMMAP_SYNCHRONIZE_RCU);
+	__hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(h, folio, &vmemmap_pages, 0);
 	free_vmemmap_page_list(&vmemmap_pages);
 }
 
@@ -652,7 +642,7 @@ static void __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folios(struct hstate *h,
 	struct folio *folio;
 	int nr_to_optimize;
 	LIST_HEAD(vmemmap_pages);
-	unsigned long flags = VMEMMAP_REMAP_NO_TLB_FLUSH | VMEMMAP_SYNCHRONIZE_RCU;
+	unsigned long flags = VMEMMAP_REMAP_NO_TLB_FLUSH;
 
 	nr_to_optimize = 0;
 	list_for_each_entry(folio, folio_list, lru) {
@@ -705,8 +695,6 @@ static void __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folios(struct hstate *h,
 		int ret;
 
 		ret = __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(h, folio, &vmemmap_pages, flags);
-		/* only need to synchronize_rcu() once for each batch */
-		flags &= ~VMEMMAP_SYNCHRONIZE_RCU;
 
 		/*
 		 * Pages to be freed may have been accumulated.  If we
-- 
2.51.2

[PATCHv4 12/14] mm/hugetlb: Remove hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key static key

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

The hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key static key was used to guard fake head
detection in compound_head() and related functions. It allowed skipping
the fake head checks entirely when HVO was not in use.

With fake heads eliminated and the detection code removed, the static
key serves no purpose. Remove its definition and all increment/decrement
calls.

Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev>
---
 include/linux/page-flags.h |  2 --
 mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c       | 14 ++------------
 2 files changed, 2 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/linux/page-flags.h b/include/linux/page-flags.h
index 660f9154a211..f89702e101e8 100644
--- a/include/linux/page-flags.h
+++ b/include/linux/page-flags.h
@@ -221,8 +221,6 @@ static __always_inline bool compound_info_has_mask(void)
 	return is_power_of_2(sizeof(struct page));
 }
 
-DECLARE_STATIC_KEY_FALSE(hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
-
 static __always_inline unsigned long _compound_head(const struct page *page)
 {
 	unsigned long info = READ_ONCE(page->compound_info);
diff --git a/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c b/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
index f2a3340c8e22..379a130cf1d7 100644
--- a/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
+++ b/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
@@ -386,9 +386,6 @@ static int vmemmap_remap_alloc(unsigned long start, unsigned long end,
 	return vmemmap_remap_range(start, end, &walk);
 }
 
-DEFINE_STATIC_KEY_FALSE(hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
-EXPORT_SYMBOL(hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
-
 static bool vmemmap_optimize_enabled = IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_HUGETLB_PAGE_OPTIMIZE_VMEMMAP_DEFAULT_ON);
 static int __init hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_param(char *buf)
 {
@@ -419,10 +416,8 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_restore_folio(const struct hstate *h,
 	 * discarded vmemmap pages must be allocated and remapping.
 	 */
 	ret = vmemmap_remap_alloc(vmemmap_start, vmemmap_end, flags);
-	if (!ret) {
+	if (!ret)
 		folio_clear_hugetlb_vmemmap_optimized(folio);
-		static_branch_dec(&hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
-	}
 
 	return ret;
 }
@@ -554,8 +549,6 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h,
 	if (!vmemmap_tail)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
-	static_branch_inc(&hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
-
 	/*
 	 * Very Subtle
 	 * If VMEMMAP_REMAP_NO_TLB_FLUSH is set, TLB flushing is not performed
@@ -592,10 +585,8 @@ static int __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folio(const struct hstate *h,
 				 vmemmap_head, vmemmap_tail,
 				 vmemmap_pages, flags);
 out:
-	if (ret) {
-		static_branch_dec(&hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
+	if (ret)
 		folio_clear_hugetlb_vmemmap_optimized(folio);
-	}
 
 	return ret;
 }
@@ -661,7 +652,6 @@ static void __hugetlb_vmemmap_optimize_folios(struct hstate *h,
 			register_page_bootmem_memmap(pfn_to_section_nr(spfn),
 					&folio->page,
 					HUGETLB_VMEMMAP_RESERVE_SIZE);
-			static_branch_inc(&hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key);
 			continue;
 		}
 
-- 
2.51.2

[PATCHv4 13/14] mm: Remove the branch from compound_head()

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

The compound_head() function is a hot path. For example, the zap path
calls it for every leaf page table entry.

