How to enable Hyperthreading

pfreire · 2008-06-08 22:14:13

In the BIOS settings of a Fujitsu laptop I cannot enable HT at all, but I saw this flag in cat /proc/cpuinfo:
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe up pebs bts cid xtpr

in dmesg I have: CPU: Hyper-Threading is disabled

So I went to the hardware manufacturer page and I saw there is an utility to do it but designed for windows, I've tested it under wine just to see what it really does, and this seems to be the key to enable HT:

bash-3.2# wine cmd
CMD Version 0.9.61

Z:\home\myuser\Downloads\FSC>biosset /?
BIOSSet Version 6.22
Copyright (C) 2005-2008 Fujitsu Siemens Computers

DeskView BIOS Settings - Change BIOS Settings

BIOSSET /NEWPWD=[<password>] [/PWD=<password>] [/Q]
BIOSSET <setting>=<state> [/PWD=<password>] [/Q]
BIOSSET /DEFAULT [/PWD=<password>] [/Q]
BIOSSET /BOOTORDER=<nr><device>{,<nr><device>...} [/PWD=<password>] [/Q]
BIOSSet /E

  <password> : BIOS Settings Password (Allowed characters are A-Z and 0-9).
  <setting>  : See allowed 'List of Settings' below.
  <state>    : ON (switch setting on) | OFF (switch setting off).
  <nr>       : Order inside the boot sequence (values from 1 to 5).
  <device>   : Device in Bootorder.
               (F=Floppy, HDD=Harddisk, CD=CD-ROM,
               LAN=Netzwerk, LEG=Legacy Device)

  /NEWPWD    : Change Password. <password> is the new Setup Password..
  /PWD       : Current Setup Password; Is needed, when a setup password is set.
  /DEFAULT   : Sets BIOS to default values (depending on Motherboard),
               disables BOOTORDER command till next reboot.
  /BOOTORDER : Sets the boot order, the abbreviation is /BO.
  /Q         : Quiet mode.
  /E         : Display possible values of ERRORLEVEL.

List of Settings (<setting>):

  /DC        : Activate/Deactivate DisketteController.
  /USB       : Activate/Deactivate USB Host Controller.
  /RB        : Activate/Deactivate Boot from remote (e.g. PXE, BOOTP).
  /FW        : Activate/Deactivate Flashing the BIOS.
  /WOL       : Activate/Deactivate Wake On LAN.
  /AC        : Activate/Deactivate Audio Controller.
  /HT        : Activate/Deactivate Hyperthreading.
  /IR        : Activate/Deactivate Infrared Port.
  /BT        : Activate/Deactivate Bluetooth.
  /WLAN      : Activate/Deactivate Wirelesslan.

The new settings will become active with the next reboot.

Examples:
  BIOSSET /PWD=mypwd /NEWPWD=     Clear password. Old password was "mypwd".
  BIOSSET /WOL=ON /PWD=xy         Activates Wake On LAN.
  BIOSSET /DEFAULT /PWD=1234      Set BIOS Settings to default values.
  BIOSSET /BOOTORDER=1F,2HDD,5LAN Floppy is first boot device, Harddisk second 
                                  device and LAN the 5th device.

Press any key to continue...

Any idea on how can I set this without having to install Windows on this? A BartPE CD maybe or is there a Linux way to do it?

Thanks in advance.

xaw · 2008-06-09 00:03:41

No idea if this will fix your problem or not, but try appending acpi=ht to your kernel boot line and see if that does not enable HyperThreading on your setup.

IIRC, the kernel should treat an ht capable cpu like an smp system.

pfreire · 2008-06-09 02:15:20

I've already tried that without success, thanks anyway. I've also tried acpi=ht as I saw on a forum. None worked.

Last edited by pfreire (2008-06-09 02:16:11)

sph · 2008-06-09 19:26:43

What about ht=on at the end of the 'kernel line' in /boot/grub/menu.lst?

kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda3 ro vga=0x369 ht=on

pfreire · 2008-06-09 22:51:23

oops, where I said "I've also tried acpi=ht as I saw on a forum. None worked." it should have been ht=on - none worked. I also used a bartpe boot cd with that utility on it, and it did not worked. So I guess there may be a limitation on the board...

xaw · 2008-06-10 00:10:21

Out of curiosity, which Fujitsu Laptop model is this? It seems very odd that there's a board limitation...

pfreire · 2008-06-10 23:32:18

LIFEBOOK E7010 - can't enable it at all.

Falcata · 2008-06-19 11:46:20

It's possible the system's motherboard does not support hyperthreading.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-06-08 22:14:13

How to enable Hyperthreading

#2 2008-06-09 00:03:41

Re: How to enable Hyperthreading

#3 2008-06-09 02:15:20

Re: How to enable Hyperthreading

#4 2008-06-09 19:26:43

Re: How to enable Hyperthreading

#5 2008-06-09 22:51:23

Re: How to enable Hyperthreading

#6 2008-06-10 00:10:21

Re: How to enable Hyperthreading

#7 2008-06-10 23:32:18

Re: How to enable Hyperthreading

#8 2008-06-19 11:46:20

Re: How to enable Hyperthreading

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