1 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
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2 | <!DOCTYPE sect1 PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
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3 | "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd" [
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4 | <!ENTITY % general-entities SYSTEM "../../general.ent">
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5 | %general-entities;
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6 | ]>
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7 |
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8 | <sect1 id="postlfs-firmware" xreflabel="About Firmware">
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9 | <?dbhtml filename="firmware.html"?>
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10 |
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11 | <sect1info>
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12 | <date>$Date$</date>
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13 | </sect1info>
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14 |
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15 | <title>About Firmware</title>
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16 |
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17 | <indexterm zone="postlfs-firmware">
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18 | <primary sortas="e-lib-firmware">/lib/firmware</primary>
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19 | </indexterm>
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20 |
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21 | <para>
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22 | On some recent PCs it can be necessary, or desirable, to load firmware
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23 | to make them work at their best. There is a directory, <filename
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24 | class="directory">/lib/firmware</filename>, where the kernel or kernel
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25 | drivers look for firmware images.
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26 | </para>
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27 |
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28 | <para>
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29 | Currently, most firmware can be found at a <userinput>git</userinput>
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30 | repository: <ulink url=
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31 | "http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git/tree/"/>.
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32 | For convenience, the LFS Project has created a mirror, updated daily, where
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33 | these firmware files can be accessed via <userinput>wget</userinput> or a
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34 | web browser at <ulink url="&sources-anduin-http;/linux-firmware/"/>.
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35 | </para>
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36 |
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37 | <para>
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38 | To get the firmware, either point a browser to one of the above
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39 | repositories and then download the item(s) which you need, or install
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40 | <xref linkend="git"/> and clone that repository.
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41 | </para>
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42 |
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43 | <para>
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44 | For some other firmware, particularly for Intel microcode and certain
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45 | wifi devices, the needed firmware is not available in the above repository.
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46 | Some of this will be addressed below, but a search of the Internet for
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47 | needed firmware is sometimes necessary.
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48 | </para>
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49 |
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50 | <para>
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51 | Firmware files are conventionally referred to as blobs because you cannot
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52 | determine what they will do. Note that firmware is distributed under
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53 | various different licenses which do not permit disassembly or
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54 | reverse-engineering.
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55 | </para>
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56 |
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57 | <para>
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58 | Firmware for PCs falls into four categories:
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59 | </para>
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60 |
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61 | <itemizedlist spacing="compact">
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62 | <listitem>
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63 | <para>
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64 | Updates to the CPU to work around errata, usually referred to as
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65 | microcode.
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66 | </para>
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67 | </listitem>
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68 | <listitem>
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69 | <para>
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70 | Firmware for video controllers. On x86 machines this is required for
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71 | ATI devices (Radeon and AMDGPU chips) and may be useful for Intel (Skylake
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72 | and later) and Nvidia (Kepler and later) GPUs.
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73 | </para>
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74 |
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75 | <para>
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76 | ATI Radeon and AMGPU devices all require firmware to be able to use KMS
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77 | (kernel modesetting - the preferred option) as well as for Xorg. For
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78 | old radeon chips (before the R600), the firmware is still in the
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79 | kernel source.
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80 | </para>
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81 |
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82 | <para>
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83 | Intel integrated GPUs from Skylake onwards can use firmware for GuC
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84 | (the Graphics microcontroller), and also for the HuC (HEVC/H265
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85 | microcontroller which offloads to the GPU) and the DMC (Display
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86 | Microcontroller) to provide additional low-power states. The GuC and
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87 | HuC have had a chequered history in the kernel and updated firmware
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88 | may be disabled by default, depending on your kernel version. Further
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89 | details may be found at <ulink
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90 | url="https://01.org/linuxgraphics/downloads/firmware/">01.org</ulink>
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91 | and <ulink
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92 | url="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/intel_graphics">Arch
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93 | linux</ulink>.
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94 | </para>
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95 |
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96 | <para>
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97 | Nvidia GPUs from Kepler onwards require signed firmware, otherwise the
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98 | nouveau driver is unable to provide hardware acceleration. Nvidia has
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99 | now released firmware up to Turing (most, maybe all, GTX16xx and RTX20xx
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100 | GPUs) to linux-firmware, and kernels from linux-5.6 should support it,
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101 | although Mesa support may require a development version until Mesa-20.2
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102 | is released. Note that faster clocks than the default are not enabled
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103 | by the released firmware.
