Public bug reported:

nForce2 cpufreq driver does not load by default

On upgrading to Quantal 12.10 from Precise 12.04.1 I noticed that the
cpufreq nforce2 driver (cpufreq-nforce2) no longer loads at boot.

The driver loads fine manually with modprobe or by adding an explicit
/etc/default/loadcpufreq file. Once loaded all works as expected.

Incidentally, trying to load it using kernel command line parameter
cpufreq_driver=cpufreq-nforce2 fails. Is this a bug? Am I misusing it?
Is it related to this problem?

I also tried a clean install of Quantal to rule out upgrade jip. Same
result.


The last kernel published to updates on Precise before my upgrade was:
% uname -a
Linux NF7-S1 3.2.0-32-generic-pae #51-Ubuntu SMP Wed Sep 26 21:54:23 UTC 2012 
i686 athlon i686 GNU/Linux

which works as expected:

% cpufreq-info
cpufrequtils 008: cpufreq-info (C) Dominik Brodowski 2004-2009
Report errors and bugs to [email protected], please.
analyzing CPU 0:
  driver: nforce2
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 0
  maximum transition latency: 0.00 ms.
  hardware limits: 1.46 GHz - 2.09 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: conservative, ondemand, userspace, powersave, 
performance
  current policy: frequency should be within 1.46 GHz and 2.09 GHz.
                  The governor "performance" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency is 2.09 GHz.


The Quantal kernel is:
% uname -a
Linux NF7-S1 3.5.0-18-generic #29-Ubuntu SMP Fri Oct 19 10:27:31 UTC 2012 i686 
athlon i686 GNU/Linux

which doesn't load the nforce2 driver on boot.

% cpufreq-info
cpufrequtils 008: cpufreq-info (C) Dominik Brodowski 2004-2009
Report errors and bugs to [email protected], please.
analyzing CPU 0:
  no or unknown cpufreq driver is active on this CPU
  maximum transition latency: 0.00 ms.


There has been some builtin / module shuffling since the 3.2.0 kernel wrt 
cpufreq. For 3.2.0:
% ls /lib/modules/3.2.0-32-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/cpufreq

p4-clockmod.ko
pcc-cpufreq.ko


For 3.5.0:
% ls /lib/modules/3.5.0-18-generic/kernel/drivers/cpufreq/

cpufreq-nforce2.ko
gx-suspmod.ko
longhaul.ko
longrun.ko
p4-clockmod.ko
powernow-k6.ko
powernow-k7.ko

So, cpufreq-nforce2 was a builtin for the 3.2.0 kernel and is now a
module. Coincidence? Looks suspicious.


Consequences
Because the cpufreq driver is not loaded, there is no 
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/ directory. This is used by CPU monitoring 
and/or scaling software to report or change CPU speed, governor et cetera. All 
s/w using this interface will fail unless the cpufreq driver is explicitly 
loaded post boot. I noticed the problem because my conky stopped working -- it 
references /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/*. Once the driver is manually 
loaded, the conky works as expected.


To reproduce
This will require access to old metal. This bug report comes from an Abit NF7-S 
V2 with an AMD Athlon XP-M which has been running Ubuntu since Lucid without 
problem. I would expect any nForce2 chipset motherboard to reproduce this bug.


There is a similar bug (fix released) for the PCC cpufreq driver:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1061126

Thank you.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.10
Package: linux-image-3.5.0-18-generic 3.5.0-18.29
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.5.0-18.29-generic 3.5.7
Uname: Linux 3.5.0-18-generic i686
ApportVersion: 2.6.1-0ubuntu6
Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER        PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0:  p          1911 F.... pulseaudio
Date: Fri Nov 16 21:47:57 2012
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=b3f266c2-a7bf-4448-87f7-ecbc65e1f22b
InstallationDate: Installed on 2012-05-19 (180 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release i386 (20120423)
MarkForUpload: True
ProcFB: 0 radeondrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-3.5.0-18-generic 
root=UUID=1814a781-3e1c-468c-abff-8b99f9b8f6d9 ro rootdelay=50 vt.handoff=7
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.5.0-18-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.5.0-18-generic  N/A
 linux-firmware                            1.95
RfKill:
 0: phy0: Wireless LAN
        Soft blocked: no
        Hard blocked: no
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to quantal on 2012-11-11 (5 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 11/22/2004
dmi.bios.vendor: Phoenix Technologies, LTD
dmi.bios.version: 6.00 PG
dmi.board.name: NF7-S/NF7,NF7-V (nVidia-nForce2)
dmi.board.vendor: http://www.abit.com.tw/
dmi.board.version: 2.X,1.0
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.modalias: 
dmi:bvnPhoenixTechnologies,LTD:bvr6.00PG:bd11/22/2004:svn:pn:pvr:rvnhttp//www.abit.com.tw/:rnNF7-S/NF7,NF7-V(nVidia-nForce2):rvr2.X,1.0:cvn:ct3:cvr:

** Affects: linux (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: Confirmed


** Tags: apport-bug i386 precise quantal running-unity

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  nForce2 cpufreq driver does not load by default

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