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>
1 file changed