Rewrite the helper function in a branchless manner to eliminate the risk
of CPU branch misprediction.

Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev>
---
 include/linux/page-flags.h | 27 +++++++++++++++++----------
 1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/linux/page-flags.h b/include/linux/page-flags.h
index f89702e101e8..95ac963b78af 100644
--- a/include/linux/page-flags.h
+++ b/include/linux/page-flags.h
@@ -224,25 +224,32 @@ static __always_inline bool compound_info_has_mask(void)
 static __always_inline unsigned long _compound_head(const struct page *page)
 {
 	unsigned long info = READ_ONCE(page->compound_info);
+	unsigned long mask;
+
+	if (!compound_info_has_mask()) {
+		/* Bit 0 encodes PageTail() */
+		if (info & 1)
+			return info - 1;
 
-	/* Bit 0 encodes PageTail() */
-	if (!(info & 1))
 		return (unsigned long)page;
-
-	/*
-	 * If compound_info_has_mask() is false, the rest of compound_info is
-	 * the pointer to the head page.
-	 */
-	if (!compound_info_has_mask())
-		return info - 1;
+	}
 
 	/*
 	 * If compoun_info_has_mask() is true the rest of the info encodes
 	 * the mask that converts the address of the tail page to the head page.
 	 *
 	 * No need to clear bit 0 in the mask as 'page' always has it clear.
+	 *
+	 * Let's do it in a branchless manner.
 	 */
-	return (unsigned long)page & info;
+
+	/* Non-tail: -1UL, Tail: 0 */
+	mask = (info & 1) - 1;
+
+	/* Non-tail: -1UL, Tail: info */
+	mask |= info;
+
+	return (unsigned long)page & mask;
 }
 
 #define compound_head(page)	((typeof(page))_compound_head(page))
-- 
2.51.2

Re: [PATCHv4 13/14] mm: Remove the branch from compound_head()

[Zi Yan]

On 21 Jan 2026, at 11:22, Kiryl Shutsemau wrote:

> The compound_head() function is a hot path. For example, the zap path
> calls it for every leaf page table entry.
>
> Rewrite the helper function in a branchless manner to eliminate the risk
> of CPU branch misprediction.
>
> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
> Reviewed-by: Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev>
> ---
>  include/linux/page-flags.h | 27 +++++++++++++++++----------
>  1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

LGTM. And it fixed the issue in patch 10.

Reviewed-by: Zi Yan <ziy@nvidia.com>

>
> diff --git a/include/linux/page-flags.h b/include/linux/page-flags.h
> index f89702e101e8..95ac963b78af 100644
> --- a/include/linux/page-flags.h
> +++ b/include/linux/page-flags.h
> @@ -224,25 +224,32 @@ static __always_inline bool compound_info_has_mask(void)
>  static __always_inline unsigned long _compound_head(const struct page *page)
>  {
>  	unsigned long info = READ_ONCE(page->compound_info);
> +	unsigned long mask;
> +
> +	if (!compound_info_has_mask()) {
> +		/* Bit 0 encodes PageTail() */
> +		if (info & 1)
> +			return info - 1;
>
> -	/* Bit 0 encodes PageTail() */
> -	if (!(info & 1))
>  		return (unsigned long)page;

Here, info & 1 check now is guarded by compound_info_has_mask(), so the
issue I mentioned in Patch 10 is gone.

> -
> -	/*
> -	 * If compound_info_has_mask() is false, the rest of compound_info is
> -	 * the pointer to the head page.
> -	 */
> -	if (!compound_info_has_mask())
> -		return info - 1;
> +	}


Best Regards,
Yan, Zi

[PATCHv4 14/14] hugetlb: Update vmemmap_dedup.rst

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

Update the documentation regarding vmemmap optimization for hugetlb to
reflect the changes in how the kernel maps the tail pages.

Fake heads no longer exist. Remove their description.

Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>
---
 Documentation/mm/vmemmap_dedup.rst | 60 +++++++++++++-----------------
 1 file changed, 26 insertions(+), 34 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/mm/vmemmap_dedup.rst b/Documentation/mm/vmemmap_dedup.rst
index 1863d88d2dcb..fca9d0ce282a 100644
--- a/Documentation/mm/vmemmap_dedup.rst
+++ b/Documentation/mm/vmemmap_dedup.rst
@@ -124,33 +124,35 @@ Here is how things look before optimization::
  |           |
  +-----------+
 
-The value of page->compound_info is the same for all tail pages. The first
-page of ``struct page`` (page 0) associated with the HugeTLB page contains the 4
-``struct page`` necessary to describe the HugeTLB. The only use of the remaining
-pages of ``struct page`` (page 1 to page 7) is to point to page->compound_info.
-Therefore, we can remap pages 1 to 7 to page 0. Only 1 page of ``struct page``
-will be used for each HugeTLB page. This will allow us to free the remaining
-7 pages to the buddy allocator.
+The first page of ``struct page`` (page 0) associated with the HugeTLB page
+contains the 4 ``struct page`` necessary to describe the HugeTLB. The remaining
+pages of ``struct page`` (page 1 to page 7) are tail pages.
+
+The optimization is only applied when the size of the struct page is a power-of-2
+In this case, all tail pages of the same order are identical. See
+compound_head(). This allows us to remap the tail pages of the vmemmap to a
+shared, read-only page. The head page is also remapped to a new page. This
+allows the original vmemmap pages to be freed.
 
 Here is how things look after remapping::
 
-    HugeTLB                  struct pages(8 pages)         page frame(8 pages)
- +-----------+ ---virt_to_page---> +-----------+   mapping to   +-----------+
- |           |                     |     0     | -------------> |     0     |
- |           |                     +-----------+                +-----------+
- |           |                     |     1     | ---------------^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
- |           |                     +-----------+                  | | | | | |
- |           |                     |     2     | -----------------+ | | | | |
- |           |                     +-----------+                    | | | | |
- |           |                     |     3     | -------------------+ | | | |
- |           |                     +-----------+                      | | | |
- |           |                     |     4     | ---------------------+ | | |
- |    PMD    |                     +-----------+                        | | |
- |   level   |                     |     5     | -----------------------+ | |
- |  mapping  |                     +-----------+                          | |
- |           |                     |     6     | -------------------------+ |
- |           |                     +-----------+                            |
- |           |                     |     7     | ---------------------------+
+    HugeTLB                  struct pages(8 pages)                 page frame
+ +-----------+ ---virt_to_page---> +-----------+   mapping to   +----------------+
+ |           |                     |     0     | -------------> |       0        |
+ |           |                     +-----------+                +----------------+
+ |           |                     |     1     | ------┐
+ |           |                     +-----------+       |
+ |           |                     |     2     | ------┼        +----------------------------+
+ |           |                     +-----------+       |        | A single, per-node page    |
+ |           |                     |     3     | ------┼------> | frame shared among all     |
+ |           |                     +-----------+       |        | hugepages of the same size |
+ |           |                     |     4     | ------┼        +----------------------------+
+ |           |                     +-----------+       |
+ |           |                     |     5     | ------┼
+ |    PMD    |                     +-----------+       |
+ |   level   |                     |     6     | ------┼
+ |  mapping  |                     +-----------+       |
+ |           |                     |     7     | ------┘
  |           |                     +-----------+
  |           |
  |           |
@@ -172,16 +174,6 @@ The contiguous bit is used to increase the mapping size at the pmd and pte
 (last) level. So this type of HugeTLB page can be optimized only when its
 size of the ``struct page`` structs is greater than **1** page.
 
-Notice: The head vmemmap page is not freed to the buddy allocator and all
-tail vmemmap pages are mapped to the head vmemmap page frame. So we can see
-more than one ``struct page`` struct with ``PG_head`` (e.g. 8 per 2 MB HugeTLB
-page) associated with each HugeTLB page. The ``compound_head()`` can handle
-this correctly. There is only **one** head ``struct page``, the tail
-``struct page`` with ``PG_head`` are fake head ``struct page``.  We need an
-approach to distinguish between those two different types of ``struct page`` so
-that ``compound_head()`` can return the real head ``struct page`` when the
-parameter is the tail ``struct page`` but with ``PG_head``.
-
 Device DAX
 ==========
 
-- 
2.51.2

Re: [PATCHv4 14/14] hugetlb: Update vmemmap_dedup.rst

[Muchun Song]

> On Jan 22, 2026, at 00:22, Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org> wrote:
> 
> Update the documentation regarding vmemmap optimization for hugetlb to
> reflect the changes in how the kernel maps the tail pages.
> 
> Fake heads no longer exist. Remove their description.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@kernel.org>

Reviewed-by: Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev>

Re: [PATCHv4 00/14] mm: Eliminate fake head pages from vmemmap optimization

[Vlastimil Babka]

On 1/21/26 17:22, Kiryl Shutsemau wrote:
> This series removes "fake head pages" from the HugeTLB vmemmap
> optimization (HVO) by changing how tail pages encode their relationship
> to the head page.
> 
> It simplifies compound_head() and page_ref_add_unless(). Both are in the
> hot path.

We never got the definitive answer in the previous version discussions
whether it's worth to do this now with the upcoming memdesc stuff, right?

> Background
> ==========
> 
> HVO reduces memory overhead by freeing vmemmap pages for HugeTLB pages
> and remapping the freed virtual addresses to a single physical page.
> Previously, all tail page vmemmap entries were remapped to the first
> vmemmap page (containing the head struct page), creating "fake heads" -
> tail pages that appear to have PG_head set when accessed through the
> deduplicated vmemmap.
> 
> This required special handling in compound_head() to detect and work
> around fake heads, adding complexity and overhead to a very hot path.

So a very stupid question, why did we remap everything to the first page,
and not instead create two pages, where the first one would contain the head
and the first batch of tails, and the second one would be used for the rest
of the tails? I'd expect it wouldn't make the memory savings that much
worse, and eliminate most of the issues?

> New Approach
> ============
> 
> For architectures/configs where sizeof(struct page) is a power of 2 (the
> common case), this series changes how position of the head page is encoded
> in the tail pages.
> 
> Instead of storing a pointer to the head page, the ->compound_info
> (renamed from ->compound_head) now stores a mask.
> 
> The mask can be applied to any tail page's virtual address to compute
> the head page address. Critically, all tail pages of the same order now
> have identical compound_info values, regardless of which compound page
> they belong to.
> 
> The key insight is that all tail pages of the same order now have
> identical compound_info values, regardless of which compound page they
> belong to. This allows a single page of tail struct pages to be shared
> across all huge pages of the same order on a NUMA node.
> 
> Benefits
> ========
> 
> 1. Simplified compound_head(): No fake head detection needed, can be
>    implemented in a branchless manner.
> 
> 2. Simplified page_ref_add_unless(): RCU protection removed since there's
>    no race with fake head remapping.
> 
> 3. Cleaner architecture: The shared tail pages are truly read-only and
>    contain valid tail page metadata.
> 
> If sizeof(struct page) is not power-of-2, there are no functional changes.
> HVO is not supported in this configuration.
> 
> I had hoped to see performance improvement, but my testing thus far has
> shown either no change or only a slight improvement within the noise.
> 
> Series Organization
> ===================
> 
> Patch 1: Preparation - move MAX_FOLIO_ORDER to mmzone.h
> Patches 2-4: Refactoring - interface changes, field rename, code movement
> Patch 5: Core change - new mask-based compound_head() encoding
> Patch 6: Correctness fix - page_zonenum() must use head page
> Patch 7: Add memmap alignment check for compound_info_has_mask()
> Patch 8: Refactor vmemmap_walk for new design
> Patch 9: Eliminate fake heads with shared tail pages
> Patches 10-13: Cleanup - remove fake head infrastructure
> Patch 14: Documentation update
> 
> Changes in v4:
> ==============
>   - Fix build issues due to linux/mmzone.h <-> linux/pgtable.h
>     dependency loop by avoiding including linux/pgtable.h into
>     linux/mmzone.h
> 
>   - Rework vmemmap_remap_alloc() interface. (Muchun)
> 
>   - Use &folio->page instead of folio address for optimization
>     target. (Muchun)
> 
> Changes in v3:
> ==============
>   - Fixed error recovery path in vmemmap_remap_free() to pass correct start
>     address for TLB flush. (Muchun)
> 
>   - Wrapped the mask-based compound_info encoding within CONFIG_SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP
>     check via compound_info_has_mask(). For other memory models, alignment
>     guarantees are harder to verify. (Muchun)
> 
>   - Updated vmemmap_dedup.rst documentation wording: changed "vmemmap_tail
>     shared for the struct hstate" to "A single, per-node page frame shared
>     among all hugepages of the same size". (Muchun)
> 
>   - Fixed build error with MAX_FOLIO_ORDER expanding to undefined PUD_ORDER
>     in certain configurations. (kernel test robot)
> 
> Changes in v2:
> ==============
> 
> - Handle boot-allocated huge pages correctly. (Frank)
> 
> - Changed from per-hstate vmemmap_tail to per-node vmemmap_tails[] array
>   in pglist_data. (Muchun)
> 
> - Added spin_lock(&hugetlb_lock) protection in vmemmap_get_tail() to fix
>   a race condition where two threads could both allocate tail pages.
>   The losing thread now properly frees its allocated page. (Usama)
> 
> - Add warning if memmap is not aligned to MAX_FOLIO_SIZE, which is
>   required for the mask approach. (Muchun)
> 
> - Make page_zonenum() use head page - correctness fix since shared
>   tail pages cannot have valid zone information. (Muchun)
> 
> - Added 'const' qualifier to head parameter in set_compound_head() and
>   prep_compound_tail(). (Usama)
> 
> - Updated commit messages.
> 
> Kiryl Shutsemau (14):
>   mm: Move MAX_FOLIO_ORDER definition to mmzone.h
>   mm: Change the interface of prep_compound_tail()
>   mm: Rename the 'compound_head' field in the 'struct page' to
>     'compound_info'
>   mm: Move set/clear_compound_head() next to compound_head()
>   mm: Rework compound_head() for power-of-2 sizeof(struct page)
>   mm: Make page_zonenum() use head page
>   mm/sparse: Check memmap alignment for compound_info_has_mask()
>   mm/hugetlb: Refactor code around vmemmap_walk
>   mm/hugetlb: Remove fake head pages
>   mm: Drop fake head checks
>   hugetlb: Remove VMEMMAP_SYNCHRONIZE_RCU
>   mm/hugetlb: Remove hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key static key
>   mm: Remove the branch from compound_head()
>   hugetlb: Update vmemmap_dedup.rst
> 
>  .../admin-guide/kdump/vmcoreinfo.rst          |   2 +-
>  Documentation/mm/vmemmap_dedup.rst            |  62 ++--
>  include/linux/mm.h                            |  31 --
>  include/linux/mm_types.h                      |  20 +-
>  include/linux/mmzone.h                        |  47 +++
>  include/linux/page-flags.h                    | 167 +++++-----
>  include/linux/page_ref.h                      |   8 +-
>  include/linux/types.h                         |   2 +-
>  kernel/vmcore_info.c                          |   2 +-
>  mm/hugetlb.c                                  |   8 +-
>  mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c                          | 300 ++++++++----------
>  mm/internal.h                                 |  12 +-
>  mm/mm_init.c                                  |   2 +-
>  mm/page_alloc.c                               |   4 +-
>  mm/slab.h                                     |   2 +-
>  mm/sparse-vmemmap.c                           |  44 ++-
>  mm/sparse.c                                   |   5 +
>  mm/util.c                                     |  16 +-
>  18 files changed, 369 insertions(+), 365 deletions(-)
> 

