From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id ; Wed, 1 Aug 2001 16:04:56 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id ; Wed, 1 Aug 2001 16:04:46 -0400 Received: from leeor.math.technion.ac.il ([132.68.115.2]:50431 "EHLO leeor.math.technion.ac.il") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id ; Wed, 1 Aug 2001 16:04:35 -0400 Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2001 23:04:41 +0300 From: "Nadav Har'El" To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Cc: agmon@techunix.technion.ac.il Subject: SMP possible with AMD CPUs? Message-ID: <20010801230441.A19396@leeor.math.technion.ac.il> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline User-Agent: Mutt/1.2i Hebrew-Date: 13 Av 5761 Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org A Linux user in a local Linux club asked me whether Linux support SMP with AMD (rather than Intel Pentium) CPUs. She said that a year ago she was told Linux 2.2 couldn't, and that she was wondering whether the new Linux 2.4 can. I didn't know the answer, so I started digging. I tried looking with various search search engines, but found nothing about this subject. Looking through the source code, it appears that SMP with AMDs *might* be supported, but I couldn't find any comment confirming that. The relevant FAQs, READMEs, and so on that I found are all from the 2.2 kernel era. So, does Linux support SMP on AMD CPUs? By the way, here's a fragment from the outdated (1999) SMP-HOWTO at http://www.phy.duke.edu/brahma/smp-faq/smp-howto-3.html explaining why SMP wasn't possible in kernel 2.2 and contemporary AMD processors: 1. Can I use my Cyrix/AMD/non-Intel CPU in SMP? Short answer: no. Long answer: Intel claims ownership to the APIC SMP scheme, and unless a company licenses it from Intel they may not use it. There are currently no companies that have done so. (This of course can change in the future) FYI - Both Cyrix and AMD support the non- proprietary OpenPIC SMP standard but currently there are no motherboards that use it. Thanks. -- Nadav Har'El | Wednesday, Aug 1 2001, 13 Av 5761 nyh@math.technion.ac.il |----------------------------------------- Phone: +972-53-245868, ICQ 13349191 |The socks in my drawer are like http://nadav.harel.org.il |snowflakes: No two are alike.