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104 | </para>
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105 | </listitem>
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106 | <listitem>
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107 | <para>
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108 | Firmware updates for wired network ports. Mostly they work even
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109 | without the updates, but probably they will work better with
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110 | the updated firmware. For some modern laptops, firmware for both
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111 | wired ethernet (e.g. rtl_nic) and also for bluetooth devices (e.g. qca)
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112 | is <emphasis>required</emphasis> before the wired network can be used.
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113 | </para>
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114 | </listitem>
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115 | <listitem>
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116 | <para>
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117 | Firmware for other devices, such as wifi. These devices are not
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118 | required for the PC to boot, but need the firmware before these devices
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119 | can be used.
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120 | </para>
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121 | </listitem>
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122 | </itemizedlist>
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123 |
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124 | <note>
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125 | <para>
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126 | Although not needed to load a firmware blob, the following
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127 | tools may be useful for determining, obtaining, or preparing the needed
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128 | firmware in order to load it into the system:
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129 | <xref linkend="cpio"/>,
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130 | <xref linkend="git"/>,
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131 | <xref linkend="pciutils"/>, and
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132 | <xref linkend="wget"/>
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133 | </para>
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134 | </note>
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135 |
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136 | <para condition="html" role="usernotes">User Notes:
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137 | <ulink url="&blfs-wiki;/aboutfirmware"/></para>
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138 |
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139 | <sect2 id="cpu-microcode">
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140 | <title>Microcode updates for CPUs</title>
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141 |
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142 | <para>
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143 | In general, microcode can be loaded by the BIOS or UEFI, and it might be
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144 | updated by upgrading to a newer version of those. On linux, you can also
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145 | load the microcode from the kernel if you are using an AMD family 10h or
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146 | later processor (first introduced late 2007), or an Intel processor from
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147 | 1998 and later (Pentium4, Core, etc), if updated microcode has been
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148 | released. These updates only last until the machine is powered off, so
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149 | they need to be applied on every boot.
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150 | </para>
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151 |
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152 | <para>
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153 | Intel provide updates of their microcode for Skylake and later
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154 | processors as new vulnerabilities come to light, and have in the past
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155 | provided updates for processors from SandyBridge onwards, although those
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156 | are no-longer supported for new fixes. New versions of AMD
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157 | firmware are rare and usually only apply to a few models, although
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158 | motherboard manufacturers get extra updates which maybe update microcode
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159 | along with the changes to support newer CPUs and faster memory.
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160 | </para>
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161 |
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162 | <para>
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163 | There are two ways of loading the microcode, described as 'early' and
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164 | 'late'. Early loading happens before userspace has been started, late
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165 | loading happens after userspace has started. Not surprisingly, early
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166 | loading is preferred, (see e.g. an explanatory comment in a kernel
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167 | commit noted at <ulink url="https://lwn.net/Articles/530346/">
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168 | x86/microcode: Early load microcode</ulink> on LWN.) Indeed, it
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169 | is needed to work around one particular erratum in early Intel Haswell
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170 | processors which had TSX enabled. (See <ulink url=
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171 | "http://www.anandtech.com/show/8376/intel-disables-tsx-instructions-erratum-found-in-haswell-haswelleep-broadwellyi/">
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172 | Intel Disables TSX Instructions: Erratum Found in Haswell,
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173 | Haswell-E/EP, Broadwell-Y
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174 | </ulink>.) Without this update glibc can do the wrong thing in uncommon
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175 | situations.
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176 | </para>
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177 |
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178 | <para>
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179 | It is still possible to manually force late loading of microcode, either
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180 | for testing or to prevent having to reboot. You will need to reconfigure
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181 | your kernel for either method. The instructions here will create a
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182 | kernel <filename>.config</filename> to suite early loading, before
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183 | forcing late loading to see if there is any microcode. If there is,
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184 | the instructions then show you how to create an initrd for early loading.
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185 | </para>
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186 |
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187 | <para>
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188 | To confirm what processor(s) you have (if more than one, they will be
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189 | identical) look in /proc/cpuinfo.
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190 | </para>
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191 |
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192 | <para>
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193 | If you are creating an initrd to update firmware for different machines,
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194 | as a distro would do, go down to 'Early loading of microcode' and cat all
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195 | the Intel blobs to GenuineIntel.bin or cat all the AMD blobs to
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196 | AuthenticAMD.bin. This creates a larger initrd - for all Intel machines in
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197 | the 20200609 update the size is 3.0 MB compared to typically 24 KB for one
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198 | machine.
