Re: 8139too: defunct threads

[Manfred Spraul]

>> Ah. Of course. All (or most) kernel initialisation is
>> done by PID 1. Search for "kernel_thread" in init/main.c
>>
>> So it seems that in your setup, process 1 is not reaping
>> children, which is why this hasn't been reported before.
>> Is there something unusual about your setup?

> I found the difference which causes this. If I build my kernel with
> IP_PNP (IP: kernel level autoconfiguration) support I get a defunt
> thread for each 8139too device. If I don't build with IP_PNP
> support I don't get any, defunct ethernet threads.

Does init(8) reap children that died before it was spawned? I assume
that the defunct tasks were there _before_ init was spawned.

Perhaps init() [in linux/init/main.c] should reap all defunct tasks
before the execve("/sbin/init").

I've attached an untested patch, could you try it?

--
    Manfred

patch-main.dat