used ring: specify legacy behaviour for len field

many hypervisors implemented len field incorrectly.
Document existing bugs in the legacy sections.

VIRTIO-141

Signed-off-by: Rusty Russell <rusty@rustcorp.com.au>
Cc: Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>
Signed-off-by: Michael S. Tsirkin <mst@redhat.com>

git-svn-id: https://tools.oasis-open.org/version-control/svn/virtio/branches/v1.0@522 0c8fb4dd-22a2-4bb5-bc14-6c75a5f43652

1 files changed, 55 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/content.tex b/content.tex
index 2d032a7..7e46b7d 100644
--- a/content.tex
+++ b/content.tex
@@ -626,6 +626,17 @@ the constant as VRING_USED_F_NO_NOTIFY, but the layout and value were
 identical.
 \end{note}
 
+\subsubsection{Legacy Interface: The Virtqueue Used
+Ring}\label{sec:Basic Facilities of a Virtio Device / Virtqueues
+/ The Virtqueue Used Ring/ Legacy Interface: The Virtqueue Used
+Ring}
+
+Historically, many drivers ignored the \field{len} value, as a
+result, many devices set \field{len} incorrectly.  Thus, when
+using the legacy interface, it is generally a good idea to ignore
+the \field{len} value in used ring entries if possible.  Specific
+known issues are listed per device type.
+
 \devicenormative{\subsubsection}{The Virtqueue Used Ring}{Basic Facilities of a Virtio Device / Virtqueues / The Virtqueue Used Ring}
 
 The device MUST set \field{len} prior to updating the used \field{idx}.
@@ -3248,6 +3259,15 @@ The legacy driver only presented \field{num_buffers} in the struct virtio_net_hd
 when VIRTIO_NET_F_MRG_RXBUF was not negotiated; without that feature the
 structure was 2 bytes shorter.
 
+When using the legacy interface, the driver SHOULD ignore the
+\field{len} value in used ring entries for the transmit queues
+and the controlq queue.
+\begin{note}
+Historically, some devices put
+the total descriptor length there, even though no data was
+actually written.
+\end{note}
+
 \subsubsection{Packet Transmission}\label{sec:Device Types / Network Device / Device Operation / Packet Transmission}
 
 Transmitting a single packet is simple, but varies depending on
@@ -3948,6 +3968,14 @@ MUST format the fields in struct virtio_blk_req
 according to the native endian of the guest rather than
 (necessarily when not using the legacy interface) little-endian.
 
+When using the legacy interface, transitional drivers
+SHOULD ignore the \field{len} value in used ring entries.
+\begin{note}
+Historically, some devices put the total descriptor length,
+or the total length of device-writable buffers there,
+even when only the status byte was actually written.
+\end{note}
+
 The \field{reserved} field was previously called \field{ioprio}.  \field{ioprio}
 is a hint about the relative priorities of requests to the device:
 higher numbers indicate more important requests.
@@ -4271,6 +4299,14 @@ MUST format the fields in struct virtio_console_control
 according to the native endian of the guest rather than
 (necessarily when not using the legacy interface) little-endian.
 
+When using the legacy interface, the driver SHOULD ignore the
+\field{len} value in used ring entries for the transmit queues
+and the control transmitq.
+\begin{note}
+Historically, some devices put the total descriptor length there,
+even though no data was actually written.
+\end{note}
+
 \subsubsection{Legacy Interface: Framing Requirements}\label{sec:Device
 Types / Console Device / Legacy Interface: Framing Requirements}
 
@@ -4444,6 +4480,15 @@ before using the pages.
 The driver MUST update \field{actual} after changing the number
 of pages in the balloon.
 
+\paragraph{Legacy Interface: Device Operation}\label{sec:Device
+Types / Memory Balloon Device / Device Operation / Legacy
+Interface: Device Operation}
+When using the legacy interface, the driver SHOULD ignore the \field{len} value in used ring entries.
+\begin{note}
+Historically, some devices put the total descriptor length there,
+even though no data was actually written.
+\end{note}
+
 \subsubsection{Memory Statistics}\label{sec:Device Types / Memory Balloon Device / Device Operation / Memory Statistics}
 
 The stats virtqueue is atypical because communication is driven
@@ -4661,6 +4706,16 @@ RESET.}.
 Device operation consists of operating request queues, the control
 queue and the event queue.
 
+\paragraph{Legacy Interface: Device Operation}\label{sec:Device
+Types / SCSI Host Device / Device Operation / Legacy
+Interface: Device Operation}
+When using the legacy interface, the driver SHOULD ignore the \field{len} value in used ring entries.
+\begin{note}
+Historically, devices put the total descriptor length,
+or the total length of device-writable buffers there,
+even when only part of the buffers were actually written.
+\end{note}
+
 \subsubsection{Device Operation: Request Queues}\label{sec:Device Types / SCSI Host Device / Device Operation / Device Operation: Request Queues}
 
 The driver queues requests to an arbitrary request queue, and