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199 | </para>
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200 |
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201 | <sect3 id="intel-microcode">
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202 | <title>Intel Microcode for the CPU</title>
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203 |
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204 | <para>
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205 | The first step is to get the most recent version of the Intel
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206 | microcode. This must be done by navigating to <ulink url=
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207 | 'https://github.com/intel/Intel-Linux-Processor-Microcode-Data-Files/releases/'/>
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208 | and downloading the latest file there. As of this writing the most
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209 | secure version of the microcode, for those machines which can boot it,
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210 | is microcode-20210608.<!-- If you have a Skylake machine, please read the
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211 | Caution in the 'Early loading of microcode' section below.--> Extract this
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212 | file in the normal way, the microcode is in the <filename>intel-ucode
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213 | </filename> directory, containing various blobs with names in the form
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214 | XX-YY-ZZ. There are also various other files, and a releasenote.
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215 | </para>
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216 |
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217 | <para>
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218 | In the past, intel did not provide any details of which blobs had
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219 | changed versions, but now the release note details this.
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220 | </para>
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221 |
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222 | <para>
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223 | The recent firmware for older processors is provided to deal with
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224 | vulnerabilities which have now been made public, and for some of these
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225 | such as Microarchitectural Data Sampling (MDS) you might wish to
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226 | increase the protection by disabling hyperthreading, or alternatively
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227 | to disable the kernel's default mitigation because of its impact on
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228 | compile times. Please read the online documentation at <ulink url=
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229 | 'https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/admin-guide/hw-vuln/index.html'/>.
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230 | </para>
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231 |
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232 | <!-- commented, I don't think there is a new listed item for 2011-11 vulns
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233 | (platypus etc : intel-sa-00381 and 0389)
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234 | and anyway the very latest stable releases have backports : ken
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235 | <para>
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236 | The documentation on the latest SRBDS (Special Register Buffer Data
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237 | Sampling) vulnerabilities/fixes will be documented in kernels 5.4.46,
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238 | 5.6.18, 5.7.2, 5.8.0 and later.
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239 | </para>-->
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240 |
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241 | <para>
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242 | Now you need to determine your processor's identity to see if there
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243 | is any microcode for it. Determine the decimal values of the cpu family,
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244 | model and stepping by running the following command (it will also report
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245 | the current microcode version):
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246 | </para>
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247 |
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248 | <screen><userinput>head -n7 /proc/cpuinfo</userinput></screen>
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249 |
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250 | <para>
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251 | Convert the cpu family, model and stepping to pairs of hexadecimal
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252 | digits. For a Skylake i3 6100 (described as Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-6100
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253 | CPU) the relevant values are cpu family 6, model 94, stepping 3 so in
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254 | this case the required identification is 06-5e-03. A look at the blobs
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255 | will show that there is one for this CPU (although for older issues it
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256 | might have already been applied by the BIOS). If there is a blob for
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257 | your system then test if it will be applied by copying it (replace
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258 | <XX-YY-ZZ> by the identifier for your CPU) to where the
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259 | kernel can find it:
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260 | </para>
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261 |
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262 | <screen><userinput>mkdir -pv /lib/firmware/intel-ucode
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263 | cp -v intel-ucode/<XX-YY-ZZ> /lib/firmware/intel-ucode</userinput></screen>
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264 |
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265 | <para>
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266 | Now that the Intel microcode has been prepared, use the following
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267 | options when you configure the kernel to load Intel microcode:
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268 | </para>
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269 |
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270 | <screen><literal>General Setup --->
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271 | [*] Initial RAM filesystem and RAM disk (initramfs/initrd) support [CONFIG_BLK_DEV_INITRD]
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272 | Processor type and features --->
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273 | [*] CPU microcode loading support [CONFIG_MICROCODE]
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274 | [*] Intel microcode loading support [CONFIG_MICROCODE_INTEL]</literal></screen>
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275 |
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276 | <para>
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277 | After you have successfully booted the new system, force late loading
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278 | by using the command:
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279 | </para>
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280 |
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281 | <screen><userinput>echo 1 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/microcode/reload</userinput></screen>
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282 |
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283 | <para>
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284 | Then use the following command to see if anything was loaded:
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285 | (N.B. the dates when microcode was created may be months ahead of when
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286 | it was released.)
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287 | </para>
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288 |
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289 | <screen><userinput>dmesg | grep -e 'microcode' -e 'Linux version' -e 'Command line'</userinput></screen>
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290 |
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291 | <para>
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292 | This reformatted example for a machine with old microcode in its BIOS
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293 | was created by temporarily booting without
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294 | microcode, to show the current Firmware Bug messages, then the late load
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295 | shows it being updated to revision 0xea.
