Re: [Xenomai-help] XENO_HW_SMI_WORKAROUND safety

[Gilles Chanteperdrix <gilles.chanteperdrix@xenomai.org>]

Richard Cochran wrote:
> As an x86 dummy, I have a question about XENO_HW_SMI_WORKAROUND and
> XENO_HW_SMI_ALL. I remember from the 2009 RTLW, that Thomas Gleixner
> said not to disable SMIs or it might melt my cpu.
> 
> Is there any risk in enabling the Xenomai options?

Some people seem to have used it without any problem. The problem
happens if SMIs are used for regulating the cpu fans speed. So far, I
have not seen PCs which do this, but who knows?

You can run a stress test, measuring the CPU temperature, with and
without the SMIs disabled. This way, if the SMIs are involved in
regulating the cpu fan speed, you will know it, and in this case, yes,
you can not disable them.

Note however that the Intel chipsets allow to prevent you from disabling
the SMIs. So, it would be plain silly if your PC manufacturer used the
SMI for regulating the cpu fan speed, and did not prevent you from
disabling them.

-- 
                                                                Gilles.