the init script /etc/init.d/microcode_ctl from sys-apps/microcode-ctl-1.26 does not load the firmware microcode. Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. /etc/init.d/microcode_ctl start 2. dmesg |tail -25|grep microcode Actual Results: no output. So the microcode is not loaded. Expected Results: output: [ 4.902355] microcode: CPU0 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x2, revision=0xc [ 4.902984] microcode: CPU0 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x2, revision=0xc [ 4.903527] microcode: CPU0 updated to revision 0x1b, date = 2014-05-29 [ 4.903535] microcode: CPU1 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x2, revision=0xc [ 4.903555] microcode: CPU1 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x2, revision=0xc [ 4.903815] microcode: CPU1 updated to revision 0x1b, date = 2014-05-29 [ 4.903821] microcode: CPU2 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x2, revision=0xc [ 4.903839] microcode: CPU2 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x2, revision=0xc [ 4.904097] microcode: CPU2 updated to revision 0x1b, date = 2014-05-29 [ 4.904103] microcode: CPU3 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x2, revision=0xc [ 4.904121] microcode: CPU3 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x2, revision=0xc [ 4.904382] microcode: CPU3 updated to revision 0x1b, date = 2014-05-29 [ 4.904389] microcode: CPU4 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x2, revision=0xc [ 4.904407] microcode: CPU4 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x2, revision=0xc [ 4.904659] microcode: CPU4 updated to revision 0x1b, date = 2014-05-29 [ 4.904666] microcode: CPU5 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x2, revision=0xc [ 4.904685] microcode: CPU5 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x2, revision=0xc [ 4.904945] microcode: CPU5 updated to revision 0x1b, date = 2014-05-29 [ 4.904949] microcode: CPU6 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x2, revision=0xc [ 4.904961] microcode: CPU6 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x2, revision=0xc [ 4.905212] microcode: CPU6 updated to revision 0x1b, date = 2014-05-29 [ 4.905225] microcode: CPU7 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x2, revision=0xc [ 4.905242] microcode: CPU7 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x2, revision=0xc [ 4.905502] microcode: CPU7 updated to revision 0x1b, date = 2014-05-29 [ 4.905545] microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.00 <tigran@aivazian.fsnet.co.uk>, Peter Oruba sys-apps/openrc-0.13.6 # uname -a Linux core 3.17.4 #1 SMP Sun Nov 23 14:44:21 CET 2014 x86_64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux # grep MICROCODE /usr/src/linux/.config CONFIG_MICROCODE=m CONFIG_MICROCODE_INTEL=y # CONFIG_MICROCODE_AMD is not set CONFIG_MICROCODE_OLD_INTERFACE=y # CONFIG_MICROCODE_INTEL_EARLY is not set # CONFIG_MICROCODE_AMD_EARLY is not set I can load it manually: modprobe microcode microcode_ctl -f /lib/f/lib/firmware/microcode.dat That works!
Seems nobody uses the microcode update feature. Most CPUs run well with the original microcode version. Perhaps somebody can explain, what is the intention of the microcode_ctl-init-script. It seems to be wrong. /etc/init.d/microcode_ctl start() { local ret grep -qs ' microcode$' /proc/misc || modprobe -q microcode ebegin "Updating microcode" microcode_ctl -qu -f /lib/firmware/microcode.dat -d ${MICROCODE_DEV} ret=$? eend ${ret} "Failed to update microcode via '${MICROCODE_DEV}'" [ "${MICROCODE_UNLOAD}" = "yes" ] && rmmod microcode >/dev/null 2>&1 return ${ret} } /etc/conf.d/microcode_ctl MICROCODE_DEV="/dev/cpu/microcode" MICROCODE_UNLOAD="yes"
I removed -q from initscript and got this: oas1 ~ # /etc/init.d/microcode_ctl restart * Updating microcode ... microcode_ctl: writing microcode (length: 616448) microcode_ctl: microcode successfuly written to /dev/cpu/microcode [ ok ] And i do not have any messages in dmesg even if i run this manually So, i am closing this as WORKSFORME
I think the init script forget to modprobe. If the kernel module is not loaded and not shown in lsmod, than the init script fails to load the microcode to the cpu. Perhaps it would be an improvement to modify the init script: /etc/init.d/microcode_ctl start() { local ret #LOAD THE KERNEL MODULE FOR SURE modprobe microcode ebegin "Updating microcode" microcode_ctl -qu -f /lib/firmware/microcode.dat -d ${MICROCODE_DEV} ret=$? eend ${ret} "Failed to update microcode via '${MICROCODE_DEV}'" [ "${MICROCODE_UNLOAD}" = "yes" ] && rmmod microcode >/dev/null 2>&1 return ${ret} }
