re: bin/41289: usr.sbin/cpuctl does not correctly identify new Intel CPUs

[Paul Goyette <paul%whooppee.com@localhost>]

The following reply was made to PR bin/41289; it has been noted by GNATS.

From: Paul Goyette <paul%whooppee.com@localhost>
To: gnats-bugs%NetBSD.org@localhost
Cc: netbsd-bugs%netbsd.org@localhost, gnats-admin%netbsd.org@localhost
Subject: re: bin/41289: usr.sbin/cpuctl does not correctly identify new Intel
 CPUs
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:15:00 -0700 (PDT)

 On Tue, 28 Apr 2009, matthew green wrote:
 
 >    > One thing stikes me about this. If we get a text string out of the CPU, 
 > why
 >    > bother trying to pretty-print further?
 >
 >    Hmm, good question.  I'd always thought that the text string was
 >    actually loaded into the CPU by BIOS, but I just checked the spec, and
 >    that doesn't seem to be true.  (Maybe it is true for AMD processors, I
 >    really don't know anymore.)  Regardless, as I see it, we've always tried
 >    to make our own determination.
 >
 >
 > my reading of the intel or amd manual a month or so ago said that
 > the bios is expected to load 48 chars for the cpuid string.  i don't
 > recall which off hand, but i think intel.
 
 Actually, I recall that same expectation, but it was from reading the 
 AMD manuals a long time ago (when I got my first AMD Famile 10h CPU).
 
 The Intel manual seems somewhat unclear on how those 48-bytes get 
 loaded.
 
 Regardless, I'm in the process of test-compiling a first-draft update 
 that will
 
 1. Properly identify the Extended Models within a family
 2. Properly identify several new Intel cache descriptors (including
     some that are 6-way, 12-way, and 24-way associative!)
 3. Split the Intel features2 line to avoid excessive line length
 
 It should be ready for review later tonight or early tomorrow.
 
 Suggestions for which list(s) on which I should post the request-for- 
 review would be appreciated!  This is a /usr/sbin utility, but might 
 more reasonably fit into tech-kern than tech-user?
 
 
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