[coreboot] f2a85-m vga binary revision

Andrew Engelbrecht sudoman at ninthfloor.org
Wed Jul 23 00:00:57 CEST 2014


i'll summarize my off-list discussion with ruik here.

i've slightly, or moderately, edited some of my previous answers to
ruik. in this email i've updated, corrected and integrated various
information i gave.

On 07/17/2014 06:04 PM, Rudolf Marek wrote:
> Hi Andrew,
>
> I seen also some freezes and I investigate what it could be. In the
> meanwhile I fixed the errata #712 (this is related to freeze due to
> the problem in VGA powermanagement)

awesome!

> I have also seen some freezes which ends up as soft lockup. I
> noticed that the microcode is not updateting to the version 061119 on
> the CPU.

i've also seen some strange lockups. i've done tests by leaving some
machines idle over night.

one of the configurations i tested had a 10de:01d3 nvidia card, without
a vga option rom. it was mostly unresponsive after ~13 hours. ssh worked
for a while, but the 3rd ssh command or so did not complete.

> So now I'm waiting for Sage to release a microcode update to
> coreboot.

great!

> Strangely the freeze problem do not occur on my test system which has
> different APU.

i've been using a8-5600K processors. does your test system use the
a10-5800k or the a10-5700? if so, i'd like to test it as well.

> Please can you try with the latest coreboot to see if the fix for
> errata #712 fixed that?

i've been using builds which include that commit. i'll do future tests
based off of today's git head.


a wheezy install without the vga option rom did well; it was up for ~28
hours. a wheezy machine with the internal graphics + the 6402 vga rom
lasted ~40 hours. it's hard to see a clear pattern here, as there are
very short up times for both configurations as well.

> I would like to know also what is your microcde revision in the cpu
> (after linux microcode patch is applied)

i've attached microcode info. it's version 20130710, installed through
debian sid.


a test using an external graphics card and updated microcode lasted over
2.5 days before someone rebooted it. other tests were all over the
place, lasting less than an hour, or 9.5 hours, for instance.

interestingly enough, a version of coreboot from the fall of 2013,
compiled by someone else, allegedly works quite well for someone using
an external nvidia card and a trisquel install. their system only needs
hard resetting about once every four days or so; when using internal
graphics, they hard reset about once per day. i'm not sure if this is a
best case scenario, or normal behavior.

it's very unlikely that they're using microcode; they use the same
coreboot build when using internal and external graphics.

> I dont know what VGA rom I'm using, I just extracted some random at
> the beginning. Those roms are most likely just patched with the
> proper ID so depending on your VGA ID we can try to compare them.
>
> What is your VGA PCI ID? Mine are 9901 and 9993 I think.

the a8-5600k internal graphics pciid is 9904.

thanks for hacking on coreboot! :-D

> Thanks Rudolf


-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Re: f2a85-m vga binary revision
Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 16:44:25 +0200
From: Rudolf Marek <r.marek at assembler.cz>
To: Andrew Engelbrecht <sudoman at ninthfloor.org>

Hi

I did some decompression of the BIOS images and found that there are
only two versions and two kinds of ROMs:

ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.022.000.000.000000 which is present up to BIOS
5202 from that there is a newer version: VER015.031.000.000.000000

I think I used 15 22 0 in my tests. The EFI version has only atombios
tables and no legacy x86 BIOS code (except for jmp blabla ... blabla: retf)

I also checked the dumped version from dd from system and it is
different not only by the PCI IDs but also perhaps some atomtables are
patched in runtime.

