Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1751725AbWJGFY1 (ORCPT ); Sat, 7 Oct 2006 01:24:27 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1751727AbWJGFY1 (ORCPT ); Sat, 7 Oct 2006 01:24:27 -0400 Received: from pentafluge.infradead.org ([213.146.154.40]:52699 "EHLO pentafluge.infradead.org") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1751710AbWJGFY0 (ORCPT ); Sat, 7 Oct 2006 01:24:26 -0400 Subject: Re: [discuss] Re: Please pull x86-64 bug fixes From: Arjan van de Ven To: Jeff Garzik Cc: "Duran, Leo" , "Rafael J. Wysocki" , Linus Torvalds , Andi Kleen , discuss@x86-64.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org In-Reply-To: <4526E175.9090608@garzik.org> References: <1449F58C868D8D4E9C72945771150BDF46F8FD@SAUSEXMB1.amd.com> <4526E175.9090608@garzik.org> Content-Type: text/plain Organization: Intel International BV Date: Sat, 07 Oct 2006 07:23:18 +0200 Message-Id: <1160198598.3000.134.camel@laptopd505.fenrus.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Evolution 2.2.3 (2.2.3-2.fc4) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-SRS-Rewrite: SMTP reverse-path rewritten from by pentafluge.infradead.org See http://www.infradead.org/rpr.html Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 1494 Lines: 33 On Fri, 2006-10-06 at 19:06 -0400, Jeff Garzik wrote: > Duran, Leo wrote: > > OK, lets' take K8 processor performance states (p-states) as an example: > > BIOS, which should know 'best' about a given platform, needs to > > communicate to the OS what 'voltage' (VID code) is correct for given > > 'frequency' (FID), > > and it can do that via ACPI processor tables (_PSS). Otherwise, OS code > > is left with having to manage a HUGE amount 'specifics' (processor > > models), and endless driver revisions to account for new parts. > > > > So, one can argue that there's merit on having ACPI, it's just a shame > > when BIOS doesn't get it right! (thus the justification for lack of > > 'trust'... the same can probably be said about other BIOS issues, not > > just ACPI) > > That's pretty much it in a nutshell... Since most BIOS are largely > tested and qualified only on That Other OS, Linux often gets the short > end of the stick. fwiw we're trying to get this changed; Intel released the Linux-ready firmware developer kit recently which is designed to make it real easy for bios people to test their bios with linux.... see http://www.linuxfirmwarekit.org -- if you want to mail me at work (you don't), use arjan (at) linux.intel.com - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/