unexpected kernel messages for Sun Fire X4100 (NUMA Opteron 64bit) with SLES10

unexpected kernel messages for Sun Fire X4100 (NUMA Opteron 64bit) with SLES10

[Ulrich Windl]

Hi,

please add myself to CC: as I'm not subscribed to this list.
I'm currently evaluating Novell/SUSE Enterprise Server 10 (SLES10) on a Sun Fire 
X4100.
That machine basically features two Dual-Core AMD Opteron CPUs with 8GB RAM each. 
I'm running the latest SLES10 kernel (2.6.16.21-0.15-smp #1 SMP Tue Jul 25 
15:28:49 UTC 2006 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux) and the latest firmware for the 
hardware (Sun seems not to produce a lot of those however: The Service Processor 
still runs with "Linux version 2.4.22").

There are some kernel messages that either seem to indicate a problem with Sun's 
hardware/firmware or the Linux kernel. Even after querying Google for advice, I 
could only solve one of the problems ("Aperture from northbridge cpu 0 too small 
(32MB)").

[Solved one]
  <4>Checking aperture...
  <4>CPU 0: aperture @ 10000000 size 32 MB
  <4>Aperture from northbridge cpu 0 too small (32 MB)
  <4>No AGP bridge found
  <4>Your BIOS doesn't leave a aperture memory hole
  <4>Please enable the IOMMU option in the BIOS setup
  <4>This costs you 64 MB of RAM
  <4>Mapping aperture over 65536 KB of RAM @ 4000000


So here I come showing the remaining messages, seeking for advice from the 
experts:

[#1]
  <4>PCI: MSI quirk detected. PCI_BUS_FLAGS_NO_MSI set for subordinate bus.
  <4>PCI: MSI quirk detected. PCI_BUS_FLAGS_NO_MSI set for subordinate bus.
  <4>PCI: MSI quirk detected. PCI_BUS_FLAGS_NO_MSI set for subordinate bus.
  <4>PCI: MSI quirk detected. PCI_BUS_FLAGS_NO_MSI set for subordinate bus.
  <4>hpet_acpi_add: no address or irqs in _CRS

The BIOS Version (MP spec rev 1.4; SMBIOS Version: 2.3; Vendor: "American 
Megatrends Inc."; Version: "080010"; Date: "08/10/2005") is "2.53". I have no idea 
what the messages are about.

[#2]
  <6>shpchp: HPC vendor_id 1022 device_id 7450 ss_vid 0 ss_did 0
  <3>shpchp: shpc_init: cannot reserve MMIO region
  <6>shpchp: HPC vendor_id 1022 device_id 7450 ss_vid 0 ss_did 0
  <3>shpchp: shpc_init: cannot reserve MMIO region
  <6>shpchp: Standard Hot Plug PCI Controller Driver version: 0.4

The device in question seems to be a "00:01.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices 
[AMD] AMD-8131 PCI-X Bridge (rev 13)" (no add-on PCI cards installed).

[#3]
  <6>powernow-k8: Found 4 AMD Athlon 64 / Opteron processors (version 1.60.2)
  <3>powernow-k8: MP systems not supported by PSB BIOS structure
  <3>powernow-k8: MP systems not supported by PSB BIOS structure
  <3>powernow-k8: MP systems not supported by PSB BIOS structure
  <3>powernow-k8: MP systems not supported by PSB BIOS structure

The CPUs are (shortened):
processor       : 3
vendor_id       : AuthenticAMD
cpu family      : 15
model           : 33
model name      : Dual Core AMD Opteron(tm) Processor 285
stepping        : 2
cpu MHz         : 2592.705

and the BIOS supports MPS Revision 1.4 with "PowerNow" being enabled in BIOS. I 
was hoping powersaving would work (as it does on my private Athlon 64 X2).

Regards,
Ulrich

Re: unexpected kernel messages for Sun Fire X4100 (NUMA Opteron 64bit) with SLES10

[Tomasz Torcz]

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On Wed, Aug 23, 2006 at 03:56:47PM +0200, Ulrich Windl wrote:
> I'm currently evaluating Novell/SUSE Enterprise Server 10 (SLES10) on a Sun Fire 
> X4100.
> That machine basically features two Dual-Core AMD Opteron CPUs with 8GB RAM each. 
> I'm running the latest SLES10 kernel (2.6.16.21-0.15-smp #1 SMP Tue Jul 25 
> 15:28:49 UTC 2006 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux) and the latest firmware for the 
> hardware (Sun seems not to produce a lot of those however: The Service Processor 
> still runs with "Linux version 2.4.22").

  Are you sure you have latest BIOS installed? From
http://www.sun.com/download/products.xml?id=44cfd445 :
 BIOS 34 (0ABGA034). The improvements are:
    (...)
    * AMD PowerNow support

  Also, you may try if acpi-cpufreq modules works for you.


-- 
Tomasz Torcz                        To co nierealne -- tutaj jest normalne.
zdzichu@irc.-nie.spam-.pl          Ziomale na życie mają tu patenty specjalne.


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Re: unexpected kernel messages for Sun Fire X4100 (NUMA Opteron 64bit) with SLES10

[Ulrich Windl]

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On 23 Aug 2006 at 16:35, Tomasz Torcz wrote:

[...]
>   Are you sure you have latest BIOS installed? From
> http://www.sun.com/download/products.xml?id=44cfd445 :
>  BIOS 34 (0ABGA034). The improvements are:
>     (...)
>     * AMD PowerNow support

So I've installed this BIOS, realizing that it has a few new settings. Revalidated 
BIOS settings, and comparing kernel messages:

There's a new message:
<6>ACPI: SLIT table looks invalid. Not used.

Most other problems are still there, but the PowerNow seems solved:
kernel: powernow-k8: Found 4 AMD Athlon 64 / Opteron processors (version 1.60.2)
kernel: powernow-k8:    0 : fid 0x12 (2600 MHz), vid 0x8 (1350 mV)
kernel: powernow-k8:    1 : fid 0x10 (2400 MHz), vid 0xa (1300 mV)
kernel: powernow-k8:    2 : fid 0xe (2200 MHz), vid 0xc (1250 mV)
kernel: powernow-k8:    3 : fid 0xc (2000 MHz), vid 0xe (1200 mV)
kernel: powernow-k8:    4 : fid 0xa (1800 MHz), vid 0x10 (1150 mV)
kernel: powernow-k8:    5 : fid 0x2 (1000 MHz), vid 0x12 (1100 mV)
kernel: cpu_init done, current fid 0x12, vid 0x8
kernel: powernow-k8:    0 : fid 0x12 (2600 MHz), vid 0x8 (1350 mV)
kernel: powernow-k8:    1 : fid 0x10 (2400 MHz), vid 0xa (1300 mV)
kernel: powernow-k8:    2 : fid 0xe (2200 MHz), vid 0xc (1250 mV)
kernel: powernow-k8:    3 : fid 0xc (2000 MHz), vid 0xe (1200 mV)
kernel: powernow-k8:    4 : fid 0xa (1800 MHz), vid 0x10 (1150 mV)
kernel: powernow-k8:    5 : fid 0x2 (1000 MHz), vid 0x12 (1100 mV)
kernel: cpu_init done, current fid 0x12, vid 0x8

(There is a remaining problem with the system load ("uptime") being too high (>1) 
even if the system is doing nothing. See Screenshot (8kB).

Regards,
Ulrich


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