EDAC: Update Documentation/edac.txt

Do some initial cleanup, more probably will come.

- Move credits section to the end
- Update maintainers
- Drop sourceforge reference - project is long upstream now
- Reformat sections
- Reformat paragraphs
- Clarify text
- Bring it up-to-date
- Drop useless "future hardware scanning" section

Signed-off-by: Borislav Petkov <bp@suse.de>

1 files changed, 130 insertions, 143 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/edac.txt b/Documentation/edac.txt
index 4df786e..0cf27a3 100644
--- a/Documentation/edac.txt
+++ b/Documentation/edac.txt
@@ -1,53 +1,34 @@
-
-
 EDAC - Error Detection And Correction
-
-Written by Doug Thompson <dougthompson@xmission.com>
-7 Dec 2005
-17 Jul 2007	Updated
-
-(c) Mauro Carvalho Chehab
-05 Aug 2009	Nehalem interface
-
-EDAC is maintained and written by:
-
-	Doug Thompson, Dave Jiang, Dave Peterson et al,
-	original author: Thayne Harbaugh,
-
-Contact:
-	website:	bluesmoke.sourceforge.net
-	mailing list:	bluesmoke-devel@lists.sourceforge.net
+=====================================
 
 "bluesmoke" was the name for this device driver when it was "out-of-tree"
 and maintained at sourceforge.net.  When it was pushed into 2.6.16 for the
 first time, it was renamed to 'EDAC'.
 
-The bluesmoke project at sourceforge.net is now utilized as a 'staging area'
-for EDAC development, before it is sent upstream to kernel.org
-
-At the bluesmoke/EDAC project site, there is a series of quilt patches against
-recent kernels, stored in a SVN repository. For easier downloading, there
-is also a tarball snapshot available.
+PURPOSE
+-------
 
-============================================================================
-EDAC PURPOSE
-
-The 'edac' kernel module goal is to detect and report errors that occur
-within the computer system running under linux.
+The 'edac' kernel module's goal is to detect and report hardware errors
+that occur within the computer system running under linux.
 
 MEMORY
+------
 
-In the initial release, memory Correctable Errors (CE) and Uncorrectable
-Errors (UE) are the primary errors being harvested. These types of errors
-are harvested by the 'edac_mc' class of device.
+Memory Correctable Errors (CE) and Uncorrectable Errors (UE) are the
+primary errors being harvested. These types of errors are harvested by
+the 'edac_mc' device.
 
 Detecting CE events, then harvesting those events and reporting them,
-CAN be a predictor of future UE events.  With CE events, the system can
-continue to operate, but with less safety. Preventive maintenance and
-proactive part replacement of memory DIMMs exhibiting CEs can reduce
-the likelihood of the dreaded UE events and system 'panics'.
+*can* but must not necessarily be a predictor of future UE events. With
+CE events only, the system can and will continue to operate as no data
+has been damaged yet.
+
+However, preventive maintenance and proactive part replacement of memory
+DIMMs exhibiting CEs can reduce the likelihood of the dreaded UE events
+and system panics.
 
-NON-MEMORY
+OTHER HARDWARE ELEMENTS
+-----------------------
 
 A new feature for EDAC, the edac_device class of device, was added in
 the 2.6.23 version of the kernel.
@@ -56,70 +37,57 @@ This new device type allows for non-memory type of ECC hardware detectors
 to have their states harvested and presented to userspace via the sysfs
 interface.
 
-Some architectures have ECC detectors for L1, L2 and L3 caches, along with DMA
-engines, fabric switches, main data path switches, interconnections,
-and various other hardware data paths. If the hardware reports it, then
-a edac_device device probably can be constructed to harvest and present
-that to userspace.
+Some architectures have ECC detectors for L1, L2 and L3 caches,
+along with DMA engines, fabric switches, main data path switches,
+interconnections, and various other hardware data paths. If the hardware
+reports it, then a edac_device device probably can be constructed to
+harvest and present that to userspace.
 
 
 PCI BUS SCANNING
+----------------
 
-In addition, PCI Bus Parity and SERR Errors are scanned for on PCI devices
-in order to determine if errors are occurring on data transfers.
+In addition, PCI devices are scanned for PCI Bus Parity and SERR Errors
+in order to determine if errors are occurring during data transfers.
 