BIOS VERSION: F2A85-M-ASUS-5016
2f34e ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.022.000.000.000000
ed66 ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.022.000.000.000000
BIOS VERSION: F2A85-M-ASUS-5018
2f34e ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.022.000.000.000000
ed66 ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.022.000.000.000000
BIOS VERSION: F2A85-M-ASUS-5104
2f34e ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.022.000.000.000000
ed66 ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.022.000.000.000000
BIOS VERSION: F2A85-M-ASUS-5107
2f34e ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.022.000.000.000000
ed66 ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.022.000.000.000000
BIOS VERSION: F2A85-M-ASUS-5202
2f34e ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.022.000.000.000000
ed66 ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.022.000.000.000000
BIOS VERSION: F2A85-M-ASUS-6004
2f34e ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.031.000.000.000000
2206 ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.031.000.000.000000
BIOS VERSION: F2A85-M-ASUS-6102
2f34e ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.031.000.000.000000
2206 ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.031.000.000.000000
BIOS VERSION: F2A85-M-ASUS-6402
2f34e ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.031.000.000.000000
2206 ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.031.000.000.000000
BIOS VERSION: F2A85-M-ASUS-6404
2f34e ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.031.000.000.000000
2206 ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.031.000.000.000000
BIOS VERSION: F2A85-M-ASUS-6501
2f34e ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.031.000.000.000000
2206 ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.031.000.000.000000
BIOS VERSION: F2A85-M-ASUS-6502
2f34e ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.031.000.000.000000
2206 ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.031.000.000.000000
BIOS VERSION: F2A85-M-ASUS-6506
2f34e ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.031.000.000.000000
2206 ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.031.000.000.000000

Thanks
Rudolf

-------------- next part --------------
processor	: 0
vendor_id	: AuthenticAMD
cpu family	: 21
model		: 16
model name	: AMD A8-5600K APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics   
stepping	: 1
microcode	: 0x6001119
cpu MHz		: 1400.000
cache size	: 2048 KB
physical id	: 0
siblings	: 4
core id		: 0
cpu cores	: 2
apicid		: 16
initial apicid	: 0
fpu		: yes
fpu_exception	: yes
cpuid level	: 13
wp		: yes
flags		: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc rep_good nopl nonstop_tsc extd_apicid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq monitor ssse3 fma cx16 sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt aes xsave avx f16c lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy abm sse4a misalignsse 3dnowprefetch osvw ibs xop skinit wdt lwp fma4 nodeid_msr tbm topoext perfctr_core arat cpb hw_pstate npt lbrv svm_lock nrip_save tsc_scale vmcb_clean flushbyasid decodeassists pausefilter pfthreshold
bogomips	: 7186.75
TLB size	: 1536 4K pages
clflush size	: 64
cache_alignment	: 64
address sizes	: 48 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: ts ttp tm 100mhzsteps hwpstate [9] [10]

processor	: 1
vendor_id	: AuthenticAMD
cpu family	: 21
model		: 16
model name	: AMD A8-5600K APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics   
stepping	: 1
microcode	: 0x6001119
cpu MHz		: 1400.000
cache size	: 2048 KB
physical id	: 0
siblings	: 4
core id		: 1
cpu cores	: 2
apicid		: 17
initial apicid	: 1
fpu		: yes
fpu_exception	: yes
cpuid level	: 13
wp		: yes
flags		: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc rep_good nopl nonstop_tsc extd_apicid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq monitor ssse3 fma cx16 sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt aes xsave avx f16c lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy abm sse4a misalignsse 3dnowprefetch osvw ibs xop skinit wdt lwp fma4 nodeid_msr tbm topoext perfctr_core arat cpb hw_pstate npt lbrv svm_lock nrip_save tsc_scale vmcb_clean flushbyasid decodeassists pausefilter pfthreshold
bogomips	: 7186.47
TLB size	: 1536 4K pages
clflush size	: 64
cache_alignment	: 64
address sizes	: 48 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: ts ttp tm 100mhzsteps hwpstate [9] [10]

