2010-05-12 04:55:21 +08:00
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Intel Microcode Update Utility for Linux
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The microcode_ctl utility is a companion to the IA32 microcode driver written
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by Tigran Aivazian <tigran@aivazian.fsnet.co.uk>. The utility has two uses:
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* It decodes and sends new microcode to the kernel driver to be uploaded
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to Intel IA32 processors. (Pentium Pro, PII, PIII, Pentium 4, Celeron,
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Xeon etc - all P6 and above, which does NOT include pentium classics).
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It also supports processors of the x86_64 architecture.
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* It signals the kernel driver to release any buffers it may hold.
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The microcode update is volatile and needs to be uploaded on each system
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boot i.e. it doesn't reflash your cpu permanently, reboot and it reverts
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back to the old microcode.
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To use this utility you need to compile the kernel driver (found under
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"Processor type and features"). The microcode itself can be found at
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http://downloadcenter.intel.com/default.aspx and should be placed under
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2010-05-13 06:40:57 +08:00
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/lib/firmware/microcode.dat.
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To have the microcode updated each time at boot, start the included
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init script in rc.local:
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if [ -e "/etc/rc.d/rc.microcode_ctl" ];
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/etc/rc.d/rc.microcode_ctl start
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2012-05-22 08:00:14 +08:00
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fi
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