Re: How to read BIOS information

From: Richard Mittendorfer
Date: Tue May 09 2006 - 08:51:40 EST


Also sprach Stefan Smietanowski <stesmi@xxxxxxxxxx> (Tue, 09 May 2006
14:29:01 +0200):
> Alan Cox wrote:
> > On Maw, 2006-05-09 at 10:53 +0530, Madhukar Mythri wrote:
> >
> >> yeah, your are correct. but, the thing is my superiors want, even
> >if >kernel not reconize/use HT, we have to capture it from BIOS...
> >>Thats why i asked as, how to read BIOS information?
> >
> >
> > You ask the BIOS vendor for the exact board in question.
> >
> > If you want to ask the processor itself then you can use the model
> > specific registers. These are accessible via /dev/cpu/<cpuid>/msr so
> > you can perform the Intel recommended sequence for checking if the
> > processor has HT enabled.
> >
> > It might be simpler to look in /proc/cpuinfo if you just need the
> > basic information
>
> He's actually asking if the BIOS has turned on HT, not if some other
> means has...
>
> BUT, the only thing I can think of is turning OFF HT in the BIOS,
> reading the CMOS, storing it somewhere, turning ON HT, storing
> that somewhere and comparing them. Then he'll know that in his
> specific BIOS revision on his specific mainboard that bit is
> stored in one specific place and he can go from there.
>
> Messy, definately not recommended, stupid but hey, if the bosses
> ask for it and you gotta give it ..
>
> Just make triple sure you tell them that if you upgrade the BIOS
> the test might fail or if you change mainboard, etc.

IIRC the chipset should know about this?
Something like hex /sys/devices/pci0000:0/0000:00:00.0/config and
comparing registers with the chipset's datasheet?

> // Stefan

sl ritch
-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/