x86/pgtable: explain constant sign extension problem
authorJeremy Fitzhardinge <jeremy@goop.org>
Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:32:59 +0000 (13:32 +0100)
committerIngo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu>
Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:32:59 +0000 (13:32 +0100)
commitf29192320f22f1617d50a9c790862603eeef64e6
treec496f893ee5d4e8c9636756483411a6ef46c6721
parent015c8dd0cb3b380cb4c3930968250c719d1dd303
x86/pgtable: explain constant sign extension problem

When the _PAGE_FOO constants are defined as (1ul << _PAGE_BIT_FOO), they
become unsigned longs.  In 32-bit PAE mode, these end up being
implicitly cast to 64-bit types when used to manipulate a pte, and
because they're unsigned the top 32-bits are 0, destroying the upper
bits of the pte.

When _PAGE_FOO constants are given a signed integer type, the cast to
64-bits will sign-extend so that the upper bits are all ones,
preserving the upper pte bits in manipulations.

Explain this in a prominent place.

Signed-off-by: Jeremy Fitzhardinge <jeremy@xensource.com>
Cc: Andi Kleen <ak@suse.de>
Signed-off-by: Ingo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu>
Signed-off-by: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@linutronix.de>
include/asm-x86/pgtable.h