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#1 2014-01-12 11:17:05

javex
Member
Registered: 2011-12-30
Posts: 76

AES-NI not working on Core i7-2670QM (ASUS N55S)

I have a Core i7-2670QM CPU that supports AES-NI according to Intel. However, my system indicates the opposite: That it is missing AES-NI. This is what I get:

(only shows last processor)

# cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor       : 7
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 42
model name      : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2670QM CPU @ 2.20GHz
stepping        : 7
microcode       : 0x18
cpu MHz         : 2799.929
cache size      : 6144 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 8
core id         : 3
cpu cores       : 4
apicid          : 7
initial apicid  : 7
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 13
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer xsave avx lahf_lm ida arat epb xsaveopt pln pts dtherm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips        : 4391.11
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:
# lsmod | grep aes
aes_x86_64              7407  4
# grep module /proc/crypto | sort -u
module       : aes_x86_64
module       : arc4
module       : crc32c_intel
module       : crc32_pclmul
module       : crct10dif_pclmul
module       : ghash_clmulni_intel
module       : kernel
module       : xts
# modprobe aesni-intel
modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'aesni_intel': No such device
# cat /etc/mkinitcpio.conf | grep -vE '^#|^\s*$'
MODULES="i915 aesni_intel"
BINARIES=""
FILES=""
HOOKS="base udev plymouth autodetect modconf block keyboard plymouth-encrypt lvm2 resume filesystems fsck shutdown"

Note: As can be seen above I have an encrypted filesystem (including root)

# modinfo aesni_intel
filename:       /lib/modules/3.12.6-1-ARCH/kernel/arch/x86/crypto/aesni-intel.ko.gz
alias:          aes
license:        GPL
description:    Rijndael (AES) Cipher Algorithm, Intel AES-NI instructions optimized
alias:          x86cpu:vendor:*:family:*:model:*:feature:*0099*
depends:        glue_helper,aes-x86_64,lrw,cryptd,ablk_helper
intree:         Y
vermagic:       3.12.6-1-ARCH SMP preempt mod_unload modversions 
# pacman -Qi linux
Name           : linux
Version        : 3.12.6-1
Description    : The Linux kernel and modules
Architecture   : x86_64
URL            : http://www.kernel.org/
Licenses       : GPL2
Groups         : base
Provides       : kernel26=3.12.6
Depends On     : coreutils  linux-firmware  kmod  mkinitcpio>=0.7
Optional Deps  : crda: to set the correct wireless channels of your country
Required By    : bbswitch  nvidia  virtualbox-guest-modules  virtualbox-host-modules
Optional For   : None
Conflicts With : kernel26
Replaces       : kernel26
Installed Size : 70558.00 KiB
Packager       : Tobias Powalowski <tpowa@archlinux.org>
Build Date     : Fri 20 Dec 2013 07:41:04 PM CET
Install Date   : Mon 30 Dec 2013 12:08:32 AM CET
Install Reason : Explicitly installed
Install Script : Yes
Validated By   : Signature

I tested support in openssl, dm-crypt and truecrypt and none report anything of it being enabled. I have also checked the BIOS of my ASUS N55S but could not find anything there that could enable/disable it explicitly. The only resources I could find online do not give a solution that works. I guess the lowest indicator is missing the aes flag without which nothing else would detect support but I am not 100% sure on this.

Does anybody have experience with this or could redirect me to where I should preferrably ask this question? Thanks in advance.

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#2 2014-01-12 11:23:14

graysky
Wiki Maintainer
From: :wq
Registered: 2008-12-01
Posts: 10,595
Website

Re: AES-NI not working on Core i7-2670QM (ASUS N55S)

The kernel Just Works™ to detect this in my experience.  I wonder if your hardware BIOS has a bug preventing it?  Is there an update available?

EDIT and O/T:

javex wrote:
# cat /etc/mkinitcpio.conf | grep -vE '^#|^\s*$'

The cat command is superfluous.  Just run grep -vE '^#|^\s*$' /etc/mkinitcpio.conf to get the same results.

Last edited by graysky (2014-01-12 11:25:39)


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#3 2014-01-12 14:25:57

javex
Member
Registered: 2011-12-30
Posts: 76

Re: AES-NI not working on Core i7-2670QM (ASUS N55S)

Nope, I am running the most recent version of the BIOS (207 that is).

On OT: Thanks for the note, I initially had just the cat and then added the grep pipe so it would be easier to read. I just forgot that I could also rewrite it.

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#4 2014-01-12 15:14:03

javex
Member
Registered: 2011-12-30
Posts: 76

Re: AES-NI not working on Core i7-2670QM (ASUS N55S)

Okay I have done some more googling based on your suggestion that it is a BIOS issue. It seems the feature has to be explicitly enabled by the BIOS or I don't get it. So it seems this is in no way Arch's fault. I am now looking into patching the BIOS myself, but that seems to be rather complicated :-/

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#5 2014-01-12 16:31:16

graysky
Wiki Maintainer
From: :wq
Registered: 2008-12-01
Posts: 10,595
Website

Re: AES-NI not working on Core i7-2670QM (ASUS N55S)

You can try opening a ticket with Asus, but if you have a 5 or 6 year old, you might have better results explaining the problem to him or her tongue

I make that statement based on my own experiences dealing with the Asus tech support folks recently.


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#6 2014-01-12 16:36:18

javex
Member
Registered: 2011-12-30
Posts: 76

Re: AES-NI not working on Core i7-2670QM (ASUS N55S)

I know, I expect no results but this really bums me out, because I bought the laptop after checking the CPU supports AES-NI. And I'd really need it because currently my new SSD is faster than the CPU is (regarding encryption). Anyhow, I opened a ticket, maybe it leads to something. Otherwise I have to look into patching the BIOS myself somehow yikes

Last edited by javex (2014-01-12 16:36:59)

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