Re: [PATCHv4 00/14] mm: Eliminate fake head pages from vmemmap optimization

[Zi Yan]

On 21 Jan 2026, at 13:44, Vlastimil Babka wrote:

> On 1/21/26 17:22, Kiryl Shutsemau wrote:
>> This series removes "fake head pages" from the HugeTLB vmemmap
>> optimization (HVO) by changing how tail pages encode their relationship
>> to the head page.
>>
>> It simplifies compound_head() and page_ref_add_unless(). Both are in the
>> hot path.
>
> We never got the definitive answer in the previous version discussions
> whether it's worth to do this now with the upcoming memdesc stuff, right?
>
>> Background
>> ==========
>>
>> HVO reduces memory overhead by freeing vmemmap pages for HugeTLB pages
>> and remapping the freed virtual addresses to a single physical page.
>> Previously, all tail page vmemmap entries were remapped to the first
>> vmemmap page (containing the head struct page), creating "fake heads" -
>> tail pages that appear to have PG_head set when accessed through the
>> deduplicated vmemmap.
>>
>> This required special handling in compound_head() to detect and work
>> around fake heads, adding complexity and overhead to a very hot path.
>
> So a very stupid question, why did we remap everything to the first page,
> and not instead create two pages, where the first one would contain the head
> and the first batch of tails, and the second one would be used for the rest
> of the tails? I'd expect it wouldn't make the memory savings that much
> worse, and eliminate most of the issues?

