2000-12-12 11:14:31

by Jon Hulatt

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: cpu stepping

hi,

sorry to ask this here but i'm finding difficulty getting this info
elsewhere...

I'm not an assembly programmer and i know little about cpu's. it's a hole in
my knowledge i guess. i'm looking for some technical introduction doc to
explain what diff. aspects of cpu do, what is stepping and all that.
especially for intel but also for other architectures.

Thanks

Jon


2000-12-12 11:41:37

by Richard J Moore

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: cpu stepping



Stepping is Intel teminology for chip revisions - possibly other
manufacturers have used the same terminology. Intel documents the fixes,
or rather the bugs and work-arounds, for each stepping level in the
addendum to the particular processor's reference manual. Probably, I
haven't checked, this info is available in PDF format from the INTEL
website (http://www.intel.com).

IBM terminology for the equivalent of stepping level is EC level
(engineering change level).

To understand the fine detail of the intel stepping levels, in particular
the work-arounds, you'll need to be familiar with the processor
architecture to the extent an assembler programmer would be.


Richard Moore - RAS Project Lead - Linux Technology Centre (PISC).

http://oss.software.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/linux
Office: (+44) (0)1962-817072, Mobile: (+44) (0)7768-298183
IBM UK Ltd, MP135 Galileo Centre, Hursley Park, Winchester, SO21 2JN, UK


"Jon Hulatt" <[email protected]> on 12/12/2000 10:45:50

Please respond to "Jon Hulatt" <[email protected]>

To: "Linux Kernel" <[email protected]>
cc:
Subject: cpu stepping




hi,

sorry to ask this here but i'm finding difficulty getting this info
elsewhere...

I'm not an assembly programmer and i know little about cpu's. it's a hole
in
my knowledge i guess. i'm looking for some technical introduction doc to
explain what diff. aspects of cpu do, what is stepping and all that.
especially for intel but also for other architectures.

Thanks

Jon

- att1.htm