BIOS Microcode Update?

F · 2010-07-11 08:23:31

When I run dmesg after booting up my Dell Mini 9 (With an Atom processor) I get the following:

Atom PSE erratum detected, BIOS microcode update recommended
BIOS-provided physical RAM map:
 BIOS-e820: 0000000000000000 - 000000000009f800 (usable)
 BIOS-e820: 000000000009f800 - 00000000000a0000 (reserved)
 BIOS-e820: 00000000000e0000 - 0000000000100000 (reserved)
 BIOS-e820: 0000000000100000 - 000000003f6d0000 (usable)
 BIOS-e820: 000000003f6d0000 - 000000003f6e2000 (ACPI data)
 BIOS-e820: 000000003f6e2000 - 000000003f6e3000 (ACPI NVS)
 BIOS-e820: 000000003f6e3000 - 0000000040000000 (reserved)
 BIOS-e820: 00000000e0000000 - 00000000f0000000 (reserved)
 BIOS-e820: 00000000fec00000 - 00000000fec10000 (reserved)
 BIOS-e820: 00000000fed00000 - 00000000fed00400 (reserved)
 BIOS-e820: 00000000fed14000 - 00000000fed1a000 (reserved)
 BIOS-e820: 00000000fed1c000 - 00000000fed90000 (reserved)
 BIOS-e820: 00000000fee00000 - 00000000fee01000 (reserved)
 BIOS-e820: 00000000ff000000 - 0000000100000000 (reserved)

Any idea on how to update my BIOS microcode?

Inxsible · 2010-07-11 08:35:14

Download the BIOS from your manufacturers website and for your model number.

If you have windows, you can install it by following the instructions on the manufacturer website.

If you don't have windows installed on the machine, then you can follow this wiki article and see if it helps

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fla … from_Linux

takedown · 2010-07-12 00:16:27

@Inxsible, I think F talk about the CPU microcode, not BIOS

Inxsible · 2010-07-12 03:57:37

takedown wrote:

@Inxsible, I think F talk about the CPU microcode, not BIOS

My bad!

@OP : There seems to be a patch for it. You might wanna try it out.

http://kerneltrap.org/mailarchive/git-c … 4/30/32331

falconindy · 2010-07-12 18:33:10

@Inxsible: that patch you've linked in the additional logic that produces the warning message and disables large pages.

If you read the posted erratum, a BIOS update is necessary (or a newer stepping). Atoms don't have the ability to handle on the fly microcode updates like Pentiums do.

ahel · 2010-12-04 09:47:26

i think u only have to download the newest firmware; they call it microcode update

graysky · 2010-12-05 11:41:37

ahel wrote:

i think u only have to download the newest firmware; they call it microcode update

Detailed Description
The microcode data file contains the latest microcode definitions for all Intel processors. Intel releases microcode updates to correct processor behavior as documented in the respective processor specification updates. While the regular approach to getting this microcode update is via a BIOS upgrade, Intel realizes that this can be an administrative hassle. The Linux Operating System and VMware ESX products have a mechanism to update the microcode after booting. For example, this file will be used by the operating system mechanism if the file is placed in the /etc/firmware directory of the Linux system.

Hmm... according to the text on that page, one simply places the file in /etc/firmware but this isn't part of an Arch install. We do have an /lib/firmware but stuff in there is owned by the linux-firmware package. I too have an atom-based PC with this message:

$ dmesg | grep micro
Atom PSE erratum detected, BIOS microcode update recommended

I tried several things:

1) Placed the dat file from the tgz in /lib/firmware and rebooted. No change.
2) Placed the dat file from the tgz in /etc/firmware and rebooted. No change.
3) Placed the dat file from the tgz in /lib/firmware and recompiled the kernel26 package from ABS. Installed and rebooted. No change.

Thoughts?

