How to wake up a process blocked by pause()? - process

I need to block and wake a process using SIGUSR2 and SIGUSR1 respectively. Below here's my signal handler sub routine. How do I wake a process blocked by pause?
void sig_handler(int sig) {
static int i = 1;
if(sig == SIGUSR2) {
pause();
}
else if(sig == SIGUSR1) {
/* I don't what to write here */
}
}
Also, I read somewhere pause() is not a good programming practice, is there any other means to suspend a process for some time?

See this page
In general, doing a lot of works in signals is ... tricky. Some things are not async-signal-safe, and therefore it makes robust programming there a bit difficult. In your case, pause() waits for a signal to arrive, but since you are calling it from the signal handler, it is not going to work there (I think).
As to making the process sleep and resume on signals. Look at the page I linked above. The best way is to have the signal handlers simply set flags and have the main thread (i.e. in main() or in an event loop) react to these flags. As recommended by the page, use sigsuspend when SIGUSR2 is received to pause the process until SIGURS1 is received.

It's simple. Use the 'kill' system call-
void sig_handler(int sig) {
static int i = 1;
if(sig == SIGUSR2) {
pause();
}
else if(sig == SIGUSR1) {
kill(<pid of process to wake up>, sig);
// make sure that process with pid has registered for sig
}
}

Related

How can I get a non-blocking infinite loop in a Kotlin Actor?

I would like to consume some stream-data using Kotlin actors
I was thinking to put my consumer inside an actor, while it polls in an infinite loop while(true). Then, when I decide, I send a message to stop the consumer.
Currently I have this:
while(true) {
for (message in channel){ <--- blocked in here, waiting
when(message) {
is MessageStop -> consumer.close()
else -> {}
}
}
consumer.poll()
}
The problem
The problem with this is that it only runs when I send a message to the actor, so my consumer is not polling the rest of the time because channel is blocking waiting to receive the next message
Is there any alternative?, someone with the same issue?, or something similar to actors but not blocked by channel in Kotlin?
Since the channel is just a Channel (https://kotlin.github.io/kotlinx.coroutines/kotlinx-coroutines-core/kotlinx.coroutines.channels/-channel/index.html) you can first check if the channel is empty and if so start your polling. Otherwise handle the messages.
E.g.
while(true) {
while (channel.isNotEmpty()) {
val message = channel.receive()
when(message) {
is MessageStop -> consumer.close()
else -> {}
}
}
consumer.poll()
}
In the end I used AKKA with Kotlin, I'm finding much easier this way
You should use postDelayed(), for example:
final Runnable r = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
// your code here
handler.postDelayed(this, 1000)
}
}
You can change 1000 with the the millisecond delay you want. Also I highly recommend to put your code inside a thread (if you are not already have) to prevent ANR (App Not Responding)

How to force a libusb event so that libusb_handle_events() returns

Suppose I have a libusb program that just uses the hotplug API. You register a callback and then apparently have to call libusb_handle_events() in a loop which then calls your hotplug callback.
int LIBUSB_CALL hotplugCallback(libusb_context* ctx,
libusb_device* device,
libusb_hotplug_event event,
void* user_data)
{
cout << "Device plugged in or unplugged";
}
void main()
{
libusb_init(nullptr);
libusb_hotplug_register_callback(nullptr,
static_cast<libusb_hotplug_event>(LIBUSB_HOTPLUG_EVENT_DEVICE_ARRIVED | LIBUSB_HOTPLUG_EVENT_DEVICE_LEFT),
LIBUSB_HOTPLUG_NO_FLAGS,
LIBUSB_HOTPLUG_MATCH_ANY,
LIBUSB_HOTPLUG_MATCH_ANY,
LIBUSB_HOTPLUG_MATCH_ANY,
&hotplugCallback,
this,
&hotplugCallbackHandle);
for (;;)
{
if (libusb_handle_events_completed(nullptr, nullptr) != LIBUSB_SUCCESS)
return 1;
}
return 0;
}
The question is, without timeout hacks how can I exit this event loop cleanly? I can't find any functions that force libusb_handle_events() (or libusb_handle_events_completed()) to return. In theory they could just never return.
Sorry if this is late.
The question could have been phrased better but I'm assuming (from your comment updates) that your actual program resembles something a little closer to this:
int LIBUSB_CALL hotplugCallback(libusb_context *ctx,
libusb_device *device,
libusb_hotplug_event event,
void *user_data) {
cout << "Device plugged in or unplugged";
}
void SomeClass::someFunction() {
libusb_init(nullptr);
libusb_hotplug_register_callback(nullptr,
static_cast<libusb_hotplug_event>(LIBUSB_HOTPLUG_EVENT_DEVICE_ARRIVED | LIBUSB_HOTPLUG_EVENT_DEVICE_LEFT),
LIBUSB_HOTPLUG_NO_FLAGS,
LIBUSB_HOTPLUG_MATCH_ANY,
LIBUSB_HOTPLUG_MATCH_ANY,
LIBUSB_HOTPLUG_MATCH_ANY,
&hotplugCallback,
this,
&hotplugCallbackHandle);
this->thread = std::thread([this]() {
while (this->handlingEvents) {
int error = libusb_handle_events_completed(context, nullptr);
}
});
}
Let's say your object is being deallocated and, no matter what is happening on the USB bus, you don't care and you want to clean up your thread.
You negate this->handlingEvents and you call thread.join() and the thread hangs for 60 seconds and then execution resumes.
This is done because the default behavior of libusb_handle_events_completed calls libusb_handle_events_timeout_completed and passes in a 60 second timeout interval with plans to make it infinite.
The way you force libusb_handle_events_completed to return is you call libusb_hotplug_deregister_callback which wakes up libusb_handle_events(), causing the function to return.
There is more info about this behavior in the docs.
So your destructor (or wherever you want to stop listening immediately) for the class could look something like this:
SomeClass::~SomeClass() {
this->handlingEvents = false;
libusb_hotplug_deregister_callback(context, hotplugCallbackHandle);
if (this->thread.joinable()) this->thread.join();
libusb_exit(this->context);
}
In the function:
int libusb_handle_events_completed(libusb_context* ctx, int* completed)
You can change the value of the completed to "1" so the function will return without blocking
According to their docs:
If the parameter completed is not NULL then after obtaining the event
handling lock this function will return immediately if the integer
pointed to is not 0. This allows for race free waiting for the
completion of a specific transfer.
There is no functions in libusb that force libusb_handle_events() to return.
It's recommended to use libusb_handle_events() in a dedicated thread so your main thread will not be blocked by this call. Even though, if you need to manipulate the call of the event handler you can put the call in a while(condition) and change the condition state in your main thread.
Libusb documentation details this here.

