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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/x86')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/x86/early-microcode.txt | 70 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/x86/microcode.txt | 137 |
2 files changed, 137 insertions, 70 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/x86/early-microcode.txt b/Documentation/x86/early-microcode.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 07749e7f3d50..000000000000 --- a/Documentation/x86/early-microcode.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,70 +0,0 @@ -Early load microcode -==================== -By Fenghua Yu <fenghua.yu@intel.com> - -Kernel can update microcode in early phase of boot time. Loading microcode early -can fix CPU issues before they are observed during kernel boot time. - -Microcode is stored in an initrd file. The microcode is read from the initrd -file and loaded to CPUs during boot time. - -The format of the combined initrd image is microcode in cpio format followed by -the initrd image (maybe compressed). Kernel parses the combined initrd image -during boot time. The microcode file in cpio name space is: -on Intel: kernel/x86/microcode/GenuineIntel.bin -on AMD : kernel/x86/microcode/AuthenticAMD.bin - -During BSP boot (before SMP starts), if the kernel finds the microcode file in -the initrd file, it parses the microcode and saves matching microcode in memory. -If matching microcode is found, it will be uploaded in BSP and later on in all -APs. - -The cached microcode patch is applied when CPUs resume from a sleep state. - -There are two legacy user space interfaces to load microcode, either through -/dev/cpu/microcode or through /sys/devices/system/cpu/microcode/reload file -in sysfs. - -In addition to these two legacy methods, the early loading method described -here is the third method with which microcode can be uploaded to a system's -CPUs. - -The following example script shows how to generate a new combined initrd file in -/boot/initrd-3.5.0.ucode.img with original microcode microcode.bin and -original initrd image /boot/initrd-3.5.0.img. - -mkdir initrd -cd initrd -mkdir -p kernel/x86/microcode -cp ../microcode.bin kernel/x86/microcode/GenuineIntel.bin (or AuthenticAMD.bin) -find . | cpio -o -H newc >../ucode.cpio -cd .. -cat ucode.cpio /boot/initrd-3.5.0.img >/boot/initrd-3.5.0.ucode.img - -Builtin microcode -================= - -We can also load builtin microcode supplied through the regular firmware -builtin method CONFIG_FIRMWARE_IN_KERNEL. Only 64-bit is currently -supported. - -Here's an example: - -CONFIG_FIRMWARE_IN_KERNEL=y -CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE="intel-ucode/06-3a-09 amd-ucode/microcode_amd_fam15h.bin" -CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE_DIR="/lib/firmware" - -This basically means, you have the following tree structure locally: - -/lib/firmware/ -|-- amd-ucode -... -| |-- microcode_amd_fam15h.bin -... -|-- intel-ucode -... -| |-- 06-3a-09 -... - -so that the build system can find those files and integrate them into -the final kernel image. The early loader finds them and applies them. diff --git a/Documentation/x86/microcode.txt b/Documentation/x86/microcode.txt new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..f57e1b45e628 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/x86/microcode.txt @@ -0,0 +1,137 @@ + The Linux Microcode Loader + +Authors: Fenghua Yu <fenghua.yu@intel.com> + Borislav Petkov <bp@suse.de> + +The kernel has a x86 microcode loading facility which is supposed to +provide microcode loading methods in the OS. Potential use cases are +updating the microcode on platforms beyond the OEM End-Of-Life support, +and updating the microcode on long-running systems without rebooting. + +The loader supports three loading methods: + +1. Early load microcode +======================= + +The kernel can update microcode very early during boot. Loading +microcode early can fix CPU issues before they are observed during +kernel boot time. + +The microcode is stored in an initrd file. During boot, it is read from +it and loaded into the CPU cores. + +The format of the combined initrd image is microcode in (uncompressed) +cpio format followed by the (possibly compressed) initrd image. The +loader parses the combined initrd image during boot. + +The microcode files in cpio name space are: + +on Intel: kernel/x86/microcode/GenuineIntel.bin +on AMD : kernel/x86/microcode/AuthenticAMD.bin + +During BSP (BootStrapping Processor) boot (pre-SMP), the kernel +scans the microcode file in the initrd. If microcode matching the +CPU is found, it will be applied in the BSP and later on in all APs +(Application Processors). + +The loader also saves the matching microcode for the CPU in memory. +Thus, the cached microcode patch is applied when CPUs resume from a +sleep state. + +Here's a crude example how to prepare an initrd with microcode (this is +normally done automatically by the distribution, when recreating the +initrd, so you don't really have to do it yourself. It is documented +here for future reference only). + +--- + #!/bin/bash + + if [ -z "$1" ]; then + echo "You need to supply an initrd file" + exit 1 + fi + + INITRD="$1" + + DSTDIR=kernel/x86/microcode + TMPDIR=/tmp/initrd + + rm -rf $TMPDIR + + mkdir $TMPDIR + cd $TMPDIR + mkdir -p $DSTDIR + + if [ -d /lib/firmware/amd-ucode ]; then + cat /lib/firmware/amd-ucode/microcode_amd*.bin > $DSTDIR/AuthenticAMD.bin + fi + + if [ -d /lib/firmware/intel-ucode ]; then + cat /lib/firmware/intel-ucode/* > $DSTDIR/GenuineIntel.bin + fi + + find . | cpio -o -H newc >../ucode.cpio + cd .. + mv $INITRD $INITRD.orig + cat ucode.cpio $INITRD.orig > $INITRD + + rm -rf $TMPDIR +--- + +The system needs to have the microcode packages installed into +/lib/firmware or you need to fixup the paths above if yours are +somewhere else and/or you've downloaded them directly from the processor +vendor's site. + +2. Late loading +=============== + +There are two legacy user space interfaces to load microcode, either through +/dev/cpu/microcode or through /sys/devices/system/cpu/microcode/reload file +in sysfs. + +The /dev/cpu/microcode method is deprecated because it needs a special +userspace tool for that. + +The easier method is simply installing the microcode packages your distro +supplies and running: + +# echo 1 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/microcode/reload + +as root. + +The loading mechanism looks for microcode blobs in +/lib/firmware/{intel-ucode,amd-ucode}. The default distro installation +packages already put them there. + +3. Builtin microcode +==================== + +The loader supports also loading of a builtin microcode supplied through +the regular firmware builtin method CONFIG_FIRMWARE_IN_KERNEL. Only +64-bit is currently supported. + +Here's an example: + +CONFIG_FIRMWARE_IN_KERNEL=y +CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE="intel-ucode/06-3a-09 amd-ucode/microcode_amd_fam15h.bin" +CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE_DIR="/lib/firmware" + +This basically means, you have the following tree structure locally: + +/lib/firmware/ +|-- amd-ucode +... +| |-- microcode_amd_fam15h.bin +... +|-- intel-ucode +... +| |-- 06-3a-09 +... + +so that the build system can find those files and integrate them into +the final kernel image. The early loader finds them and applies them. + +Needless to say, this method is not the most flexible one because it +requires rebuilding the kernel each time updated microcode from the CPU +vendor is available. |