Last edited by graysky (2010-12-05 17:29:48)

thestinger · 2010-12-05 17:29:20

If the CPU supports updating the microcode without a BIOS update (almost all intel CPUs), you can install microcode_ctl and add microcode to DAEMONS (this is for intel CPUs only by the way). It will use the file at /etc/microcode.dat, which should be the latest one from intel's site, but it's out of date at the moment, so you can replace it with the new one.

Note that microcode updates via software are not persistent - they have to be done at each boot (that's the daemon's purpose) - BIOS updates with the new microcode are a cleaner solution.

Last edited by thestinger (2010-12-05 17:51:20)

graysky · 2010-12-05 17:44:02

@thestinger - sweet, thanks for the reply. Works perfectly (after I copied the file ahel linked to /etc/microcode.dat).
@op - give it a try and mark the thread as solved.

thestinger · 2010-12-05 18:03:14

created a wiki page about this since it was missing https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mi … _microcode

graysky · 2010-12-05 23:10:09

@ts - nice. I added a bit.

SteveK · 2010-12-05 23:57:55

I've been following this thread and after applying the suggestions, I now have this:

dmesg | grep micro
Atom PSE erratum detected, BIOS microcode update recommended
Atom PSE erratum detected, BIOS microcode update recommended
Atom PSE erratum detected, BIOS microcode update recommended
microcode: CPU0 sig=0x106c2, pf=0x4, revision=0x208
microcode: CPU1 sig=0x106c2, pf=0x4, revision=0x208
microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.00 <tigran@aivazian.fsnet.co.uk>, Peter Oruba
microcode: CPU0 updated to revision 0x218, date = 2009-04-10
microcode: CPU1 updated to revision 0x218, date = 2009-04-10

I don't know where that date (2009-04-10) came from, but looking at microcode-20100914.dat (now renamed microcode.dat) I see:

/*  Tue Sep 14 09:17:40 CST 2010  */

I use UK settings - DDMMYYYY, so I'm not sure if that's causing any problems It would be good if someone could confirm the version number as 0x218.

Cheers and thanks for all the info so far.

graysky · 2010-12-06 00:02:15

@SK - I get:

microcode: CPU0 sig=0x106c2, pf=0x8, revision=0x20d
microcode: CPU1 sig=0x106c2, pf=0x8, revision=0x20d
microcode: CPU2 sig=0x106c2, pf=0x8, revision=0x20d
microcode: CPU3 sig=0x106c2, pf=0x8, revision=0x20d
microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.00 <tigran@aivazian.fsnet.co.uk>, Peter Oruba
microcode: CPU0 updated to revision 0x219, date = 2009-04-10
microcode: CPU1 updated to revision 0x219, date = 2009-04-10
microcode: CPU2 updated to revision 0x219, date = 2009-04-10
microcode: CPU3 updated to revision 0x219, date = 2009-04-10

SteveK · 2010-12-06 00:09:06

hmm now I don't know what to think.

You have the same apparantly wrong date, different version, but maybe because you have a quad core? and no initial error.

graysky · 2010-12-06 00:11:07

:confused: the package is out of date. But we are consistently showing 10-Apr-2009 as the latest applied MC update, no?

thestinger · 2010-12-06 01:02:29

did you download the new patch from their website and replace /etc/microcode.dat with it? the one that comes with the package is for sure out of date

SteveK · 2010-12-06 11:16:54

Hi,

Yes, as I mentioned in post #12:

microcode-20100914.dat (now renamed microcode.dat)

and confirming it's now at /etc/microcode.dat.
In short microcode.dat says "Tue Sep 14 09:17:40 CST 2010" and dmesg says "2009-04-10".

Last edited by SteveK (2010-12-06 12:38:45)

thestinger · 2010-12-06 17:45:42

Ah, it's possible that's the newest microcode for that CPU, I wouldn't worry about it .

SteveK · 2010-12-06 22:47:45

Yeah maybe. I'm not really worried as everything seems to be working OK, just curious really. Let's see what happens when the package gets updated.

graysky · 2010-12-06 22:52:43

@SK - nothing will happen since your CPU's microcode from the latest version hasn't changed. I did the experiment on my Atom 330 based machine.

thestinger wrote:

Ah, it's possible that's the newest microcode for that CPU, I wouldn't worry about it .

You're right I think...

On my X3360:

microcode: CPU0 sig=0x10677, pf=0x10, revision=0x705
microcode: CPU1 sig=0x10677, pf=0x10, revision=0x705
microcode: CPU2 sig=0x10677, pf=0x10, revision=0x705
microcode: CPU3 sig=0x10677, pf=0x10, revision=0x705
microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.00 <tigran@aivazian.fsnet.co.uk>, Peter Oruba
microcode: CPU0 updated to revision 0x70a, date = 2010-09-29
microcode: CPU1 updated to revision 0x70a, date = 2010-09-29
microcode: CPU2 updated to revision 0x70a, date = 2010-09-29
microcode: CPU3 updated to revision 0x70a, date = 2010-09-29

On my E5200:

microcode: CPU0 sig=0x1067a, pf=0x1, revision=0xa07
microcode: CPU1 sig=0x1067a, pf=0x1, revision=0xa07
microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.00 <tigran@aivazian.fsnet.co.uk>, Peter Oruba
microcode: CPU0 updated to revision 0xa0b, date = 2010-09-28
microcode: CPU1 updated to revision 0xa0b, date = 2010-09-28

On my Atom 330:

microcode: CPU0 sig=0x106c2, pf=0x8, revision=0x20d
microcode: CPU1 sig=0x106c2, pf=0x8, revision=0x20d
microcode: CPU2 sig=0x106c2, pf=0x8, revision=0x20d
microcode: CPU3 sig=0x106c2, pf=0x8, revision=0x20d
microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.00 <tigran@aivazian.fsnet.co.uk>, Peter Oruba
microcode: CPU0 updated to revision 0x219, date = 2009-04-10
microcode: CPU1 updated to revision 0x219, date = 2009-04-10
microcode: CPU2 updated to revision 0x219, date = 2009-04-10
microcode: CPU3 updated to revision 0x219, date = 2009-04-10

Last edited by graysky (2011-02-27 12:16:29)

SteveK · 2010-12-06 23:09:52

Ahh OK thanks.

mrknify · 2014-03-08 04:42:49

same issue but with the bios update, unfortunatly the hardware vendor does not have an appropiate choice on there webpage, I have emailed them. I will post an update to my situation, when I have a responce from the vendor.

I understand this is an old thread, my machine (lg x110-l.a7b2a9) is a bit out of date also. I am just trying on my own to sort out the issues, but in the same provide a pathway to assist anyone else with similar troubles.

jasonwryan · 2014-03-08 05:05:50

mrknify, you keep necrobumping and saying "I know this is an old thread but..." Please desist: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fo … Bumping.27

Closing

Arch Linux

#1 2010-07-11 08:23:31

BIOS Microcode Update?

#2 2010-07-11 08:35:14

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#3 2010-07-12 00:16:27

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#4 2010-07-12 03:57:37

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#5 2010-07-12 18:33:10

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#6 2010-12-04 09:47:26

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#7 2010-12-05 11:41:37

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#8 2010-12-05 17:29:20

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#9 2010-12-05 17:44:02

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#10 2010-12-05 18:03:14

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#11 2010-12-05 23:10:09

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#12 2010-12-05 23:57:55

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#13 2010-12-06 00:02:15

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#14 2010-12-06 00:09:06

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#15 2010-12-06 00:11:07

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#16 2010-12-06 01:02:29

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#17 2010-12-06 11:16:54

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#18 2010-12-06 17:45:42

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#19 2010-12-06 22:47:45

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#20 2010-12-06 22:52:43

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#21 2010-12-06 23:09:52

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#22 2014-03-08 04:42:49

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

#23 2014-03-08 05:05:50

Re: BIOS Microcode Update?

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