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