I think it was using 2 pages before[1]. The benefit of using one page is:
“
It further reduces the overhead of struct
page by 12.5% for a 2MB HugeTLB compared to the previous approach,
which means 2GB per 1TB HugeTLB (2MB type).
“

[1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20211101031651.75851-1-songmuchun@bytedance.com/T/#u

>
>> New Approach
>> ============
>>
>> For architectures/configs where sizeof(struct page) is a power of 2 (the
>> common case), this series changes how position of the head page is encoded
>> in the tail pages.
>>
>> Instead of storing a pointer to the head page, the ->compound_info
>> (renamed from ->compound_head) now stores a mask.
>>
>> The mask can be applied to any tail page's virtual address to compute
>> the head page address. Critically, all tail pages of the same order now
>> have identical compound_info values, regardless of which compound page
>> they belong to.
>>
>> The key insight is that all tail pages of the same order now have
>> identical compound_info values, regardless of which compound page they
>> belong to. This allows a single page of tail struct pages to be shared
>> across all huge pages of the same order on a NUMA node.
>>
>> Benefits
>> ========
>>
>> 1. Simplified compound_head(): No fake head detection needed, can be
>>    implemented in a branchless manner.
>>
>> 2. Simplified page_ref_add_unless(): RCU protection removed since there's
>>    no race with fake head remapping.
>>
>> 3. Cleaner architecture: The shared tail pages are truly read-only and
>>    contain valid tail page metadata.
>>
>> If sizeof(struct page) is not power-of-2, there are no functional changes.
>> HVO is not supported in this configuration.
>>
>> I had hoped to see performance improvement, but my testing thus far has
>> shown either no change or only a slight improvement within the noise.
>>
>> Series Organization
>> ===================
>>
>> Patch 1: Preparation - move MAX_FOLIO_ORDER to mmzone.h
>> Patches 2-4: Refactoring - interface changes, field rename, code movement
>> Patch 5: Core change - new mask-based compound_head() encoding
>> Patch 6: Correctness fix - page_zonenum() must use head page
>> Patch 7: Add memmap alignment check for compound_info_has_mask()
>> Patch 8: Refactor vmemmap_walk for new design
>> Patch 9: Eliminate fake heads with shared tail pages
>> Patches 10-13: Cleanup - remove fake head infrastructure
>> Patch 14: Documentation update
>>
>> Changes in v4:
>> ==============
>>   - Fix build issues due to linux/mmzone.h <-> linux/pgtable.h
>>     dependency loop by avoiding including linux/pgtable.h into
>>     linux/mmzone.h
>>
>>   - Rework vmemmap_remap_alloc() interface. (Muchun)
>>
>>   - Use &folio->page instead of folio address for optimization
>>     target. (Muchun)
>>
>> Changes in v3:
>> ==============
>>   - Fixed error recovery path in vmemmap_remap_free() to pass correct start
>>     address for TLB flush. (Muchun)
>>
>>   - Wrapped the mask-based compound_info encoding within CONFIG_SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP
>>     check via compound_info_has_mask(). For other memory models, alignment
>>     guarantees are harder to verify. (Muchun)
>>
>>   - Updated vmemmap_dedup.rst documentation wording: changed "vmemmap_tail
>>     shared for the struct hstate" to "A single, per-node page frame shared
>>     among all hugepages of the same size". (Muchun)
>>
>>   - Fixed build error with MAX_FOLIO_ORDER expanding to undefined PUD_ORDER
>>     in certain configurations. (kernel test robot)
>>
>> Changes in v2:
>> ==============
>>
>> - Handle boot-allocated huge pages correctly. (Frank)
>>
>> - Changed from per-hstate vmemmap_tail to per-node vmemmap_tails[] array
>>   in pglist_data. (Muchun)
>>
>> - Added spin_lock(&hugetlb_lock) protection in vmemmap_get_tail() to fix
>>   a race condition where two threads could both allocate tail pages.
>>   The losing thread now properly frees its allocated page. (Usama)
>>
>> - Add warning if memmap is not aligned to MAX_FOLIO_SIZE, which is
>>   required for the mask approach. (Muchun)
>>
>> - Make page_zonenum() use head page - correctness fix since shared
>>   tail pages cannot have valid zone information. (Muchun)
>>
>> - Added 'const' qualifier to head parameter in set_compound_head() and
>>   prep_compound_tail(). (Usama)
>>
>> - Updated commit messages.
>>
>> Kiryl Shutsemau (14):
>>   mm: Move MAX_FOLIO_ORDER definition to mmzone.h
>>   mm: Change the interface of prep_compound_tail()
>>   mm: Rename the 'compound_head' field in the 'struct page' to
>>     'compound_info'
>>   mm: Move set/clear_compound_head() next to compound_head()
>>   mm: Rework compound_head() for power-of-2 sizeof(struct page)
>>   mm: Make page_zonenum() use head page
>>   mm/sparse: Check memmap alignment for compound_info_has_mask()
>>   mm/hugetlb: Refactor code around vmemmap_walk
>>   mm/hugetlb: Remove fake head pages
>>   mm: Drop fake head checks
>>   hugetlb: Remove VMEMMAP_SYNCHRONIZE_RCU
>>   mm/hugetlb: Remove hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap_key static key
>>   mm: Remove the branch from compound_head()
>>   hugetlb: Update vmemmap_dedup.rst
>>
>>  .../admin-guide/kdump/vmcoreinfo.rst          |   2 +-
>>  Documentation/mm/vmemmap_dedup.rst            |  62 ++--
>>  include/linux/mm.h                            |  31 --
>>  include/linux/mm_types.h                      |  20 +-
>>  include/linux/mmzone.h                        |  47 +++
>>  include/linux/page-flags.h                    | 167 +++++-----
>>  include/linux/page_ref.h                      |   8 +-
>>  include/linux/types.h                         |   2 +-
>>  kernel/vmcore_info.c                          |   2 +-
>>  mm/hugetlb.c                                  |   8 +-
>>  mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c                          | 300 ++++++++----------
>>  mm/internal.h                                 |  12 +-
>>  mm/mm_init.c                                  |   2 +-
>>  mm/page_alloc.c                               |   4 +-
>>  mm/slab.h                                     |   2 +-
>>  mm/sparse-vmemmap.c                           |  44 ++-
>>  mm/sparse.c                                   |   5 +
>>  mm/util.c                                     |  16 +-
>>  18 files changed, 369 insertions(+), 365 deletions(-)
>>