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296 | </para>
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297 |
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298 | <screen><literal>[ 0.000000] Linux version 5.12.8 (lfs@leshp) (gcc (GCC) 11.1.0,
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299 | GNU ld (GNU Binutils) 2.36.1)
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300 | #2 SMP PREEMPT Fri Jun 4 01:25:02 BST 2021
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301 | [ 0.000000] Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-5.12.8-sda11 root=/dev/sda11 ro
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302 | resume=/dev/sda10
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303 | [ 0.028741] [Firmware Bug]: TSC_DEADLINE disabled due to Errata;
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304 | please update microcode to version: 0xb2 (or later)
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305 | [ 0.115716] SRBDS: Vulnerable: No microcode
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306 | [ 0.115826] MDS: Vulnerable: Clear CPU buffers attempted, no microcode
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307 | [ 0.389005] microcode: sig=0x506e3, pf=0x2, revision=0x74
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308 | [ 0.389030] microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.2.
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309 | [ 70.089502] microcode: updated to revision 0xea, date = 2021-01-25
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310 | [ 70.089528] x86/CPU: CPU features have changed after loading microcode,
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311 | but might not take effect.
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312 | [ 70.089530] microcode: Reload completed, microcode revision: 0xea</literal></screen>
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313 |
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314 | <para>
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315 | If the microcode was not updated, there is no new microcode for this
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316 | system's processor. If it did get updated, you can now proceed to
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317 | <xref linkend='early-microcode'/>.
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318 | </para>
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319 |
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320 | </sect3>
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321 |
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322 | <sect3 id="amd-microcode">
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323 | <title>AMD Microcode for the CPU</title>
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324 |
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325 | <para>
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326 | Begin by downloading a container of firmware for your CPU family
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327 | from <ulink url=
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328 | '&sources-anduin-http;/linux-firmware/amd-ucode/'/>.
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329 | The family is always specified in hex. Families 10h to 14h (16 to 20)
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330 | are in microcode_amd.bin. Families 15h, 16h and 17h have their own
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331 | containers. Create the required directory and put the firmware you
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332 | downloaded into it as the <systemitem
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333 | class="username">root</systemitem> user:
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334 | </para>
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335 |
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336 | <screen><userinput>mkdir -pv /lib/firmware/amd-ucode
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337 | cp -v microcode_amd* /lib/firmware/amd-ucode</userinput></screen>
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338 |
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339 | <para>
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340 | When you configure the kernel, use the following options
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341 | to load AMD microcode:
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342 | </para>
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343 |
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344 | <screen><literal>General Setup --->
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345 | [*] Initial RAM filesystem and RAM disk (initramfs/initrd) support [CONFIG_BLK_DEV_INITRD]
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346 | Processor type and features --->
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347 | [*] CPU microcode loading support [CONFIG_MICROCODE]
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348 | [*] AMD microcode loading support [CONFIG_MICROCODE_AMD]</literal></screen>
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349 |
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350 | <para>
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351 | After you have successfully booted the new system, force late loading
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352 | by using the command:
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353 | </para>
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354 |
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355 | <screen><userinput>echo 1 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/microcode/reload</userinput></screen>
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356 |
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357 | <para>
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358 | Then use the following command to see if anything was loaded:
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359 | </para>
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360 |
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361 | <screen><userinput>dmesg | grep -e 'microcode' -e 'Linux version' -e 'Command line'</userinput></screen>
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362 | <para>
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363 | This historic example from an old Athlon(tm) II X2 shows it has been
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364 | updated. At that time, all CPUs were still reported in the microcode
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365 | details on AMD machines (the current position for AMD machines where
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366 | newer microcode is available is unknown) :
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367 | </para>
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368 |
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369 | <screen><literal>[ 0.000000] Linux version 4.15.3 (ken@testserver) (gcc version 7.3.0 (GCC))
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370 | #1 SMP Sun Feb 18 02:08:12 GMT 2018
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371 | [ 0.000000] Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-4.15.3-sda5 root=/dev/sda5 ro
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372 | [ 0.307619] microcode: CPU0: patch_level=0x010000b6
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373 | [ 0.307671] microcode: CPU1: patch_level=0x010000b6
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374 | [ 0.307743] microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.2.
