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BSD syscall#334

svc · unix #334

__semwait_signal

Underlying syscall that parks a thread on a Mach semaphore with optional timeout.

Prototype

int __semwait_signal(int cond_sem, int mutex_sem, int timeout, int relative, int64_t tv_sec, int32_t tv_nsec);

Returns: int

Arguments

NameTypeDirDescription
cond_semint-
mutex_semint-
timeoutint-
relativeint-
tv_secint64_t-
tv_nsecint32_t-

Version history

XNU tagmacOS#
xnu-1456.1.26macOS 10.6 Snow Leopard334
xnu-1699.24.8macOS 10.7 Lion334
xnu-2050.18.24macOS 10.8 Mountain Lion334
xnu-2422.115.4macOS 10.9 Mavericks334
xnu-2782.40.9macOS 10.10 Yosemite334
xnu-3247.1.106macOS 10.11 El Capitan334
xnu-3789.1.32macOS 10.12 Sierra334
xnu-4570.1.46macOS 10.13 High Sierra334
xnu-4903.221.2macOS 10.14 Mojave334
xnu-6153.11.26macOS 10.15 Catalina334
xnu-7195.50.7.100.1macOS 11.0 Big Sur334
xnu-8019.41.5macOS 12.0 Monterey334
xnu-8792.41.9macOS 13.0 Ventura334
xnu-10002.1.13macOS 14.0 Sonoma334
xnu-11215.1.10macOS 15.0 Sequoia334
xnu-11417.101.15macOS 15.4 Sequoia334
xnu-12377.1.9macOS 26.0 Tahoe334
xnu-10002.41.9—334
xnu-10002.61.3—334
xnu-10002.81.5—334
xnu-10063.101.15—334
xnu-10063.121.3—334
xnu-10063.141.1—334
xnu-11215.41.3—334
xnu-11215.61.5—334
xnu-11215.81.4—334
xnu-11417.121.6—334
xnu-11417.140.69—334
xnu-12377.101.15—334
xnu-12377.41.6—334
xnu-12377.61.12—334
xnu-12377.81.4—334
xnu-1486.2.11—334
xnu-1504.15.3—334
xnu-1504.3.12—334
xnu-1504.7.4—334
xnu-1504.9.17—334
xnu-1504.9.26—334
xnu-1504.9.37—334
xnu-1699.22.73—334
xnu-1699.22.81—334
xnu-1699.24.23—334
xnu-1699.26.8—334
xnu-1699.32.7—334
xnu-2050.22.13—334
xnu-2050.24.15—334
xnu-2050.48.11—334
xnu-2050.7.9—334
xnu-2050.9.2—334
xnu-2422.1.72—334
xnu-2422.100.13—334
xnu-2422.110.17—334
xnu-2422.90.20—334
xnu-2782.1.97—334
xnu-2782.10.72—334
xnu-2782.20.48—334
xnu-2782.30.5—334
xnu-3247.10.11—334
xnu-3248.20.55—334
xnu-3248.30.4—334
xnu-3248.40.184—334
xnu-3248.50.21—334
xnu-3248.60.10—334
xnu-3789.21.4—334
xnu-3789.31.2—334
xnu-3789.41.3—334
xnu-3789.51.2—334
xnu-3789.60.24—334
xnu-3789.70.16—334
xnu-4570.20.62—334
xnu-4570.31.3—334
xnu-4570.41.2—334
xnu-4570.51.1—334
xnu-4570.61.1—334
xnu-4570.71.2—334
xnu-4903.231.4—334
xnu-4903.241.1—334
xnu-4903.270.47—334
xnu-6153.101.6—334
xnu-6153.121.1—334
xnu-6153.141.1—334
xnu-6153.41.3—334
xnu-6153.61.1—334
xnu-6153.81.5—334
xnu-7195.101.1—334
xnu-7195.121.3—334
xnu-7195.141.2—334
xnu-7195.60.75—334
xnu-7195.81.3—334
xnu-8019.61.5—334
xnu-8019.80.24—334
xnu-8020.101.4—334
xnu-8020.121.3—334
xnu-8020.140.41—334
xnu-8792.61.2—334
xnu-8792.81.2—334
xnu-8796.101.5—334
xnu-8796.121.2—334
xnu-8796.141.3—334

Notes

Used by the pthread library to implement contended sem_wait(3), pthread_cond_timedwait(3) and other blocking primitives. The kernel atomically deschedules the calling thread on a semaphore port and rearms it on signal or timer expiry. The signal-handling logic ensures EINTR is reported when a pending pthread cancel or async signal interrupts the wait.

Detection

DTrace's syscall::__semwait_signal:entry surfaces the semaphore right and timeout; high counts often indicate lock contention worth inspecting in Instruments' System Trace.

Related APIs

__semwait_signal_nocancelsem_waitpthread_cond_waitsemaphore_wait