What should we do about the nvme atomics mess?

[Nilay Shroff]

On 10/22/25 8:54 PM, Nilay Shroff wrote:
> 
> 
> On 10/22/25 2:20 PM, John Garry wrote:
>> On 21/10/2025 16:02, Nilay Shroff wrote:
>>
>> -
>>
>>>> Does the drive which you are using report NAWUPF as zero (as hinted)?
>>>>
>>>> If so, have you tried the followinghttps://lore.kernel.org/linux-nvme/20250820150220.1923826-1- john.g.garry at oracle.com/
>>>>
>>>> We were considering changing the NVMe driver to not use AWUPF at all...
>>> Yes, I just tested your patch with the latest upstream kernel on my drive,
>>> which reports a non-zero AWUPF but a zero NAWUPF.
>>
>> Do you think that you could check with the OEM for updated firmware (that reports NAWUPF)?
> Yes, certainly — we can check with the disk vendor for updated firmware that correctly reports
> NAWUPF. I’ve already discussed this with my manager, and he’ll arrange a call with the vendor
> so that I can directly explain the issue and what we want from the kernel perspective.
> I’ll follow up with you once I’ve spoken to the vendor.
> 
Just an update...

We met with the vendor team and explained the current situation regarding atomic
writes and the NVMe Linux kernel driver. I’m happy to report that they acknowledged
the issue and agreed to provide updated firmware that advertises atomic write support
using NAWUPF instead of AWUPF.

We shall first receive a test firmware build with this change. Once our test team
verifies that it behaves as expected, the vendor will proceed with a formal firmware
release. I’ll keep you posted once we receive the updated firmware.

Thanks,
--Nilay