Messages in this thread | ![/](/images/icornerl.gif) | | Date | Fri, 14 Apr 2006 12:00:52 -0500 | From | Dave Jones <> | Subject | Re: Where to call L2 cache enabling code from? |
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On Fri, Apr 14, 2006 at 12:49:49PM -0400, Steve Snyder wrote: > On Friday 14 April 2006 11:46 am, Alan Cox wrote: > > On Gwe, 2006-04-14 at 11:05 -0400, Steve Snyder wrote: > > > I have a machine in which the BIOS does not enable the Pentium3's L2 > > > cache at boot time. At what point in the kernel init process > > > can/should I call the code to enable the cache? > > > > What part of the cache setup is not done correctly ? The mtrr registers > > or other things ? > > It's not that the kernel is failing in any respect. The BIOS simply does > not enable the on-CPU L2 cache at power-on. (The machine originally > shipped with a Pentium2, and doesn't know how to enable the L2 cache on > the Pentium3 that is now running in it.) > > I've got a small device driver that enables the L2 cache. It works fine > when build as a module and loaded after booting has completed. My goal > is to move the code into the kernel so that it is run early in the kernel > init process. I expect that having the L2 cache go from "0KB" to 256KB > will improve boot time greatly, as well as informing the kernel from the > get-go of the true capabilities of this processor. > > Getting the code into the kernel image is a no-brainer. But once it is > built into the kernel, at what point should I call it?
arch/i386/kernel/cpu/intel.c has a bunch of workarounds for various issues. Is there a valid use-case for ever booting with cache disabled though? If so, this should probably be a boot-time option to enable it.
Dave
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