# Unofficial GCN/RDNA ISA reference errata
-## v_sad_u32
+## `v_sad_u32`
+
+The Vega ISA reference writes its behaviour as:
-The Vega ISA reference writes it's behaviour as:
```
D.u = abs(S0.i - S1.i) + S2.u.
```
+
This is incorrect. The actual behaviour is what is written in the GCN3 reference
guide:
+
```
ABS_DIFF (A,B) = (A>B) ? (A-B) : (B-A)
D.u = ABS_DIFF (S0.u,S1.u) + S2.u
```
+
The instruction doesn't subtract the S0 and S1 and use the absolute value (the
_signed_ distance), it uses the _unsigned_ distance between the operands. So
`v_sad_u32(-5, 0, 0)` would return `4294967291` (`-5` interpreted as unsigned),
not `5`.
-## s_bfe_*
+## `s_bfe_*`
-Both the Vega and GCN3 ISA references write that these instructions don't write
+Both the RDNA, Vega and GCN3 ISA references write that these instructions don't write
SCC. They do.
-## v_bcnt_u32_b32
+## `v_bcnt_u32_b32`
+
+The Vega ISA reference writes its behaviour as:
-The Vega ISA reference writes it's behaviour as:
```
D.u = 0;
for i in 0 ... 31 do
D.u += (S0.u[i] == 1 ? 1 : 0);
endfor.
```
+
This is incorrect. The actual behaviour (and number of operands) is what
is written in the GCN3 reference guide:
+
```
D.u = CountOneBits(S0.u) + S1.u.
```
## VMEM stores
All reference guides say (under "Vector Memory Instruction Data Dependencies"):
+
> When a VM instruction is issued, the address is immediately read out of VGPRs
> and sent to the texture cache. Any texture or buffer resources and samplers
> are also sent immediately. However, write-data is not immediately sent to the
> texture cache.
+
Reading that, one might think that waitcnts need to be added when writing to
the registers used for a VMEM store's data. Experimentation has shown that this
does not seem to be the case on GFX8 and GFX9 (GFX6 and GFX7 are untested). It
Stores and atomics always bypass the L1 cache, so they don't support the DLC bit,
and it shouldn't be set in these cases. Setting the DLC for these cases can result
-in graphical glitches.
+in graphical glitches or hangs.
-## RDNA S_DCACHE_WB
+## RDNA `s_dcache_wb`
-The S_DCACHE_WB is not mentioned in the RDNA ISA doc, but it is needed in order
+The `s_dcache_wb` is not mentioned in the RDNA ISA doc, but it is needed in order
to achieve correct behavior in some SSBO CTS tests.
## RDNA subvector mode
-The documentation of S_SUBVECTOR_LOOP_BEGIN and S_SUBVECTOR_LOOP_END is not clear
+The documentation of `s_subvector_loop_begin` and `s_subvector_mode_end` is not clear
on what sort of addressing should be used, but it says that it
-"is equivalent to an S_CBRANCH with extra math", so the subvector loop handling
-in ACO is done according to the S_CBRANCH doc.
+"is equivalent to an `S_CBRANCH` with extra math", so the subvector loop handling
+in ACO is done according to the `s_cbranch` doc.
# Hardware Bugs
## SMEM corrupts VCCZ on SI/CI
-https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/blob/acb089e12ae48b82c0b05c42326196a030df9b82/llvm/lib/Target/AMDGPU/SIInsertWaits.cpp#L580-L616
+[See this LLVM source.](https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/blob/acb089e12ae48b82c0b05c42326196a030df9b82/llvm/lib/Target/AMDGPU/SIInsertWaits.cpp#L580-L616)
+
After issuing a SMEM instructions, we need to wait for the SMEM instructions to
finish and then write to vcc (for example, `s_mov_b64 vcc, vcc`) to correct vccz
## GCN / GFX6 hazards
-### VINTRP followed by a read with v_readfirstlane or v_readlane
+### VINTRP followed by a read with `v_readfirstlane` or `v_readlane`
-It's required to insert 1 wait state if the dst VGPR of any v_interp_* is
-followed by a read with v_readfirstlane or v_readlane to fix GPU hangs on GFX6.
-Note that v_writelane_* is apparently not affected. This hazard isn't
+It's required to insert 1 wait state if the dst VGPR of any `v_interp_*` is
+followed by a read with `v_readfirstlane` or `v_readlane` to fix GPU hangs on GFX6.
+Note that `v_writelane_*` is apparently not affected. This hazard isn't
documented anywhere but AMD confirmed it.
## RDNA / GFX10 hazards