diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'system/intel-microcode/README')
| -rw-r--r-- | system/intel-microcode/README | 41 |
1 files changed, 29 insertions, 12 deletions
diff --git a/system/intel-microcode/README b/system/intel-microcode/README index 332f0fd362..fef45f24af 100644 --- a/system/intel-microcode/README +++ b/system/intel-microcode/README @@ -1,14 +1,31 @@ Linux Processor Microcode Data File -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. - -This script is intended to repackage the official Intel microcode tarball. -The resulting firmware file is placed under /lib/firmware/microcode.dat - -NOTE: -Although there is another (newer) mean of uploading the microcode data file to the processor, -this package is meant to be used with the *microcode_ctl* utility available at slackbuilds.org. +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. + +This SlackBuild repackages the official Intel microcode tarball, placing the +microcode.dat file under /lib/firmware/microcode.dat, which can be later +uploaded using microcode_ctl utility (available from SlackBuilds.org). + +If the iucode_tool (available from SlackBuilds.org) is installed on the system, +this SlackBuild writes the microcodes with the file names expected by the Linux +kernel firmware loader and places them under /lib/firmware/intel-ucode +directory. In that case, the correct microcode is uploaded when the Intel +microcode kernel's module is loaded. + +Please note that the method using the iucode_tool is preferred for multiple +reasons, one being the deprecation of the kernel's interface used by the +microcode_ctl utility. + +If you need to load the microcode early during the boot: +1) read https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/x86/early-microcode.txt +2) read the manual for iucode_tool, especially about --write-earlyfw option +3) make sure your kernel has the followings: + CONFIG_MICROCODE=y + CONFIG_MICROCODE_EARLY=y + CONFIG_MICROCODE_INTEL=y + CONFIG_MICROCODE_INTEL_EARLY=y |