Re: RFD: Should we remove the HLT check? (was Re: [PATCH 1/8] x86: avoid check hlt if no timer interrupts)

Linus Torvalds
2010-05-07T20:57:24Z

On Fri, 7 May 2010, Arjan van de Ven wrote:

> On 5/7/2010 13:32, H. Peter Anvin wrote:
> >
> > I really wish I knew the exact systems affected by the HLT bug. If I
> > remember correctly, it was some 386 systems -- or possibly 486 systems
> > as well -- a very long time ago. This test just provides a diagnosis if
> > the system really is bad (it hangs with an obvious message) at the cost
> > of some 40 ms to the system boot time. I suspect C1 (HLT) being broken
> > is not anywhere close to the predominant power management problem in the
> > current day, and as such I'm wondering if this particular test hasn't
> > outlived its usefulness.
> >
> > Thoughts?
>
> we could at least hide it behind the "don't run on pentium or newer" config
> options..

Ack. That would take care of all relevant machines.

Linus