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375 | [ 187.928891] microcode: CPU0: new patch_level=0x010000c8
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376 | [ 187.928899] microcode: CPU1: new patch_level=0x010000c8</literal></screen>
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377 |
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378 | <para>
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379 | If the microcode was not updated, there is no new microcode for
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380 | this system's processor. If it did get updated, you can now proceed to
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381 | <xref linkend='early-microcode'/>.
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382 | </para>
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383 |
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384 | </sect3>
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385 |
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386 | <sect3 id="early-microcode">
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387 | <title>Early loading of microcode</title>
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388 |
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389 | <para>
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390 | If you have established that updated microcode is available for
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391 | your system, it is time to prepare it for early loading. This requires
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392 | an additional package, <xref linkend='cpio'/> and the creation of an
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393 | initrd which will need to be added to grub.cfg.
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394 | </para>
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395 |
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396 | <para>
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397 | It does not matter where you prepare the initrd, and once it is
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398 | working you can apply the same initrd to later LFS systems or newer
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399 | kernels on this same machine, at least until any newer microcode is
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400 | released. Use the following commands:
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401 | </para>
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402 |
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403 | <screen><userinput>mkdir -p initrd/kernel/x86/microcode
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404 | cd initrd</userinput></screen>
|
---|
405 |
|
---|
406 | <para>
|
---|
407 | For an AMD machine, use the following command (replace
|
---|
408 | <MYCONTAINER> with the name of the container for your CPU's
|
---|
409 | family):
|
---|
410 | </para>
|
---|
411 |
|
---|
412 | <screen><userinput>cp -v /lib/firmware/amd-ucode/<MYCONTAINER> kernel/x86/microcode/AuthenticAMD.bin</userinput></screen>
|
---|
413 |
|
---|
414 | <para>
|
---|
415 | Or for an Intel machine copy the appropriate blob using this command:
|
---|
416 | </para>
|
---|
417 |
|
---|
418 | <screen><userinput>cp -v /lib/firmware/intel-ucode/<XX-YY-ZZ> kernel/x86/microcode/GenuineIntel.bin</userinput></screen>
|
---|
419 |
|
---|
420 | <!-- new version from 20201110 release onwards, assumed to work on all skylakes
|
---|
421 | But complaints about previous version took some days to appear, so keep as a comment for now.
|
---|
422 | <caution>
|
---|
423 | <para>
|
---|
424 | On some Skylake machines with hex Model Number '4e' (78 decimal) the
|
---|
425 | upgrade to microcode version '0xdc' is reported to cause the machine to
|
---|
426 | hang in early boot, and the fix is to revert to version 0xd6 which was
|
---|
427 | first shipped in the 20191115 microcode release.
|
---|
428 | </para>
|
---|
429 |
|
---|
430 | <para>
|
---|
431 | At least one model '5e' Skylake does boot successfully with version
|
---|
432 | 0xdc, but Intel has now shipped a 20200616 release which is intended for
|
---|
433 | distros which need an initrd that will boot on everyone's machine: it
|
---|
434 | reverts both Skylake variants ('4e' and '5e') to the old 0xd6.
|
---|
435 | </para>
|
---|
436 |
|
---|
437 | <para>
|
---|
438 | For a Skylake which does not boot with 0xdc, reverting to 0xd6 will make
|
---|
439 | the machine usable, but without the SRBDS mitigations.
|
---|
440 | </para>
|
---|
441 | </caution>-->
|
---|
442 |
|
---|
443 | <para>
|
---|
444 | Now prepare the initrd:
|
---|
445 | </para>
|
---|
446 |
|
---|
447 | <screen><userinput>find . | cpio -o -H newc > /boot/microcode.img</userinput></screen>
|
---|
448 |
|
---|
449 | <para>
|
---|
450 | You now need to add a new entry to /boot/grub/grub.cfg and
|
---|
451 | here you should add a new line after the linux line within the stanza.
|
---|
452 | If /boot is a separate mountpoint:
|
---|
453 | </para>
|
---|
454 |
|
---|
455 | <screen><userinput>initrd /microcode.img</userinput></screen>
|
---|
456 |
|
---|
457 | <para>
|
---|
458 | or this if it is not:
|
---|
459 | </para>
|
---|
460 |
|
---|
461 | <screen><userinput>initrd /boot/microcode.img</userinput></screen>
|
---|
462 |
|
---|
463 | <para>
|
---|
464 | If you are already booting with an initrd (see <xref
|
---|
465 | linkend="initramfs"/>), you should run <command>mkinitramfs</command>
|
---|
466 | again after putting the appropriate blob or container into <filename
|
---|
467 | class="directory">/lib/firmware</filename> as explained above.
