LinuxQuestions.org - Dual-Core Capabilities

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Dual-Core Capabilities

I am wondering how I can get my system to work with my chip's dual-core? I am currently running an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester 2000MHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core.

I just downloaded Debian64 yesterday and installed it. I am currently running the apt-get kernel version '2.6.8-11-amd64-k8-smp.'

I would like to take advantage of the full power of my chip. I thought that using regular SMP would do the trick, but 'top' and 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' both only report one CPU, though uname -a does report I am using the x86_64 archtype (which I would hope).

So, can anyone help me get my dual-core running fully?

The SMP kernel is what you want. After you system boots open up a consol cat /proc/cpuinfo.

You should get something like this:

Code:

[root@dc log]# cat /proc/cpuinfo

processor      : 0

vendor_id      : AuthenticAMD

cpu family      : 15

model          : 33

model name      : AMD Opteron (tm) Processor 850

stepping        : 0

cpu MHz        : 2198.401

cache size      : 1024 KB

fdiv_bug        : no

hlt_bug        : no

f00f_bug        : no

coma_bug        : no

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 lm 3dnowext 3dnow pni

bogomips        : 4308.99



processor      : 1

vendor_id      : AuthenticAMD

cpu family      : 15

model          : 33

model name      : AMD Opteron (tm) Processor 850

stepping        : 0

cpu MHz        : 2198.401

cache size      : 1024 KB

fdiv_bug        : no

hlt_bug        : no

f00f_bug        : no

coma_bug        : no

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 lm 3dnowext 3dnow pni

bogomips        : 4390.91



processor      : 2

vendor_id      : AuthenticAMD

cpu family      : 15

model          : 33

model name      : AMD Opteron (tm) Processor 850

stepping        : 0

cpu MHz        : 2198.401

cache size      : 1024 KB

fdiv_bug        : no

hlt_bug        : no

f00f_bug        : no

coma_bug        : no

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 lm 3dnowext 3dnow pni

bogomips        : 4374.52



processor      : 3

vendor_id      : AuthenticAMD

cpu family      : 15

model          : 33

model name      : AMD Opteron (tm) Processor 850

stepping        : 0

cpu MHz        : 2198.401

cache size      : 1024 KB

fdiv_bug        : no

hlt_bug        : no

f00f_bug        : no

coma_bug        : no

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 lm 3dnowext 3dnow pni

bogomips        : 4390.91



processor      : 4

vendor_id      : AuthenticAMD

cpu family      : 15

model          : 33

model name      : AMD Opteron (tm) Processor 850

stepping        : 0

cpu MHz        : 2198.401

cache size      : 1024 KB

fdiv_bug        : no

hlt_bug        : no

f00f_bug        : no

coma_bug        : no

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 lm 3dnowext 3dnow pni

bogomips        : 4374.52



processor      : 5

vendor_id      : AuthenticAMD

cpu family      : 15

model          : 33

model name      : AMD Opteron (tm) Processor 850

stepping        : 0

cpu MHz        : 2198.401

cache size      : 1024 KB

fdiv_bug        : no

hlt_bug        : no

f00f_bug        : no

coma_bug        : no

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 lm 3dnowext 3dnow pni

bogomips        : 4374.52



processor      : 6

vendor_id      : AuthenticAMD

cpu family      : 15

model          : 33

model name      : AMD Opteron (tm) Processor 850

stepping        : 0

cpu MHz        : 2198.401

cache size      : 1024 KB

fdiv_bug        : no

hlt_bug        : no

f00f_bug        : no

coma_bug        : no

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 lm 3dnowext 3dnow pni

bogomips        : 4390.91



processor      : 7

vendor_id      : AuthenticAMD

cpu family      : 15

model          : 33

model name      : AMD Opteron (tm) Processor 850

stepping        : 0

cpu MHz        : 2198.401

cache size      : 1024 KB

fdiv_bug        : no

hlt_bug        : no

f00f_bug        : no

coma_bug        : no

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 lm 3dnowext 3dnow pni

bogomips        : 4374.52

That will detail the individual processors or cores. I used that machine as an example because it shows you that dual cores look the same as physically different processors. In the example above the CPU0&1 are dual cores of one processor, CPU2&3 are the next processor, and so on.

Thanks for the info. My 'cat /proc/cpuinfo':

Code:

processor      : 0

vendor_id      : AuthenticAMD

cpu family      : 15

model          : 43

model name      : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+

stepping        : 1

cpu MHz        : 2200.159

cache size      : 512 KB

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 syscall nx mmxext lm 3dnowext 3dnow pni

bogomips        : 4308.99

TLB size        : 1088 4K pages

clflush size    : 64

cache_alignment : 64

address sizes  : 40 bits physical, 48 bits virtual

power management: ts fid vid ttp

As you can see, I only have one CPU it looks like. I was just talking with a colleague and he thought it may be a BIOS issue. This is a new computer and I may have to enable the second core on the system. The mother board I have is an:

ASUS A8V-E DELUXE K8T890 RET Socket 939 VIA K8T890 ATX AMD Motherboard Model #:A8V-E Deluxe

I have not really touched the BIOS at all, so it could be something that is not enabled by default.

Ya, that very well could be it. I have heard (but can't confirm cause I don't own one) that some motherboards need a bios update before they will work with the 2nd core.

I do know the newest version of that mainboards bios is 1008, is suppose to support dual core chips, and was released on 07/01/2005. That is near enough that many boards from retail outlets might not have that bios on them.

Quote:

Originally posted by jtshaw
Ya, that very well could be it. I have heard (but can't confirm cause I don't own one) that some motherboards need a bios update before they will work with the 2nd core.

I do know the newest version of that mainboards bios is 1008, is suppose to support dual core chips, and was released on 07/01/2005. That is near enough that many boards from retail outlets might not have that bios on them.

I seem to remember checking the BIOS version 2 weeks ago and found that it was the latest one. I hope I can enable that.