processor	: 2
vendor_id	: AuthenticAMD
cpu family	: 21
model		: 16
model name	: AMD A8-5600K APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics   
stepping	: 1
microcode	: 0x6001119
cpu MHz		: 1400.000
cache size	: 2048 KB
physical id	: 0
siblings	: 4
core id		: 2
cpu cores	: 2
apicid		: 18
initial apicid	: 2
fpu		: yes
fpu_exception	: yes
cpuid level	: 13
wp		: yes
flags		: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc rep_good nopl nonstop_tsc extd_apicid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq monitor ssse3 fma cx16 sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt aes xsave avx f16c lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy abm sse4a misalignsse 3dnowprefetch osvw ibs xop skinit wdt lwp fma4 nodeid_msr tbm topoext perfctr_core arat cpb hw_pstate npt lbrv svm_lock nrip_save tsc_scale vmcb_clean flushbyasid decodeassists pausefilter pfthreshold
bogomips	: 7186.58
TLB size	: 1536 4K pages
clflush size	: 64
cache_alignment	: 64
address sizes	: 48 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: ts ttp tm 100mhzsteps hwpstate [9] [10]

processor	: 3
vendor_id	: AuthenticAMD
cpu family	: 21
model		: 16
model name	: AMD A8-5600K APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics   
stepping	: 1
microcode	: 0x6001119
cpu MHz		: 1400.000
cache size	: 2048 KB
physical id	: 0
siblings	: 4
core id		: 3
cpu cores	: 2
apicid		: 19
initial apicid	: 3
fpu		: yes
fpu_exception	: yes
cpuid level	: 13
wp		: yes
flags		: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc rep_good nopl nonstop_tsc extd_apicid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq monitor ssse3 fma cx16 sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt aes xsave avx f16c lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy abm sse4a misalignsse 3dnowprefetch osvw ibs xop skinit wdt lwp fma4 nodeid_msr tbm topoext perfctr_core arat cpb hw_pstate npt lbrv svm_lock nrip_save tsc_scale vmcb_clean flushbyasid decodeassists pausefilter pfthreshold
bogomips	: 7186.56
TLB size	: 1536 4K pages
clflush size	: 64
cache_alignment	: 64
address sizes	: 48 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: ts ttp tm 100mhzsteps hwpstate [9] [10]

-------------- next part --------------
Jul 18 15:43:10 f2a85m-flasher kernel: [    1.818164] microcode: CPU0: patch_level=0x0600110f
Jul 18 15:43:10 f2a85m-flasher kernel: [    1.820080] platform microcode: firmware: agent loaded amd-ucode/microcode_amd_fam15h.bin into memory
Jul 18 15:43:10 f2a85m-flasher kernel: [    1.824005] microcode: CPU0: new patch_level=0x06001119
Jul 18 15:43:10 f2a85m-flasher kernel: [    1.826858] microcode: CPU1: patch_level=0x0600110f
Jul 18 15:43:10 f2a85m-flasher kernel: [    1.828949] platform microcode: firmware: agent loaded amd-ucode/microcode_amd_fam15h.bin into memory
Jul 18 15:43:10 f2a85m-flasher kernel: [    1.832928] microcode: CPU1: new patch_level=0x06001119
Jul 18 15:43:10 f2a85m-flasher kernel: [    1.835803] microcode: CPU2: patch_level=0x0600110f
Jul 18 15:43:10 f2a85m-flasher kernel: [    1.837867] platform microcode: firmware: agent loaded amd-ucode/microcode_amd_fam15h.bin into memory
Jul 18 15:43:10 f2a85m-flasher kernel: [    1.841935] microcode: CPU2: new patch_level=0x06001119
Jul 18 15:43:10 f2a85m-flasher kernel: [    1.844535] microcode: CPU3: patch_level=0x0600110f
Jul 18 15:43:10 f2a85m-flasher kernel: [    1.846459] platform microcode: firmware: agent loaded amd-ucode/microcode_amd_fam15h.bin into memory
Jul 18 15:43:10 f2a85m-flasher kernel: [    1.850459] microcode: CPU3: new patch_level=0x06001119
Jul 18 15:43:10 f2a85m-flasher kernel: [    1.853252] microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.00 <tigran at aivazian.fsnet.co.uk>, Peter Oruba


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