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diff --git a/Documentation/x86/microcode.txt b/Documentation/x86/microcode.txt new file mode 100644 index 000000000..79fdb4a81 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/x86/microcode.txt @@ -0,0 +1,136 @@ + 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 builtin firmware method CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE. Only 64-bit is +currently supported. + +Here's an example: + +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. |