Re: [patch 05/11] [PATCH 05/11] x86: Moved microcode.c to microcode_intel.c.

Giacomo A. Catenazzi
2008-09-19T12:58:54Z

Dmitry Adamushko wrote:
> 2008/9/19 Peter Oruba <peter.oruba@amd.com>:
>> Some additonal words regarding the current user space issues:
>>
>> IMHO the most convenient way to update microcode is through the firmware loading
>> interface instead of microcode_ctl. This reduces user-space responsibilities to
>> loading the correct module at boot time and to place the microcode patch file at
>> the right location via package installation. The problems mentioned in this
>> thread would then probably disappear as well. What do you guys think?
>
> It'd still require changes for all the setups that currently rely on
> the 'microcode_ctl' interface. Moreover, Arjan's setup failed not due
> to the 'microcode_ctl' per se but due to the altered kernel module
> name. After all, we can't break the established interface this way.
>
> We can either reserve 'microcode' as a legacy name for intel cpus (==
> microcode_intel), or maybe we can use request_module() from
> microcode.ko to load a proper arch-specific module (I guess, it's not
> ok for !KMOD-enabled kernels).

I agree. A wrapper "microcode.ko" module would be nice, in order
to allow independent kernel and user space upgrades.

The module name is important also on udev method: only a module
load triggers the microcode request in udev, thus also the
new method should have stable kernel module name.

ciao
cate