question on scsi_alloc_sdev()

Does anybody know for sure whether scsi_alloc_sdev() is guaranteed to be called in process context or not?

There seem to be contradictory signs in scsi_scan.c:
scsi_alloc_sdev() uses GFP_ATOMIC, as related functions do. It might be called in a section protected by a mutex.

I conducted a little experiment using might_sleep() in scsi_alloc_sdev()
- no backtrace on the console, hence process context.

Or, is the purpose of GFP_ATOMIC just (SCSI) I/O avoidance, and sleeping isn't an issue?

Thanks,
Martin

It's always called in the scan or setup path, so yes, process context is guaranteed.

It is always protected by the scan mutex, but a mutex is a sleeping lock, so it could also be GFP_KERNEL.

I'm guessing it's just historical.

James