Best Regards,
Yan, Zi

Re: [PATCHv4 00/14] mm: Eliminate fake head pages from vmemmap optimization

[Kiryl Shutsemau]

On Wed, Jan 21, 2026 at 03:31:59PM -0500, Zi Yan wrote:
> On 21 Jan 2026, at 13:44, Vlastimil Babka wrote:
> 
> > On 1/21/26 17:22, Kiryl Shutsemau wrote:
> >> This series removes "fake head pages" from the HugeTLB vmemmap
> >> optimization (HVO) by changing how tail pages encode their relationship
> >> to the head page.
> >>
> >> It simplifies compound_head() and page_ref_add_unless(). Both are in the
> >> hot path.
> >
> > We never got the definitive answer in the previous version discussions
> > whether it's worth to do this now with the upcoming memdesc stuff, right?

Right. Willy shared some details[1] about memdesc plan, but I cannot say
I fully understand what it means for this patchset.

I guess we will find out :P

[1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/aWF3xg-72SV4tmLk@casper.infradead.org

> >> Background
> >> ==========
> >>
> >> HVO reduces memory overhead by freeing vmemmap pages for HugeTLB pages
> >> and remapping the freed virtual addresses to a single physical page.
> >> Previously, all tail page vmemmap entries were remapped to the first
> >> vmemmap page (containing the head struct page), creating "fake heads" -
> >> tail pages that appear to have PG_head set when accessed through the
> >> deduplicated vmemmap.
> >>
> >> This required special handling in compound_head() to detect and work
> >> around fake heads, adding complexity and overhead to a very hot path.
> >
> > So a very stupid question, why did we remap everything to the first page,
> > and not instead create two pages, where the first one would contain the head
> > and the first batch of tails, and the second one would be used for the rest
> > of the tails? I'd expect it wouldn't make the memory savings that much
> > worse, and eliminate most of the issues?
> 
> I think it was using 2 pages before[1]. The benefit of using one page is:
> “
> It further reduces the overhead of struct
> page by 12.5% for a 2MB HugeTLB compared to the previous approach,
> which means 2GB per 1TB HugeTLB (2MB type).
> “
> 
> [1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20211101031651.75851-1-songmuchun@bytedance.com/T/#u

Yeah, the 12.5%.

-- 
  Kiryl Shutsemau / Kirill A. Shutemov