 The presence of PCI Parity errors must be examined with a grain of salt.
-There are several add-in adapters that do NOT follow the PCI specification
+There are several add-in adapters that do *not* follow the PCI specification
 with regards to Parity generation and reporting. The specification says
 the vendor should tie the parity status bits to 0 if they do not intend
 to generate parity.  Some vendors do not do this, and thus the parity bit
 can "float" giving false positives.
 
-In the kernel there is a PCI device attribute located in sysfs that is
-checked by the EDAC PCI scanning code. If that attribute is set,
-PCI parity/error scanning is skipped for that device. The attribute
-is:
+There is a PCI device attribute located in sysfs that is checked by
+the EDAC PCI scanning code. If that attribute is set, PCI parity/error
+scanning is skipped for that device. The attribute is:
 
 	broken_parity_status
 
-as is located in /sys/devices/pci<XXX>/0000:XX:YY.Z directories for
+and is located in /sys/devices/pci<XXX>/0000:XX:YY.Z directories for
 PCI devices.
 
-FUTURE HARDWARE SCANNING
 
-EDAC will have future error detectors that will be integrated with
-EDAC or added to it, in the following list:
-
-	MCE	Machine Check Exception
-	MCA	Machine Check Architecture
-	NMI	NMI notification of ECC errors
-	MSRs 	Machine Specific Register error cases
-	and other mechanisms.
-
-These errors are usually bus errors, ECC errors, thermal throttling
-and the like.
-
-
-============================================================================
-EDAC VERSIONING
+VERSIONING
+----------
 
 EDAC is composed of a "core" module (edac_core.ko) and several Memory
-Controller (MC) driver modules. On a given system, the CORE
-is loaded and one MC driver will be loaded. Both the CORE and
-the MC driver (or edac_device driver) have individual versions that reflect
-current release level of their respective modules.
+Controller (MC) driver modules. On a given system, the CORE is loaded
+and one MC driver will be loaded. Both the CORE and the MC driver (or
+edac_device driver) have individual versions that reflect current
+release level of their respective modules.
 
-Thus, to "report" on what version a system is running, one must report both
-the CORE's and the MC driver's versions.
+Thus, to "report" on what version a system is running, one must report
+both the CORE's and the MC driver's versions.
 
 
 LOADING
+-------
 
-If 'edac' was statically linked with the kernel then no loading is
-necessary.  If 'edac' was built as modules then simply modprobe the
-'edac' pieces that you need.  You should be able to modprobe
-hardware-specific modules and have the dependencies load the necessary core
-modules.
+If 'edac' was statically linked with the kernel then no loading
+is necessary. If 'edac' was built as modules then simply modprobe
+the 'edac' pieces that you need. You should be able to modprobe
+hardware-specific modules and have the dependencies load the necessary
+core modules.
 
 Example:
 
@@ -129,35 +97,33 @@ loads both the amd76x_edac.ko memory controller module and the edac_mc.ko
 core module.
 
 
-============================================================================
-EDAC sysfs INTERFACE
-
-EDAC presents a 'sysfs' interface for control, reporting and attribute
-reporting purposes.
+SYSFS INTERFACE
+---------------
 
-EDAC lives in the /sys/devices/system/edac directory.
+EDAC presents a 'sysfs' interface for control and reporting purposes. It
+lives in the /sys/devices/system/edac directory.
 
-Within this directory there currently reside 2 'edac' components:
+Within this directory there currently reside 2 components:
 
 	mc	memory controller(s) system
 	pci	PCI control and status system
 
 
-============================================================================
+
 Memory Controller (mc) Model
+----------------------------
 
-First a background on the memory controller's model abstracted in EDAC.
-Each 'mc' device controls a set of DIMM memory modules. These modules are
-laid out in a Chip-Select Row (csrowX) and Channel table (chX). There can
-be multiple csrows and multiple channels.
+Each 'mc' device controls a set of DIMM memory modules. These modules
+are laid out in a Chip-Select Row (csrowX) and Channel table (chX).
+There can be multiple csrows and multiple channels.
 
-Memory controllers allow for several csrows, with 8 csrows being a typical value.
-Yet, the actual number of csrows depends on the electrical "loading"
-of a given motherboard, memory controller and DIMM characteristics.
+Memory controllers allow for several csrows, with 8 csrows being a
+typical value. Yet, the actual number of csrows depends on the layout of
+a given motherboard, memory controller and DIMM characteristics.
 
