Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Sun, 30 Oct 2022 21:00:27 -0700
From:      Mark Millard <marklmi@yahoo.com>
To:        Archimedes Gaviola <archimedes.gaviola@gmail.com>
Cc:        freebsd-current <freebsd-current@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Re: 14.0-CURRENT failed to reclaim memory error in RPi 3B build
Message-ID:  <CA350C16-3604-4D88-9C14-040A45F6F125@yahoo.com>
In-Reply-To: <CAJFbk7FfYPSe3eF00HgDdebW70HKp5zKR0JaChTVniUDPG2qxQ@mail.gmail.com>
References:  <84376CC9-B991-4BF3-AF5F-0AA09CB28339.ref@yahoo.com> <84376CC9-B991-4BF3-AF5F-0AA09CB28339@yahoo.com> <CAJFbk7FfYPSe3eF00HgDdebW70HKp5zKR0JaChTVniUDPG2qxQ@mail.gmail.com>

next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
On 2022-Oct-30, at 19:47, Archimedes Gaviola =
<archimedes.gaviola@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Mon, Oct 31, 2022 at 1:29 AM Mark Millard <marklmi@yahoo.com> =
wrote:
> Archimedes Gaviola <archimedes.gaviola_at_gmail.com>wrote on
> Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2022 13:41:52 UTC :
>=20
> > I am building a kernel and world in 14.0-CURRENT
> > =
https://download.freebsd.org/ftp/snapshots/arm64/aarch64/ISO-IMAGES/14.0/F=
reeBSD-14.0-CURRENT-arm64-aarch64-RPI-20221027-769b884e2e2-258837.img.xz
> > with Raspberry Pi 3B  (ARM kernel config file and in default system
> > configurations) and compilation breaks due to "failed to reclaim =
memory"
> > error as found in the dmesg.
> >=20
> > pid 91224 (llvm-tblgen), jid 0, uid 0, was killed: failed to reclaim =
memory
> > pid 91131 (make), jid 0, uid 0, was killed: failed to reclaim memory
> >=20
> > Here's the set of the build commands I invoked.
> >=20
> > root@generic# cd /usr/src ; make KERNCONF=3DARM TARGET_ARCH=3Daarch64
> > buildkernel buildworld installkernel installworld distribution
> > DESTDIR=3D/home/freebsd/rpi3b
> >=20
> > . . .
> >=20
> > Any thoughts? As I don't have any idea about VM pageout.
>=20
> Hi Mark,
> =20
>=20
> Multiple configuration things from what I use:
>=20
> I use a swap partition (not a swap file!) to give the system
> someplace to put copies of inactive memory pages (paging):
>=20
> # swapinfo
> Device          1K-blocks     Used    Avail Capacity
> /dev/gpt/Rock64swp2   3670016        0  3670016     0%
>=20
> Oh I see, there's no swap partition in the default installation.
>=20
> root@generic:~ # swapinfo
> Device          1K-blocks     Used    Avail Capacity
>=20
> root@generic:~ # top -S
> last pid: 92429;  load averages:  0.00,  0.00,  0.00                   =
                                        up 1+12:49:11  23:41:10
> 52 processes:  2 running, 48 sleeping, 2 waiting
> CPU:  0.0% user,  0.0% nice,  0.6% system,  0.0% interrupt, 99.4% idle
> Mem: 2000K Active, 626M Inact, 223M Wired, 97M Buf, 20M Free
>=20
> Let me try to create a swap partition. Let me mount a spare USB flash =
drive for swap as during the installation all my microSD card storage =
was allocated in the root filesystem with growfs. =20
>  =20
>=20
> where gpart show -p lists it as (a gpt context, not MBR):
>=20
>       534528     7340032  da0p2  freebsd-swap  (3.5G)
>=20
> and gpart show -pl lists it as:
>=20
>       534528     7340032  da0p2  Rock64swp2  (3.5G)
>=20
> Okay noted on GPT not MBR method with gpart.

I did not happen to have a MBR example around. So I could
only show GPT. The note was more to avoid confusion than
anything, since the two are not equivalent for how they
work.

> By the way, what's the proper allocation size of swap in FreeBSD?

FreeBSD has a waring that it produces indicating possible mistuning
when you potentially have too much. An example is:

warning: total configured swap (2097152 pages) exceeds maximum =
recommended amount (916632 pages).
warning: increase kern.maxswzone or reduce amount of swap.

The numbers are dependent on the amount of RAM present and
other details.