STM32F412 using FreeRTOS and USB to do audio processing

I am using stm32f4 nucleuo board. I can transmit the audio data through usb to PC without FreeRTOS. Now I want to learn how to integrate the FreeRTOS and usb together. But I have some questions about how fundamentally threads and ISR interact with each other.
Below I have two files.
In main.c, there are two threads created.In usb_thread, I initialize usb dirver and do nothing else.
In vr_thread, it waits state == 1 and process PCM_Buffer.
/* main.c */
extern uint16_t PCM_Buffer[16];
int state = 0;
int main(void)
{
HAL_Init();
SystemClock_Config();
MX_GPIO_Init();
osThreadDef(usb_t, usb_thread, osPriorityNormal, 0, configMINIMAL_STACK_SIZE);
osThreadDef(vr_t, vr_thread, osPriorityNormal, 0, configMINIMAL_STACK_SIZE);
usb_thread_handle = osThreadCreate (osThread(usb_t), NULL);
usb_thread_handle = osThreadCreate (osThread(vr_t), NULL);
osKernelStart();
for (;;) {}
}
static void usb_thread(void const *argument)
{
/*Do some initialization here.*/
for (;;) {}
}
static void vr_thread(void const *argument)
{
/*Do some initialization here.*/
for (;;) {
if (state == 1) {
state = 0;
process_buffer(PCM_Buffer);
}
}
}
In app.c, USB_AUDIO_CallBack will be called by usb ISR every 1 millisecond. It transmit PCM_Buffer to PC first because it is really important, then it changes state to 1.
/* app.c */
uint16_t PCM_Buffer[16];
extern int state;
void USB_AUDIO_CallBack(void) //It will be called by usb ISR every 10^-3 second.
{
Send_Audio_to_USB((int16_t *)(PCM_Buffer), NUM_AUDIO_BUF);
state = 1;
}
Here are my questions.
1. How to find out the unit counting tick of FreeRTOS? USB_AUDIO_CallBack will be
called every 1 millisecond, how to know FreeRTOS basic tick is faster or slower
than 1 millisecond. Is FreeRTOS tick equal to systick?
2. Let's assume the process time of process_buffer is less than 1 millisecond. What I want to accomplish here is described below
hardware trigger
|
usb ISR
|
USB_AUDIO_CallBack
|
state=1
|
vr_thread process_buffer
|
state=0, then wait for hardware trigger again.
I really doubt it is the correct way to do it. Or should I use suspend() and resume()?
3. Is using extern to declare global PCM_Buffer the correct way to pass variable between threads or should I use queue in FreeRTOS?
I know these questions are trivial but I really want to understand them. Any helpful document or website is welcome. Thanks.
To convert real time to systick you can use macro pdMS_TO_TICKS(xTimeInMS).
You can define your USB_AUDIO_CallBack also as a thread (or task) or paste the code from the callback to vr_thread (as your application works on only one processor). Then inside the USB ISR you can send a notification using function vTaskNotifyGiveFromISR and receive it inside vr_thread by calling ulTaskNotifyTake. After receiving the notification you can call Send_Audio_to_USB((int16_t *)(PCM_Buffer), NUM_AUDIO_BUF);
and then process_buffer(PCM_Buffer);. It is better to bring out the code from callback to task, because the ISR handler will finish it's job faster as Send_Audio_to_USB function could run long time. You also keep things to be executed in the same order as you needed.
I think that you mean volatile instead of extern. If you want to use this buffer along different threads and ISRs you should define it as volatile, but if you will use the approach with only one task you can declare this buffer as local buffer.

