X-Git-Url: http://nv-tegra.nvidia.com/gitweb/?p=linux-2.6.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=Documentation%2Fwatchdog%2Fwatchdog-api.txt;h=4cc4ba9d71500a4b5dd55b70ed9f54dc099b4ddd;hp=28388aa700c67d62d604aed064a14d463f6d1906;hb=b7ed698cc9d556306a4088c238e2ea9311ea2cb3;hpb=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 diff --git a/Documentation/watchdog/watchdog-api.txt b/Documentation/watchdog/watchdog-api.txt index 28388aa..4cc4ba9 100644 --- a/Documentation/watchdog/watchdog-api.txt +++ b/Documentation/watchdog/watchdog-api.txt @@ -1,3 +1,6 @@ +Last reviewed: 10/05/2007 + + The Linux Watchdog driver API. Copyright 2002 Christer Weingel @@ -22,7 +25,7 @@ the system. If userspace fails (RAM error, kernel bug, whatever), the notifications cease to occur, and the hardware watchdog will reset the system (causing a reboot) after the timeout occurs. -The Linux watchdog API is a rather AD hoc construction and different +The Linux watchdog API is a rather ad-hoc construction and different drivers implement different, and sometimes incompatible, parts of it. This file is an attempt to document the existing usage and allow future driver writers to use it as a reference. @@ -34,38 +37,32 @@ activates as soon as /dev/watchdog is opened and will reboot unless the watchdog is pinged within a certain time, this time is called the timeout or margin. The simplest way to ping the watchdog is to write some data to the device. So a very simple watchdog daemon would look -like this: - -int main(int argc, const char *argv[]) { - int fd=open("/dev/watchdog",O_WRONLY); - if (fd==-1) { - perror("watchdog"); - exit(1); - } - while(1) { - write(fd, "\0", 1); - sleep(10); - } -} +like this source file: see Documentation/watchdog/src/watchdog-simple.c A more advanced driver could for example check that a HTTP server is still responding before doing the write call to ping the watchdog. -When the device is closed, the watchdog is disabled. This is not -always such a good idea, since if there is a bug in the watchdog -daemon and it crashes the system will not reboot. Because of this, -some of the drivers support the configuration option "Disable watchdog -shutdown on close", CONFIG_WATCHDOG_NOWAYOUT. If it is set to Y when -compiling the kernel, there is no way of disabling the watchdog once -it has been started. So, if the watchdog dameon crashes, the system -will reboot after the timeout has passed. - -Some other drivers will not disable the watchdog, unless a specific -magic character 'V' has been sent /dev/watchdog just before closing -the file. If the userspace daemon closes the file without sending -this special character, the driver will assume that the daemon (and -userspace in general) died, and will stop pinging the watchdog without -disabling it first. This will then cause a reboot. +When the device is closed, the watchdog is disabled, unless the "Magic +Close" feature is supported (see below). This is not always such a +good idea, since if there is a bug in the watchdog daemon and it +crashes the system will not reboot. Because of this, some of the +drivers support the configuration option "Disable watchdog shutdown on +close", CONFIG_WATCHDOG_NOWAYOUT. If it is set to Y when compiling +the kernel, there is no way of disabling the watchdog once it has been +started. So, if the watchdog daemon crashes, the system will reboot +after the timeout has passed. Watchdog devices also usually support +the nowayout module parameter so that this option can be controlled at +runtime. + +Magic Close feature: + +If a driver supports "Magic Close", the driver will not disable the +watchdog unless a specific magic character 'V' has been sent to +/dev/watchdog just before closing the file. If the userspace daemon +closes the file without sending this special character, the driver +will assume that the daemon (and userspace in general) died, and will +stop pinging the watchdog without disabling it first. This will then +cause a reboot if the watchdog is not re-opened in sufficient time. The ioctl API: @@ -107,7 +104,40 @@ current timeout using the GETTIMEOUT