Netbooks!

Well, it has been a very long time sense I last posted anything here. But a new inspiration. Right now, I am typing on a new EEE PC 1000HE with Windows XP currently installed.

I intend to toss on Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix on this thing, and give a good picture loaded review....

Stay tuned.....

HOWTO update intel-microcode, microcode.ctl

Here we go.

This post will provide: CPU microcode update for INTEL CPUs

Hardware Dependencies: any x86 based Intel CPU (x86_64, IA32...) 

-->  So, if you have an Intel CPU, this will probably work for you.

OS Dependencies: Ubuntu jaunty, but this will probably work with any debian based system (or more likely with any linux system) However, I tested it on Ubuntu only so far...

Official package description:

Intel IA32/IA64 CPU Microcode Utility

The microcode_ctl utility is a companion to the IA32 microcode
driver:

 - it decodes and sends new microcode to the kernel driver for Intel IA32
  family (Pentium Pro, PII, Celeron, PIII, Xeon, Pentium 4, etc.) and
  Intel x86_64 family processors;
 - it signals the kernel driver to release any buffers it may hold.

The microcode update does not permanently alter the CPU and must be
performed each time the system is booted.

Preview/aperitif

Predefines: 

Quotes will be cursive

docter[~]  <--- this indicates a terminal/shell

docter[~]  echo "code to run will be bold, make sure you copy the whole line"

docter[~]  echo "each time you copy and paste"

================================================

HERE WE GO

================================================

To perform the actual upgrade udev is used, so you gotta have that installed in your system. If you're sure you have udev installed you may skip this section.

----  Section 1) Installing udev

To check, you could do something like:

docter[~] dpkg -l | grep udev | awk '{print $2}'
libudev-dev
libudev0
udev
udev-extras
docter[~]

If your output differes, use:

docter[~] sudo aptitude install libudev-dev libudev0 udev udev-extras

to pull them in.

END  Section 1) Installing udev 

#####################################

##### SKIPPERS JOIN NOW ###############

#####################################

Now we need the microcode module to be created upon system boot time

----  Section 2) Enable microcode module

To enable microcode support in our kernel (or more likely have the node /dev/cpu/microcode created upon each boot) we need to edit /etc/modules and make sure it has a line reading microcode

docter[~] sudo nano /etc/modules

And, if not enabled yet, add 

microcode

to the bottom of the file, close it with CTRL-X, hit Y to save it. Sample:

(don't change other lines, only apply microcode if it does not exist yet)

To create it now without rebooting, we may use

docter[~] sudo depmod -a

The node

/dev/cpu/microcode

should have been created now, and our microcode module should be alive. Let's check:

docter[~] lsmod | grep microcode

microcode                  25000  0

docter[~]

END  Section 2) Enable microcode module

#####################################

##### SKIPPERS OF SECT2 JOIN NOW #######

#####################################

Our system is ready to grab the packages we need:

docter[~] sudo aptitude install intel-microcode microcode.ctl

After the installation finished, run:

docter[~] sudo update-intel-microcode

To grab the latest code available.  Usually Intel updates the code regularly, but you'll only have to run it now. The default location for the code is 

/usr/share/misc/intel-microcode.dat

Now to update the code, use:

docter[~] sudo microcode_ctl -u

*** DONE ***

--> Sample output:

--> Sample dmesg:

Now, to make sure everything worked well, reboot your system, and when back up check dmesg

get-a-loom

That's right, I'm in!

Some of you might know me from ubuntuforums.org where I'm around too.

Short introduction, I'm a 26yr old economics student from Germany, and at the moment running jaunty beta.  I'm a laptop user and running amd64, which I try and keep as clean as possible (= free from 32bit compat libs where possible)

I hope I can share some useful/funny/pointless/stunning apps & hints I stumbled upon so far. 

And I'll sincerely try and avoid issuing any commands which will cause you harm. (like for instance the "getlibs" command, and such) 

Any application I will point to will be free of spam or compatibility libs you don't need, or I will explicitely WARN you.

Alright, I hope you'll enjoy my posts.