On Mon, 18 Nov 2013, vlee wrote: > Several of the Intel microcode files that are shipped in intel- > microcode_1.20130906.1ubuntu2 differ from the original source.
iucode-tool is specifically engineered to not be able to modify microcode, not even its metadata. > $ tar -xJf intel-microcode_1.20130906.1ubuntu2.tar.xz > $ mkdir intel-ucode > $ iucode-tool --write-firmware=intel-ucode > intel-microcode-1.20130906.1ubuntu2/microcode-20130906.dat That is not how the package is built, therefore it is no wonder you won't get the same result. Read the main Makefile and also the debian/rules Makefile. The package collects microcode from several microcode packs so as to be able to support Pentium-II/Pentium-III boxes and original Xeon boxes which Intel does not support anymore, for example. I don't know about Ubuntu, but Debian and some of its derivatives still have a lot of users running on very old (more than 10 years old) boxes. The per-family-model-stepping microcode mini-packs in /lib/firmware/intel-ucode have microcode for more than one processor (family-model-stepping/F-M-S does NOT uniquely identify an Intel processor model). When we add a microcode for a processor with the same F-M-S numbers as one that Intel is still supporting in the latest microcode pack, the mini-pack for /lib/firmware will be different because of the added microcode. It is worth noting that iucode-tool's sort order is not stabilized: it depends on the particular set of input files you give to it in some boundary conditions, and therefore two runs with different input files (or different file ordering in the command line) may output microcodes in a slightly different order, which would also cause "diff" to complain that files are different. If you want to compare microcode, use iucode-tool -W<directory> to get it to write one microcode per file, and compare those. Also, read the iucode-tool(8) manpage, option "--strict-checks" (which is enable by default). -- "One disk to rule them all, One disk to find them. One disk to bring them all and in the darkness grind them. In the Land of Redmond where the shadows lie." -- The Silicon Valley Tarot Henrique Holschuh -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1252504 Title: Shipped intel-microcode differs from source To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/intel-microcode/+bug/1252504/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
