--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/graal/com.oracle.graal.compiler.hsail.test/src/com/oracle/graal/compiler/hsail/test/StringEqualsTest.java	Thu Feb 06 23:24:10 2014 +0100
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2009, 2012, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
+ *
+ * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
+ * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
+ * accompanied this code).
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
+ * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
+ * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
+ * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
+ * questions.
+ */
+
+package com.oracle.graal.compiler.hsail.test;
+
+import com.oracle.graal.compiler.hsail.test.infra.GraalKernelTester;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class StringEqualsTest extends GraalKernelTester {
+
+    static final int NUM = 20;
+    @Result public boolean[] outArray = new boolean[NUM];
+    public String[] inArray = new String[NUM];
+
+    void setupArrays() {
+        char[] chars = new char[100];
+        for (int i = 0; i < chars.length; i++) {
+            chars[i] = (char) ('A' + i);
+        }
+        for (int i = 0; i < NUM; i++) {
+            inArray[i] = new String(chars, 0, 10 + (i % 3));
+        }
+    }
+
+    public void run(String base, int gid) {
+        outArray[gid] = inArray[gid].equals(base);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void runTest() {
+        setupArrays();
+
+        dispatchMethodKernel(NUM, "ABCDEFGHIJ");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void test() {
+        testGeneratedHsail();
+    }
+}

--- a/graal/com.oracle.graal.hotspot.hsail/src/com/oracle/graal/hotspot/hsail/HSAILHotSpotBackend.java	Thu Feb 06 23:14:06 2014 +0100
+++ b/graal/com.oracle.graal.hotspot.hsail/src/com/oracle/graal/hotspot/hsail/HSAILHotSpotBackend.java	Thu Feb 06 23:24:10 2014 +0100
@@ -48,11 +48,9 @@
 import com.oracle.graal.lir.asm.*;
 import com.oracle.graal.lir.hsail.*;
 import com.oracle.graal.nodes.*;
-import com.oracle.graal.nodes.spi.*;
 import com.oracle.graal.phases.*;
 import com.oracle.graal.phases.common.*;
 import com.oracle.graal.phases.tiers.*;
-import com.oracle.graal.replacements.hsail.*;
 
 /**
  * HSAIL specific backend.
@@ -107,10 +105,8 @@
         lowerer.initialize(providers, config);
 
         // Register the replacements used by the HSAIL backend.
-        Replacements replacements = providers.getReplacements();
-
-        // Register the substitutions for java.lang.Math routines.
-        replacements.registerSubstitutions(HSAILMathSubstitutions.class);
+        HSAILHotSpotReplacementsImpl replacements = (HSAILHotSpotReplacementsImpl) providers.getReplacements();
+        replacements.completeInitialization();
     }
 
     /**

--- a/graal/com.oracle.graal.hotspot.hsail/src/com/oracle/graal/hotspot/hsail/HSAILHotSpotReplacementsImpl.java	Thu Feb 06 23:14:06 2014 +0100
+++ b/graal/com.oracle.graal.hotspot.hsail/src/com/oracle/graal/hotspot/hsail/HSAILHotSpotReplacementsImpl.java	Thu Feb 06 23:24:10 2014 +0100
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@
 import com.oracle.graal.nodes.spi.*;
 import com.oracle.graal.phases.util.*;
 import com.oracle.graal.replacements.*;
+import com.oracle.graal.replacements.hsail.*;
+import java.util.HashSet;
 
 /**
  * The substitutions and snippets supported by HSAIL.
@@ -37,12 +39,31 @@
 public class HSAILHotSpotReplacementsImpl extends ReplacementsImpl {
 
     private final Replacements host;
+    private HashSet<ResolvedJavaMethod> ignoredResolvedMethods = new HashSet<>();
 
     public HSAILHotSpotReplacementsImpl(Providers providers, Assumptions assumptions, TargetDescription target, Replacements host) {
         super(providers, assumptions, target);
         this.host = host;
     }
 
+    public void addIgnoredResolvedMethod(Class<?> cls, String methName, Class<?>... params) {
+        try {
+            Method m = cls.getMethod(methName, params);
+            ResolvedJavaMethod rjm = providers.getMetaAccess().lookupJavaMethod(m);
+            ignoredResolvedMethods.add(rjm);
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            e.printStackTrace();
+        }
+    }
+
+    public void completeInitialization() {
+        // Register the substitutions for java.lang.Math routines.
+        registerSubstitutions(HSAILMathSubstitutions.class);
+
+        // Register the ignored substitutions
+        addIgnoredResolvedMethod(String.class, "equals", Object.class);
+    }
+
     @Override
     protected ResolvedJavaMethod registerMethodSubstitution(Member originalMethod, Method substituteMethod) {
         // TODO: decide if we want to override this in any way
@@ -70,9 +91,13 @@
     public StructuredGraph getMethodSubstitution(ResolvedJavaMethod original) {
         StructuredGraph m = super.getMethodSubstitution(original);
         if (m == null) {
-            // eventually we want to only defer certain substitutions to the host, but for now we
-            // will defer everything
-            return host.getMethodSubstitution(original);
+            // we check for a few special cases we do NOT want to defer here
+            // but basically we defer everything else to the host
+            if (ignoredResolvedMethods.contains(original)) {
+                return null;
+            } else {
+                return host.getMethodSubstitution(original);
+            }
         }
         return m;
     }