When the per-CPU bio cache is enabled but empty, bio_alloc_percpu_cache()
returns NULL and bio_alloc_bioset() falls straight through to the mempool
fallback:
if (unlikely(!bio)) {
if (!(saved_gfp & __GFP_DIRECT_RECLAIM))
return NULL;
...
}
For non-sleeping allocations (no __GFP_DIRECT_RECLAIM) this returns NULL
without ever attempting a slab allocation, even when there is plenty of
free memory.
Commit
b520c4eef83d ("block: split bio_alloc_bioset more clearly into a
fast and slowpath") introduced this. Before it, a percpu cache miss fell
through to mempool_alloc(), which attempted the underlying slab allocation
first and only failed when that slab allocation failed. The restructuring
dropped the slab attempt that non-sleeping callers of a cache-enabled
bioset (such as the default fs_bio_set used by bio_alloc()) relied on.
Try a slab allocation with optimistic GFP_ flags before falling back to
the mempool whenever the bio is still NULL, so both the cache-empty and
non-cache paths share the same slab attempt. This restores the previous
behavior for non-sleeping allocations.
Fixes: b520c4eef83d ("block: split bio_alloc_bioset more clearly into a fast and slowpath")
Suggested-by: Christoph Hellwig <hch@lst.de>
Signed-off-by: Joseph Qi <joseph.qi@linux.alibaba.com>
Reviewed-by: Christoph Hellwig <hch@lst.de>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260709020145.4011533-1-joseph.qi@linux.alibaba.com
Signed-off-by: Jens Axboe <axboe@kernel.dk>
bio = bio_alloc_percpu_cache(bs);
} else {
opf &= ~REQ_ALLOC_CACHE;
+ }
+
+ /*
+ * For a bioset without a percpu cache, or when the percpu cache was
+ * empty, try a slab allocation with optimistic GFP_ flags before
+ * falling back to the mempool.
+ */
+ if (!bio) {
p = kmem_cache_alloc(bs->bio_slab, gfp);
if (p)
bio = p + bs->front_pad;