pcpu_should_reclaim_chunk(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

✨ NAME ✨

okay so bestie, this is pcpu_should_reclaim_chunk — it's literally the vibe check for whether a chunk should go into reclaim 💅 (pcpu_should_reclaim_chunk(9) is your kernel API manual, bestie, that's the one we're reading right now, keep up 🫶)

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

bool pcpu_should_reclaim_chunk (struct pcpu_chunk *chunk );

like, that's the whole thing. she's short, she's sweet, she returns a bool 💖

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

  • chunk — the chunk of interest 👀 that's the one you're asking about. hun, this is the chunk in question, the main character of this whole function ngl

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So here's the tea, bestie ✨ — this function is the entry point for percpu reclaim. Like, the front door. The bouncer at the club. The one who decides. 👑

If a chunk qualifies (iykyk) then it gets isolated and managed in separate lists at the back of pcpu_slot, and those two lists are called sidelined and to_depopulate respectively. Yeah. Two lists. At the back. We love a back-of-house situation. 💀

The to_depopulate list is the one holding chunks that are slated for depopulation — like, they're on the list, they're cooked, that's the plan. 🔥 And here's the important bit: once they're on this list, they no longer contribute to pcpu_nr_empty_pop_pages. Not even a little. Zero. The number just doesn't count them anymore, no cap. 🙈

Then, once they are depopulated, they get moved onto the sidelined list 😭 which — and this is the cute part — enables them to be pulled back in for allocation if no other chunk can suffice the allocation. So it's not a permanent goodbye, it's more of a "brb, going to the sidelines, might come back if you literally cannot find anyone else" situation. She's flexible. She's ready. She's on the bench waiting for her moment. 🌈

not me getting emotionally attached to a chunk lifecycle 💀 but fr fr that's how it works, don't @ me

🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

Kernel file ./mm/percpu-vm.c — and like, the whole friend group too, bestie, they all show up together:

okay and that's the whole page, bestie — it lives down in ./mm, it's dated October 2026, and it's from the Kernel API Manual ✨ like, the manual name was right up top the whole time, we already covered it 🫶 go forth and reclaim responsibly, mwah 💋👑🍓

📦 where this page comes from