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On Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 7:38 AM, Paul Hartman |
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<paul.hartman+gentoo@×××××.com> wrote: |
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> On Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 10:29 PM, William Kenworthy <billk@×××××××××.au> wrote: |
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>> The bios microcode update is likely an enable setting rather than the |
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>> bios actually updating the cpu. You need to do some reading/asking of |
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>> the manufacturers (not here) if it bothers you. |
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> |
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> Thanks for the links, I didn't realize they made the microcode data |
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> available separately. |
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> |
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> From Intel's download site for the microcode data: |
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> |
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> "The microcode data file contains the latest microcode definitions for |
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> all Intel processors. Intel releases microcode updates to correct |
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> processor behavior as documented in the respective processor |
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> specification updates. While the regular approach to getting this |
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> microcode update is via a BIOS upgrade, Intel realizes that this can |
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> be an administrative hassle. The Linux Operating System and VMware ESX |
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> products have a mechanism to update the microcode after booting. For |
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> example, this file will be used by the operating system mechanism if |
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> the file is placed in the /etc/firmware directory of the Linux |
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> system." |
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> |
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> |
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Thanks for the info Paul. |
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|
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For kicks I tried it on an Intel DH55HC MB running an Core i5-661. |
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|
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1) Created /etc/firmware |
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2) Downloaded the Intel microcode-20101123.tgz file |
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3) Enabled the /dev/cpu/microcode option under Processor Types and Features |
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4) Rebuilt the kernel and rebooted |
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|
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I see this in dmesg: |
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|
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mark@firefly ~ $ dmesg | grep micro |
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[ 0.495337] microcode: CPU0 sig=0x20652, pf=0x2, revision=0x9 |
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[ 0.495436] microcode: CPU1 sig=0x20652, pf=0x2, revision=0x9 |
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[ 0.495535] microcode: CPU2 sig=0x20652, pf=0x2, revision=0x9 |
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[ 0.495635] microcode: CPU3 sig=0x20652, pf=0x2, revision=0x9 |
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[ 0.495751] microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.00 |
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<tigran@×××××××××××××××××.uk>, Peter Oruba |
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mark@firefly ~ $ |
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|
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On this machine the message doesn't change whether the microcode file |
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is located in /etc/firmware or not so I don't know how to tell if the |
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process worked but the processor doesn't need any updates or whether |
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it didn't work at all. |
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- Mark |
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