How to dispatch on main queue synchronously without a deadlock?

I need to dispatch a block on the main queue, synchronously. I don’t know if I’m currently running on the main thread or no. The naive solution looks like this:
dispatch_sync(dispatch_get_main_queue(), block);
But if I’m currently inside of a block running on the main queue, this call creates a deadlock. (The synchronous dispatch waits for the block to finish, but the block does not even start running, since we are waiting for the current one to finish.)
The obvious next step is to check for the current queue:
if (dispatch_get_current_queue() == dispatch_get_main_queue()) {
block();
} else {
dispatch_sync(dispatch_get_main_queue(), block);
}
This works, but it’s ugly. Before I at least hide it behind some custom function, isn’t there a better solution for this problem? I stress that I can’t afford to dispatch the block asynchronously – the app is in a situation where the asynchronously dispatched block would get executed “too late”.
I need to use something like this fairly regularly within my Mac and iOS applications, so I use the following helper function (originally described in this answer):
void runOnMainQueueWithoutDeadlocking(void (^block)(void))
{
if ([NSThread isMainThread])
{
block();
}
else
{
dispatch_sync(dispatch_get_main_queue(), block);
}
}
which you call via
runOnMainQueueWithoutDeadlocking(^{
//Do stuff
});
This is pretty much the process you describe above, and I've talked to several other developers who have independently crafted something like this for themselves.
I used [NSThread isMainThread] instead of checking dispatch_get_current_queue(), because the caveats section for that function once warned against using this for identity testing and the call was deprecated in iOS 6.
For syncing on the main queue or on the main thread (that is not the same) I use:
import Foundation
private let mainQueueKey = UnsafeMutablePointer<Void>.alloc(1)
private let mainQueueValue = UnsafeMutablePointer<Void>.alloc(1)
public func dispatch_sync_on_main_queue(block: () -> Void)
{
struct dispatchonce { static var token : dispatch_once_t = 0 }
dispatch_once(&dispatchonce.token,
{
dispatch_queue_set_specific(dispatch_get_main_queue(), mainQueueKey, mainQueueValue, nil)
})
if dispatch_get_specific(mainQueueKey) == mainQueueValue
{
block()
}
else
{
dispatch_sync(dispatch_get_main_queue(),block)
}
}
extension NSThread
{
public class func runBlockOnMainThread(block: () -> Void )
{
if NSThread.isMainThread()
{
block()
}
else
{
dispatch_sync(dispatch_get_main_queue(),block)
}
}
public class func runBlockOnMainQueue(block: () -> Void)
{
dispatch_sync_on_main_queue(block)
}
}
I recently began experiencing a deadlock during UI updates. That lead me this Stack Overflow question, which lead to me implementing a runOnMainQueueWithoutDeadlocking-type helper function based on the accepted answer.
The real issue, though, is that when updating the UI from a block I had mistakenly used dispatch_sync rather than dispatch_async to get the Main queue for UI updates. Easy to do with code completion, and perhaps hard to notice after the fact.
So, for others reading this question: if synchronous execution is not required, simply using dispatch_**a**sync will avoid the deadlock you may be intermittently hitting.

non-blocking file openat()

I would like to implement a multi-threaded, non-blocking file open. Ideally, the desired solution would be to make a call to open() & have it return immediately, and do something like register a callback to be called (or handle a signal, or conditional variable) when the open() operation is actually complete. To that end, I wrote a little test driver that creates multiple simultaneous threads and tries to open the same file. I would have hoped the return from openat() to be an invalid file descriptor, with an errno == EAGAIN, but the open call seems to always block until the open completes successfully.
Is there an implementation of this approach for a non-blocking open()?
Thanks in advance.
Reference Thread Code:
void* OpenHandler(void* args)
{
// Declarations removed
Dir = "/SomeDir";
if ((DirFd = open(Dir, O_RDONLY )) < 0) {
printf("********Error opening Directory*******\n");
return NULL;
}
do {
FileFd = openat(DirFd, &FileName[DirLen], O_RDONLY | O_NONBLOCK);
/* If open failed */
if (FileFd == -1) {
if (errno == EAGAIN)
printf("Open would block\n");
else {
printf("Open failed\n");
pthread_exit(NULL);
}
}
else
Opened = 1;
} while (!Opened);
pthread_exit(NULL);
}
open() and openat() always fully resolve the open request in one shot (normally, this doesn't need to sleep, but it can if directory entries need to be brought in from disk or over the network).
To do what you want, you'll have to build a thread pool of file-opening threads, that perform the open() on behalf of the thread you want to continue working and notify it when the open is complete. Unless you're opening a lot of files on very slow network filesystems, I doubt the juice will be worth the squeeze.