kernel does not detect L2 cache

cat /proc/cpuinfo:

cache size : 32 KB

dmesg | grep -i cache:

CPU: L1 I cache: 16K, L1 D cache: 16K

cat /boot/config | grep -i cache:

CONFIG_X86_L1_CACHE_SHIFT=5


Both CPUs are like that. I know my motherboard is compatible with my CPU. I have no idea what gives? I know it has 512K of L2 cache. I know it should read like:

cat /proc/cpuinfo:

cache size : 512 KB

dmesg | grep -i cache:

CPU: L1 I cache: 16K, L1 D cache: 16K
CPU: L2 cache: 512K

or so... I was wondering why my computer felt slow. I'm guessing this is why.

Here is my specs of my CPUs if it's helpful:
http://processorfinder.intel.com/det...px?sspec=sl6by

That's odd. Could be something dealing with either hardware config or it could be a kernel misconfiguration. I'm guessing you're running a custom kernel 'Kernal 2.6.19.1', right ? Are you sure you configured it right, maybe something in the processor section isn't quite right.

oops, I haven't updated my sig in a while it should be kernel 2.6.20.4

Anyway, I have SMT support off and Multi-core on. Would turning multi-core scheduler off do anything? Or microcode/msr/cpuid? I have those as modules, which don't load on boot and modprobing them into memory doesn't seem to have any affect on anything.

As soon as I finish backing my stuff up I'll check to see if the default kernel shows the same symptom. I would think if it doesn't that would show this is not a hardware issue?

Another oddity, although this could quite possibly be completely unrelated so if it doesn't jump out at you pay it no mind, is that even though I'm sure my motherboard is ACPI compliant I had to disable it for some reason I forgot. Though, I'll probably remember the reason as soon as I tick "post reply." lol ... I was right, lspci doesn't output anything if I enable ACPI.

You probably already did it, but just to be on the secure side ... did you look into your BIOS settings?

Originally Posted by JZL240I-U You probably already did it, but just to be on the secure side ... did you look into your BIOS settings?

hmm... yea... I enabled "external cache" in the BIOS and problem solved.

Ah. Thank you for a good smile on monday morning .