Date: Mon, 15 Dec 1997 13:00:56 +1030 From: Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com> To: FreeBSD Questions <questions@FreeBSD.org> Subject: AMD K6 processor: caveat Message-ID: <19971215130056.35871@lemis.com>
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A day or two ago, I replied to a message saying that the AMD K6 processor works fine with FreeBSD. That's true enough for recent chips. However, earlier steppings of the chips could have a bug which would make it impossible to run reliably with more than 32 MB of memory. The symptoms are somewhat ambiguous: normally they cause SIGSEGVs (signal 11) when doing a 'make world' or with other compile-intensive functions. For further details, see http://www.chorus.com/~poulot/k6bug.html. When buying a chip, check the serial number. This is written on the last line before the copyright line. According to the FAQ, only B stepping chips with serial numbers up to B 9729XXXX are affected (B is the stepping). Modern chips should be the C stepping, and you should get this anyway for other reasons: they have a lower core voltage. Greg
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