There are exactly four users of __monitor and __mwait:
- cstate.c (which allows acpi_processor_ffh_cstate_enter to be called
when the cpuidle API drivers are used. However patch
"cpuidle: replace xen access to x86 pm_idle and default_idle"
provides a mechanism to disable the cpuidle and use safe_halt.
- smpboot (which allows mwait_play_dead to be called). However
safe_halt is always used so we skip that.
- intel_idle (same deal as above).
- acpi_pad.c. This the one that we do not want to run as we
will hit the below crash.
Why do we want to expose MWAIT_LEAF in the first place?
We want it for the xen-acpi-processor driver - which uploads
C-states to the hypervisor. If MWAIT_LEAF is set, the cstate.c
sets the proper address in the C-states so that the hypervisor
can benefit from using the MWAIT functionality. And that is
the sole reason for using it.
Without this patch, if a module performs mwait or monitor we
get this: