On 01.02.2010 04:44, Ward Vandewege wrote:
I thought I'd point out this little gem from the linux-poweredge list
http://lists.us.dell.com/pipermail/linux-poweredge/2010-January/041170.html
Apparently several lines of Dell servers have a BIOS setting called "Cores-per-processor".
It seems they ship these machines with the setting configured to 'dual', regardless of what CPUs are in the system.
The poor guy who reported this to the list just took delivery of 300 of those machines - with quad core CPUs. They show up as dual core until he goes into the BIOS and changes the setting. That's also the 'official' solution for the problem from the Dell rep.
Seriously.
You must be kidding. I mean, if Dell declare this to be a "feature", they could go all the way to set the CPUs to single-core. Poor users.
I envision a new option in Dell order forms: "Apply correct BIOS settings. $25"
Anyway, could you ask the guy to dump with nvramtool before and after the settings change? Maybe the settings live in NVRAM. That would make it scriptable.
Regards, Carl-Daniel