I have updated the BIOS, do I need to recompile the kernel and if I do, how would I go about it?

Mat

You will need to recompile the kernel and enable SMP for multiple processors.

Brian

Depends on the distro. I know Debian stock kernels are fine for single or multiple processors, and I assume some other distros do the same.

Before you go about recompiling the kernel, it might have already recognized your dual core.

you can also run the `top` command and press 1 to alternate CPU's.

If not, then yes, you have to enable this in your kernel

I get the following output:

processor : 0
vendor_id : AuthenticAMD
cpu family : 15
model : 35
model name : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4600+
stepping : 2
cpu MHz : 1000.000
cache size : 512 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 0
cpu cores : 2
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 1
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt lm 3dnowext 3dnow pni lahf_lm cmp_legacy
bogomips : 2001.59
TLB size : 1024 4K pages
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 40 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: ts fid vid ttp

processor : 1
vendor_id : AuthenticAMD
cpu family : 15
model : 35
model name : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4600+
stepping : 2
cpu MHz : 1000.000
cache size : 512 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 1
cpu cores : 2
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 1
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt lm 3dnowext 3dnow pni lahf_lm cmp_legacy
bogomips : 2001.59
TLB size : 1024 4K pages
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 40 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: ts fid vid ttp

I guess that says it recognises both my cores. However, when I play any mpeg files, it always seems to pause and I have to shut down as nothing will work. I thought that my kernel needed to be tweaked for dual core. So what does this seem to be?

Mat

It still may need recompiled but not familiar with Suse/Novell items where this is listed.

Now just because you are now using an smp kernel it does not necessary speed things up. It allows one to do more things at the same time. Example if Firefox starts up on cpu0 then it stays on cpu0 for the most part. So the next app would start on cpu1 and mostly do all its work on cpu1. So things that can vary is running extra scripts from within the app.

The one example I can give you is when building a kernel when you use the ' make ' command use ' make -j4 '. This will start the first build process on cpu0, Start the next on cpu1 and then put one in wait statefor each one for the next to start to build. Roughly cuts the build time in half. To see this I have have gkrellm installed and the show the cpu usage on each processor.

As far as mplayer stalling. Do you mean it halts the system and requires a reset?

If so it can be anything from the video card, its drivers, other hardware maybe failing, power supply failing. It can be so many things. Posting info on hardware specs and what they are using in modules might help.

How much ram to you have?
Is it good? Run memtest to check it out.
How much ram on videocard?
Type of video card?
Module it is using? Details from /etc/X11/xorg.conf can show most of that.
Kernel version you are running?
Distro and version you are running?

Brian

When Mplayer starts a video, it may go on without locking the PC up but if I skip on to another part of the video then it is prone to freezing the entire system, I then have to shutdown the system.

I have 1GB of Ram, The graphics card is GeForce 6600. I am using the xgl instead of xorg as I wanted the pretty graphics. I downloaded opensuse 10.2 straight out of the box so to speak.

I haven't had this problem before with the old single core.

Mat

Now some things cause problems under smp kernels. I would look into the xgl website and see if it mentions smp issues. Same applies to some nic drivers and a host of others. Sometimes it may only apply to just that version when a fix is applied to the newer release. I no really good idea of tracking down other than installing newer apps, drivers, and kernel or downgrading as well. Just a trial and error routine.

Brian

Can you try running mplayer from the terminal? This way, when it locks up, you will be able to see the output