|
---|
468 | Alternatively, you can have both initrd on the same line, such as
|
---|
469 | <userinput>initrd /microcode.img /other-initrd.img</userinput> (adapt
|
---|
470 | that as above if /boot is not a separate mountpoint).
|
---|
471 | </para>
|
---|
472 |
|
---|
473 | <para>
|
---|
474 | You can now reboot with the added initrd, and then use the same
|
---|
475 | command to check that the early load worked:
|
---|
476 | </para>
|
---|
477 |
|
---|
478 | <screen><userinput>dmesg | grep -e 'microcode' -e 'Linux version' -e 'Command line'</userinput></screen>
|
---|
479 |
|
---|
480 | <para>
|
---|
481 | If you updated to address vulnerabilities, you can look at <filename
|
---|
482 | class="directory">/sys/devices/system/cpu/vulnerabilities/</filename>
|
---|
483 | to see what is now reported.
|
---|
484 | </para>
|
---|
485 |
|
---|
486 | <para>
|
---|
487 | The places and times where early loading happens are very different
|
---|
488 | in AMD and Intel machines. First, an Intel (Skylake) example with early loading:
|
---|
489 | </para>
|
---|
490 |
|
---|
491 | <screen><literal>[ 0.000000] microcode: microcode updated early to revision 0xea, date = 2021-01-25
|
---|
492 | [ 0.000000] Linux version 5.12.8 (lfs@leshp) (gcc (GCC) 11.1.0,
|
---|
493 | GNU ld (GNU Binutils) 2.36.1) #2 SMP PREEMPT Fri Jun 4 01:25:02 BST 2021
|
---|
494 | [ 0.000000] Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-5.12.8-sda11 root=/dev/sda11 ro
|
---|
495 | resume=/dev/sda10
|
---|
496 | [ 0.381420] microcode: sig=0x506e3, pf=0x2, revision=0xea
|
---|
497 | [ 0.381479] microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.2.</literal></screen>
|
---|
498 |
|
---|
499 |
|
---|
500 | <para>
|
---|
501 | A historic AMD example:
|
---|
502 | </para>
|
---|
503 |
|
---|
504 | <screen><literal>[ 0.000000] Linux version 4.15.3 (ken@testserver) (gcc version 7.3.0 (GCC))
|
---|
505 | #2 SMP Sun Feb 18 02:32:03 GMT 2018
|
---|
506 | [ 0.000000] Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-4.15.3-sda5 root=/dev/sda5 ro
|
---|
507 | [ 0.307619] microcode: microcode updated early to new patch_level=0x010000c8
|
---|
508 | [ 0.307678] microcode: CPU0: patch_level=0x010000c8
|
---|
509 | [ 0.307723] microcode: CPU1: patch_level=0x010000c8
|
---|
510 | [ 0.307795] microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.2.</literal></screen>
|
---|
511 |
|
---|
512 | </sect3>
|
---|
513 |
|
---|
514 | </sect2>
|
---|
515 |
|
---|
516 | <sect2 id="video-firmware">
|
---|
517 | <title>Firmware for Video Cards</title>
|
---|
518 |
|
---|
519 | <sect3 id="ati-video-firmware">
|
---|
520 | <title>Firmware for ATI video chips (R600 and later)</title>
|
---|
521 |
|
---|
522 | <para>
|
---|
523 | These instructions do NOT apply to old radeons before the R600
|
---|
524 | family. For those, the firmware is in the kernel's <filename
|
---|
525 | class='directory'>/lib/firmware/</filename> directory. Nor do they
|
---|
526 | apply if you intend to avoid a graphical setup such as Xorg and are
|
---|
527 | content to use the default 80x25 display rather than a framebuffer.
|
---|
528 | </para>
|
---|
529 |
|
---|
530 | <para>
|
---|
531 | Early radeon devices only needed a single 2K blob of firmware. Recent
|
---|
532 | devices need several different blobs, and some of them are much bigger.
|
---|
533 | The total size of the radeon firmware directory is over 500K —
|
---|
534 | on a large modern system you can probably spare the space, but it is
|
---|
535 | still redundant to install all the unused files each time you build
|
---|
536 | a system.
|
---|
537 | </para>
|
---|
538 |
|
---|
539 | <para>
|
---|
540 | A better approach is to install <xref linkend='pciutils'/> and then
|
---|
541 | use <userinput>lspci</userinput> to identify which VGA controller is
|
---|
542 | installed.