-Dual channels allows for 128 bit data transfers to the CPU from memory.
-Some newer chipsets allow for more than 2 channels, like Fully Buffered DIMMs
-(FB-DIMMs). The following example will assume 2 channels:
+Dual channels allows for 128 bit data transfers to/from the CPU from/to
+memory. Some newer chipsets allow for more than 2 channels, like Fully
+Buffered DIMMs (FB-DIMMs). The following example will assume 2 channels:
 
 
 		Channel 0	Channel 1
@@ -179,12 +145,12 @@ for memory DIMMs:
 	DIMM_A1
 	DIMM_B1
 
-Labels for these slots are usually silk screened on the motherboard. Slots
-labeled 'A' are channel 0 in this example. Slots labeled 'B'
-are channel 1. Notice that there are two csrows possible on a
-physical DIMM. These csrows are allocated their csrow assignment
-based on the slot into which the memory DIMM is placed. Thus, when 1 DIMM
-is placed in each Channel, the csrows cross both DIMMs.
+Labels for these slots are usually silk-screened on the motherboard.
+Slots labeled 'A' are channel 0 in this example. Slots labeled 'B' are
+channel 1. Notice that there are two csrows possible on a physical DIMM.
+These csrows are allocated their csrow assignment based on the slot into
+which the memory DIMM is placed. Thus, when 1 DIMM is placed in each
+Channel, the csrows cross both DIMMs.
 
 Memory DIMMs come single or dual "ranked". A rank is a populated csrow.
 Thus, 2 single ranked DIMMs, placed in slots DIMM_A0 and DIMM_B0 above
@@ -193,8 +159,8 @@ when 2 dual ranked DIMMs are similarly placed, then both csrow0 and
 csrow1 will be populated. The pattern repeats itself for csrow2 and
 csrow3.
 
-The representation of the above is reflected in the directory tree
-in EDAC's sysfs interface. Starting in directory
+The representation of the above is reflected in the directory
+tree in EDAC's sysfs interface. Starting in directory
 /sys/devices/system/edac/mc each memory controller will be represented
 by its own 'mcX' directory, where 'X' is the index of the MC.
 
@@ -217,19 +183,19 @@ Under each 'mcX' directory each 'csrowX' is again represented by a
 		|->csrow3
 		....
 
-Notice that there is no csrow1, which indicates that csrow0 is
-composed of a single ranked DIMMs. This should also apply in both
-Channels, in order to have dual-channel mode be operational. Since
-both csrow2 and csrow3 are populated, this indicates a dual ranked
-set of DIMMs for channels 0 and 1.
+Notice that there is no csrow1, which indicates that csrow0 is composed
+of a single ranked DIMMs. This should also apply in both Channels, in
+order to have dual-channel mode be operational. Since both csrow2 and
+csrow3 are populated, this indicates a dual ranked set of DIMMs for
+channels 0 and 1.
 
 
-Within each of the 'mcX' and 'csrowX' directories are several
-EDAC control and attribute files.
+Within each of the 'mcX' and 'csrowX' directories are several EDAC
+control and attribute files.
 
-============================================================================
-'mcX' DIRECTORIES
 
+'mcX' directories
+-----------------
 
 In 'mcX' directories are EDAC control and attribute files for
 this 'X' instance of the memory controllers.
@@ -238,13 +204,14 @@ For a description of the sysfs API, please see:
 	Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-devices-edac
 
 
-============================================================================
-'csrowX' DIRECTORIES
 
-When CONFIG_EDAC_LEGACY_SYSFS is enabled, the sysfs will contain the
-csrowX directories. As this API doesn't work properly for Rambus, FB-DIMMs
-and modern Intel Memory Controllers, this is being deprecated in favor
-of dimmX directories.
+'csrowX' directories
+--------------------
+
+When CONFIG_EDAC_LEGACY_SYSFS is enabled, sysfs will contain the csrowX
+directories. As this API doesn't work properly for Rambus, FB-DIMMs and
+modern Intel Memory Controllers, this is being deprecated in favor of
+dimmX directories.
 
