Re: [patch-2.3.46-p2] P6 microcode update support

[Tigran Aivazian]

Rogier Wolff wrote:
> Nah. The user should use the intel/bios manufacturer tool to tell the
> BIOS that there is a new microcode image. There is an API call to give
> the BIOS a new microcode, which it will subsequently download to the
> CPU on the next boot.

I know about that one but it was so overly complicated in comparison to
the straightfoward loading the image ourselves (without telling BIOS
about it) that I implemented that instead. It is not wrong - some other
OSes do something similar as well. Besides, I think one needed to be in
real mode to do what you say (vaguely remember yesterday's reading of
section 8.10)

> Hey, the nasty thing is that we will continue to report the old mask
> level, as the "what's this CPU" stuff is only done at boot time right?

One could go and tweak that data after the update. But even if not
(export restrictions (kernel->modules), it is still better to have a
bugfree CPU reported as buggy than to have a buggy CPU reported as such?

Regards,
Tigran.