|
---|
543 | </para>
|
---|
544 |
|
---|
545 | <para>
|
---|
546 | With that information, check the RadeonFeature page of the Xorg wiki
|
---|
547 | for <ulink url="http://wiki.x.org/wiki/RadeonFeature/#index5h2">Decoder
|
---|
548 | ring for engineering vs marketing names</ulink> to identify the family
|
---|
549 | (you may need to know this for the Xorg driver in BLFS —
|
---|
550 | Southern Islands and Sea Islands use the radeonsi driver) and the
|
---|
551 | specific model.
|
---|
552 | </para>
|
---|
553 |
|
---|
554 | <para>
|
---|
555 | Now that you know which controller you are using, consult the
|
---|
556 | <ulink url="https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Radeon#Firmware">
|
---|
557 | Radeon</ulink> page of the Gentoo wiki which has a table listing
|
---|
558 | the required firmware blobs for the various chipsets. Note that
|
---|
559 | Southern Islands and Sea Islands chips use different firmware for
|
---|
560 | kernel 3.17 and later compared to earlier kernels. Identify and
|
---|
561 | download the required blobs then install them:
|
---|
562 | </para>
|
---|
563 |
|
---|
564 | <screen><userinput>mkdir -pv /lib/firmware/radeon
|
---|
565 | cp -v <YOUR_BLOBS> /lib/firmware/radeon</userinput></screen>
|
---|
566 |
|
---|
567 | <para>
|
---|
568 | There are actually two ways of installing this firmware. BLFS, in the
|
---|
569 | 'Kernel Configuration for additional firmware' section part of the
|
---|
570 | <xref linkend="xorg-ati-driver"/> section gives an example of
|
---|
571 | compiling the firmware into the kernel - that is slightly faster to
|
---|
572 | load, but uses more kernel memory. Here we will use the alternative
|
---|
573 | method of making the radeon driver a module. In your kernel config
|
---|
574 | set the following:
|
---|
575 | </para>
|
---|
576 |
|
---|
577 | <screen><literal>Device Drivers --->
|
---|
578 | Graphics support --->
|
---|
579 | Direct Rendering Manager --->
|
---|
580 | [*] Direct Rendering Manager (XFree86 ... support) [CONFIG_DRM]
|
---|
581 | [M] ATI Radeon [CONFIG_DRM_RADEON]</literal></screen>
|
---|
582 |
|
---|
583 | <para>
|
---|
584 | Loading several large blobs from /lib/firmware takes a noticeable
|
---|
585 | time, during which the screen will be blank. If you do not enable the
|
---|
586 | penguin framebuffer logo, or change the console size by using a bigger
|
---|
587 | font, that probably does not matter. If desired, you can slightly
|
---|
588 | reduce the time if you follow the alternate method of specifying 'y'
|
---|
589 | for CONFIG_DRM_RADEON covered in BLFS at the link above — you
|
---|
590 | must specify each needed radeon blob if you do that.
|
---|
591 | </para>
|
---|
592 |
|
---|
593 | </sect3>
|
---|
594 |
|
---|
595 | <sect3 id="nvidia-video-firmware">
|
---|
596 | <title>Firmware for Nvidia video chips</title>
|
---|
597 |
|
---|
598 | <para>
|
---|
599 | Some Nvidia graphics chips need firmware updates to take advantage
|
---|
600 | of all the card's capability. These are generally the GeForce 8, 9,
|
---|
601 | 9300, and 200-900 series chips. For more exact information, see
|
---|
602 | <ulink url=
|
---|
603 | "https://nouveau.freedesktop.org/wiki/VideoAcceleration/#firmware"/>.