 In the 'csrowX' directories are EDAC control and attribute files for
 this 'X' instance of csrow:
@@ -265,11 +232,11 @@ Total Correctable Errors count attribute file:
 	'ce_count'
 
 	This attribute file displays the total count of correctable
-	errors that have occurred on this csrow. This
-	count is very important to examine. CEs provide early
-	indications that a DIMM is beginning to fail. This count
-	field should be monitored for non-zero values and report
-	such information to the system administrator.
+	errors that have occurred on this csrow. This count is very
+	important to examine. CEs provide early indications that a
+	DIMM is beginning to fail. This count field should be
+	monitored for non-zero values and report such information
+	to the system administrator.
 
 
 Total memory managed by this csrow attribute file:
@@ -377,11 +344,13 @@ Channel 1 DIMM Label control file:
 	motherboard specific and determination of this information
 	must occur in userland at this time.
 
-============================================================================
+
+
 SYSTEM LOGGING
+--------------
 
-If logging for UEs and CEs are enabled then system logs will have
-error notices indicating errors that have been detected:
+If logging for UEs and CEs is enabled, then system logs will contain
+information indicating that errors have been detected:
 
 EDAC MC0: CE page 0x283, offset 0xce0, grain 8, syndrome 0x6ec3, row 0,
 channel 1 "DIMM_B1": amd76x_edac
@@ -404,24 +373,23 @@ The structure of the message is:
 	and then an optional, driver-specific message that may
 		have additional information.
 
-Both UEs and CEs with no info will lack all but memory controller,
-error type, a notice of "no info" and then an optional,
-driver-specific error message.
+Both UEs and CEs with no info will lack all but memory controller, error
+type, a notice of "no info" and then an optional, driver-specific error
+message.
 
 
-============================================================================
 PCI Bus Parity Detection
+------------------------
 
-
-On Header Type 00 devices the primary status is looked at
-for any parity error regardless of whether Parity is enabled on the
-device.  (The spec indicates parity is generated in some cases).
-On Header Type 01 bridges, the secondary status register is also
-looked at to see if parity occurred on the bus on the other side of
-the bridge.
+On Header Type 00 devices, the primary status is looked at for any
+parity error regardless of whether parity is enabled on the device or
+not. (The spec indicates parity is generated in some cases). On Header
+Type 01 bridges, the secondary status register is also looked at to see
+if parity occurred on the bus on the other side of the bridge.
 
 
 SYSFS CONFIGURATION
+-------------------
 
 Under /sys/devices/system/edac/pci are control and attribute files as follows:
 
@@ -450,8 +418,9 @@ Parity Count:
 	have been detected.
 
 
-============================================================================
+
 MODULE PARAMETERS
+-----------------
 
 Panic on UE control file:
 
@@ -530,10 +499,8 @@ Panic on PCI PARITY Error:
 
 
 
-=======================================================================
-
-
-EDAC_DEVICE type of device
+EDAC device type
+----------------
 
 In the header file, edac_core.h, there is a series of edac_device structures
 and APIs for the EDAC_DEVICE.
@@ -573,6 +540,7 @@ The test_device_edac device adds at least one of its own custom control:
 The symlink points to the 'struct dev' that is registered for this edac_device.
 
 INSTANCES
+---------
 
 One or more instance directories are present. For the 'test_device_edac' case:
 
@@ -586,6 +554,7 @@ counter in deeper subdirectories.
 	ue_count	total of UE events of subdirectories
 
 BLOCKS
+------
 
 At the lowest directory level is the 'block' directory. There can be 0, 1
 or more blocks specified in each instance.
@@ -623,8 +592,9 @@ unique drivers for their hardware systems.
 The 'test_device_edac' sample driver is located at the
 bluesmoke.sourceforge.net project site for EDAC.
 
-=======================================================================
+
 NEHALEM USAGE OF EDAC APIs
+--------------------------
 
 This chapter documents some EXPERIMENTAL mappings for EDAC API to handle
 Nehalem EDAC driver. They will likely be changed on future versions
@@ -773,3 +743,20 @@ exports one
    by the driver. Since, with udimm, this is counted by software, it is
    possible that some errors could be lost. With rdimm's, they display the
    contents of the registers
+
+CREDITS:
+========
+
+Written by Doug Thompson <dougthompson@xmission.com>
+7 Dec 2005
+17 Jul 2007	Updated
+
+(c) Mauro Carvalho Chehab
+05 Aug 2009	Nehalem interface
+
+EDAC authors/maintainers:
+
+	Doug Thompson, Dave Jiang, Dave Peterson et al,
+	Mauro Carvalho Chehab
+	Borislav Petkov
+	original author: Thayne Harbaugh