My understanding is that increasing kern.maxswzone has tradeoffs.
I avoid getting the message because I do not understand the
tradeoffs or how to manage the tradeoffs or even how to identify
an instance of hitting such a tradeoff.

For aarch64 I've been about to have swap of about 3.4 to 3.5 or
so times the amount of RAM without getting the warnings. That
is why 3.5G in my RPi3B example. (So RAM+SWAP approx.=3D 4.5*RAM.)
(armv7 only allows more like 1.8 times the RAM before getting
the warning.)

I avoid even getting too close to the warning as there seems to
be some build-to-build variability in what fits vs. not. This
avoids having to frequently adjust the size.

Going from the other side, how much RAM+SWAP will your activities
use? To avoid accurately figuring out such, you may just want to
have near the 3.4 to 3.5 times RAM. (There have been times when
clang had memory use oddities that required more than normal for
a time, for example.)

> This RPi 3B has 1GB of RAM (~947 MB), do I need to set twice the =
capacity of this physical RAM?

Ultimately your choice. How much parallel activity you
want to attempt likely contributes. If you build ports,
you might do so in a way that uses more RAM+SWAP than
system builds do, for example.

> (Note: swap file usage is subject to deadlock conditions
> avoided by use of swap partitions.)
>=20
> This is noted.
> =20
>=20
> I use a serial console & ssh session only context to avoid
> having sizable competition for RAM.
>=20
> I avoid using tmpfs because it competes for RAM use.
>=20
> I use the likes of ( in, say, /boot/loader/conf ):
>=20
> #
> # Delay when persistent low free RAM leads to
> # Out Of Memory killing of processes:
> vm.pageout_oom_seq=3D120
>=20
> This delays potential "killed: failed to reclaim memory" kills,
> possibly long enough to reach a state where sufficient memory is
> reclaimed.
>=20
> Alright this is well noted too.

There is tuning related to "a thread waited too long to
allocate a page" that happens because of paging I/O
characteristics. But but I've not hit that type of
error.

I'll also note that the "out of swap space" case is a
misnomer in that it is one or two of 2 internal data
structures that is out of space, not necessarily the
swap space on the media. Again, I've not ever hit that
type of error. I'm not aware of tuning for this case.

> I'll note that the status "killed: failed to reclaim memory" does
> not require that swap be used much at all. Sustained low free RAM
> from just one process that always stays runnable and has a
> sufficiently large active set of pages can be sufficient to end up
> with such kills. Having swap allows for inactive pages to get out
> of the way, which can help.
>=20
> I use the likes of ( in, say, /etc/ssyctl.conf ):
>=20
> #
> # Together this pair avoids swapping out the process kernel stacks.
> # This avoids processes for interacting with the system from being
> # hung-up.
> vm.swap_enabled=3D0
> vm.swap_idle_enabled=3D0
>=20
> This allows paging to the swap space but disallows moving
> kernel thread stacks to the swap space. Otherwise the
> processes used to interact with the RPi3 can become
> non-runnable, preventing such interactions.
>=20
> Okay this too is well noted.
> =20
>=20
> I have NVMe or SSD based USB media, not microsd cards nor
> spinning rust. (I use just bootcode.bin and timeout files
> on microsd media for the RPi3B. Even the rest of the RPi*
> firmware is on the USB media, as well as u-boot.bin .)

This may contribute to why I've never gotten a "a thread
waited too long to allocate a page" on any system. (Some
systems, while bootable via USB3 media I have, also have
have even faster internal media that is normally used.)

> My usage of such a configuration struture for building
> software (world, kernel, ports) applies to all the
> systems I do such with, including ones with a lot more
> resources, including a lot more RAM.
>=20
> Thanks for these inputs, noted on these things! I haven't tried NVMe =
and SSD media in my RPi 3B. So, they are far more superior as compared =
to microSD cards when it comes to building software?

My understanding is that microsd card media is fairly
generally not as good for such contexts: slower, fails
sooner, etc.

I happen to boot multiple types of machines from the
same media so I use USB3 media that is compatible with
USB2 use, a single such USB3 device not needing a
powered hub for use on the likes of an RPi3B. (Lots
of USB3 media around would require external power for
USB2 or an RPi3B use.) I need a powered hub for 2 or
more such media on a RPi3B.

=3D=3D=3D
Mark Millard
marklmi at yahoo.com




Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?CA350C16-3604-4D88-9C14-040A45F6F125>