|
---|
604 | </para>
|
---|
605 |
|
---|
606 | <para>
|
---|
607 | First, the kernel Nvidia driver must be activated:
|
---|
608 | </para>
|
---|
609 |
|
---|
610 | <screen><literal>Device Drivers --->
|
---|
611 | Graphics support --->
|
---|
612 | Direct Rendering Manager --->
|
---|
613 | <*> Direct Rendering Manager (XFree86 ... support) [CONFIG_DRM]
|
---|
614 | <*/M> Nouveau (NVIDIA) cards [CONFIG_DRM_NOUVEAU]</literal></screen>
|
---|
615 |
|
---|
616 | <para>
|
---|
617 | The steps to install the Nvidia firmware are:
|
---|
618 | </para>
|
---|
619 |
|
---|
620 | <screen><userinput>wget https://raw.github.com/imirkin/re-vp2/master/extract_firmware.py
|
---|
621 | wget http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/325.15/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-325.15.run
|
---|
622 | sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-325.15.run --extract-only
|
---|
623 | python extract_firmware.py
|
---|
624 | mkdir -p /lib/firmware/nouveau
|
---|
625 | cp -d nv* vuc-* /lib/firmware/nouveau/</userinput></screen>
|
---|
626 |
|
---|
627 | </sect3>
|
---|
628 | </sect2>
|
---|
629 |
|
---|
630 | <sect2 id="nic-firmware">
|
---|
631 | <title>Firmware for Network Interfaces</title>
|
---|
632 |
|
---|
633 | <para>
|
---|
634 | The kernel likes to load firmware for some network drivers, particularly
|
---|
635 | those from Realtek (the /lib/linux-firmware/rtl_nic/) directory, but
|
---|
636 | they generally appear to work without it. Therefore, you can boot the
|
---|
637 | kernel, check dmesg for messages about this missing firmware, and if
|
---|
638 | necessary download the firmware and put it in the specified directory in
|
---|
639 | <filename class="directory">/lib/firmware</filename> so that it will
|
---|
640 | be found on subsequent boots. Note that with current kernels this
|
---|
641 | works whether or not the driver is compiled in or built as a module,
|
---|
642 | there is no need to build this firmware into the kernel.
|
---|
643 | Here is an example where the R8169 driver has been compiled in but the
|
---|
644 | firmware was not made available. Once the firmware had been provided,
|
---|
645 | there was no mention of it on later boots.
|
---|
646 | </para>
|
---|
647 |
|
---|
648 | <screen><literal>dmesg | grep firmware | grep r8169
|
---|
649 | [ 7.018028] r8169 0000:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for rtl_nic/rtl8168g-2.fw failed with error -2
|
---|
650 | [ 7.018036] r8169 0000:01:00.0 eth0: unable to load firmware patch rtl_nic/rtl8168g-2.fw (-2)</literal></screen>
|
---|
651 |
|
---|
652 | </sect2>
|
---|
653 |
|
---|
654 | <sect2 id="other-firmware">
|
---|
655 | <title>Firmware for Other Devices</title>
|
---|
656 |
|
---|
657 | <para>
|
---|
658 | Identifying the correct firmware will typically require you to install
|
---|
659 | <xref linkend='pciutils'/>, and then use <userinput>lspci</userinput>
|
---|
660 | to identify the device. You should then search online to check which
|
---|
661 | module it uses, which firmware, and where to obtain the firmware —
|
---|
662 | not all of it is in linux-firmware.
|
---|
663 | </para>
|
---|
664 |
|
---|
665 | <para>
|
---|
666 | If possible, you should begin by using a wired connection when you first
|
---|
667 | boot your LFS system. To use a wireless connection you will need to
|
---|
668 | use a network tools such as <xref linkend='wireless_tools'/> and <xref
|
---|
669 | linkend='wpa_supplicant'/>.
|
---|
670 | </para>
|
---|
671 |
|
---|
672 | <para>
|
---|
673 | Different countries have different regulations on the radio spectrum
|
---|
674 | usage of wireless devices. You can install a firmware to make the
|
---|
675 | wireless devices obey local spectrum regulations, so you won't be
|
---|
676 | inquired by local authority or find your wireless NIC jamming the
|
---|
677 | frequencies of other devices (for example, remote controllers).
|
---|
678 | The regulatory database firmware can be downloaded from
|
---|
679 | <ulink url = 'https://kernel.org/pub/software/network/wireless-regdb/'/>.
|
---|
680 | To install it, simply extract <filename>regulatory.db</filename> and
|
---|
681 | <filename>regulatory.db.p7s</filename> from the tarball into
|
---|
682 | <filename class="directory">/lib/firmware</filename>.
|
---|
683 | The access point would send a country code to your wireless NIC,
|
---|
684 | and <xref linkend='wpa_supplicant'/> would tell the kernel to load
|
---|
685 | the regulation of this country from
|
---|
686 | <filename>regulatory.db</filename>, and enforce it.
|
---|
687 | </para>
|
---|
688 |
|
---|
689 | <para>
|
---|
690 | Firmware may also be needed for other devices such as some SCSI
|
---|
691 | controllers, bluetooth adaptors, or TV recorders. The same principles
|
---|
692 | apply.
|
---|
693 | </para>
|
---|
694 |
|
---|
695 | </sect2>
|
---|
696 |
|
---|
697 | </sect1>
|
---|