Messages in this thread | | | Date | Fri, 10 Jul 2015 12:12:00 -0300 | From | Henrique de Moraes Holschuh <> | Subject | Re: [PATCH 0/2] x86/microcode/amd: Do not overwrite specific patch levels |
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On Fri, 10 Jul 2015, Borislav Petkov wrote: > On Thu, Jul 09, 2015 at 12:03:41PM -0300, Henrique de Moraes Holschuh wrote: > > Is there any way to notify the user that 'processor microcode updates > > are not available on this system except through a firmware update' ? > > What for? > > Those microcode patch levels are final and shouldn't be upgraded at all.
Yes, I understand that the operating system is not to attempt to update any microcode that is listed as 'final'.
However, if that requirement exists because a microcode update applied by the operating system would interact badly with the current firmware (or microcode), the user could still get newer microcode (and better features, errata workarounds, etc) through a full firmware (BIOS/EFI) update.
OTOH, if this is a 'microcode updates newer than the 'final' version exist only to support changed hardware designs', and thus a board that already works with 'final' should never need newer microcode, it would be nice to know that fact.
Anyway, the code does not look like what I would expect if it is the later case ("updates past 'final' exist only to support for changed hardware design): it blacklists updates from 'final' to anything else, but it still allows microcode with a version that is less than 'final' to be updated to something that is higher than 'final', etc.
-- "One disk to rule them all, One disk to find them. One disk to bring them all and in the darkness grind them. In the Land of Redmond where the shadows lie." -- The Silicon Valley Tarot Henrique Holschuh
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