ioctl. ioctl(fd, WDIOC_GETTIMEOUT, &timeout); printf("The timeout was is %d seconds\n", timeout); -Envinronmental monitoring: +Pretimeouts: + +Some watchdog timers can be set to have a trigger go off before the +actual time they will reset the system. This can be done with an NMI, +interrupt, or other mechanism. This allows Linux to record useful +information (like panic information and kernel coredumps) before it +resets. + + pretimeout = 10; + ioctl(fd, WDIOC_SETPRETIMEOUT, &pretimeout); + +Note that the pretimeout is the number of seconds before the time +when the timeout will go off. It is not the number of seconds until +the pretimeout. So, for instance, if you set the timeout to 60 seconds +and the pretimeout to 10 seconds, the pretimout will go of in 50 +seconds. Setting a pretimeout to zero disables it. + +There is also a get function for getting the pretimeout: + + ioctl(fd, WDIOC_GETPRETIMEOUT, &timeout); + printf("The pretimeout was is %d seconds\n", timeout); + +Not all watchdog drivers will support a pretimeout. + +Get the number of seconds before reboot: + +Some watchdog drivers have the ability to report the remaining time +before the system will reboot. The WDIOC_GETTIMELEFT is the ioctl +that returns the number of seconds before reboot. + + ioctl(fd, WDIOC_GETTIMELEFT, &timeleft); + printf("The timeout was is %d seconds\n", timeleft); + +Environmental monitoring: All watchdog drivers are required return more information about the system, some do temperature, fan and power level monitoring, some can tell you @@ -166,6 +196,10 @@ The watchdog saw a keepalive ping since it was last queried. WDIOF_SETTIMEOUT Can set/get the timeout +The watchdog can do pretimeouts. + + WDIOF_PRETIMEOUT Pretimeout (in seconds), get/set + For those drivers that return any bits set in the option field, the GETSTATUS and GETBOOTSTATUS ioctls can be used to ask for the current @@ -182,14 +216,14 @@ Note that not all devices support these two calls, and some only support the GETBOOTSTATUS call. Some drivers can measure the temperature using the GETTEMP ioctl. The -returned value is the temperature in degrees farenheit. +returned value is the temperature in degrees fahrenheit. int temperature; ioctl(fd, WDIOC_GETTEMP, &temperature); Finally the SETOPTIONS ioctl can be used to control some aspects of the cards operation; right now the pcwd driver is the only one -supporting thiss ioctl. +supporting this ioctl. int options = 0; ioctl(fd, WDIOC_SETOPTIONS, options); @@ -202,198 +236,3 @@ The following options are available: [FIXME -- better explanations] -Implementations in the current drivers in the kernel tree: - -Here I have tried to summarize what the different drivers support and -where they do strange things compared to the other drivers. - -acquirewdt.c -- Acquire Single Board Computer - - This driver has a hardcoded timeout of 1 minute - - Supports CONFIG_WATCHDOG_NOWAYOUT - - GETSUPPORT returns KEEPALIVEPING. GETSTATUS will return 1 if - the device is open, 0 if not. [FIXME -- isn't this rather - silly? To be able to use the ioctl, the device must be open - and so GETSTATUS will always return 1]. - -advantechwdt.c -- Advantech Single Board Computer - - Timeout that defaults to 60 seconds, supports SETTIMEOUT. - - Supports CONFIG_WATCHDOG_NOWAYOUT - - GETSUPPORT returns WDIOF_KEEPALIVEPING and WDIOF_SETTIMEOUT. - The GETSTATUS call returns if the device is open or not. - [FIXME -- silliness again?] - -eurotechwdt.c -- Eurotech CPU-1220/1410 - - The timeout can be set using the SETTIMEOUT ioctl and defaults - to 60 seconds. - - Also has a module parameter "ev", event type which controls - what should happen on a timeout, the string "int" or anything - else that causes a reboot. [FIXME -- better description] - - Supports CONFIG_WATCHDOG_NOWAYOUT - - GETSUPPORT returns CARDRESET and WDIOF_SETTIMEOUT but - GETSTATUS is not supported and GETBOOTSTATUS just returns 0. - -i810-tco.c -- Intel 810 chipset - - Also has support for a lot of other i8x0 stuff, but the - watchdog is one of the things. - - The timeout is set using the module parameter "i810_margin", - which is in steps of 0.6 seconds where 2