Intel-ucode

Basic Help & Support
#1

I have an intel cpu but the information on the internet contradicts itself. I’m not sure if it’s better to install intel-ucode or not. My laptop runs fine without it at the moment. Don’t change the winning horse? Or is it better to install intel-ucode and reconfigure grub?

#2

I would leave it the way it is right now if it s working great, but to each our own right !

It s when I started to mess with tweaks & all that I usually screw my installs that were running great beforehand.

But if you want to experiment , go for it, it s one of the ways to learn. But I would do it with a pc or lappy that you don t need for every day use.

1 Like
#3

Maybe I’m wrong, but on archlabs it should already be installed by default.
But I repeat maybe I’m wrong.
translate whit google.
Post the answer of:
dmesg | grep microcode

2 Likes
#4

dmesg | grep microcode
-> some things were disbled due to microcode being too old :wink:
I installed intel-ucode and now everything is fine. No issues.

#5

I installled it. See other reply. No issues. Thanks.

#6

@wammes

Glad it s working on your end.

#7

dmesg | grep microcode
[ 0.040083] core: PEBS disabled due to CPU errata, please upgrade microcode
[ 0.605025] microcode: sig=0x206a7, pf=0x10, revision=0x26
[ 0.605174] microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.2

Hmm. I have the latest intel-ucode installed. Any idea what this CPU errata message means? How do I upgrade the micro code if I already have the latest?

#8

The µcode is necessary for Haswell processors (Intel got the microarchitecture wrong) and strongly recommended for all other Intel CPUs, especially those affected by Spectre & Meltdown.

You might want to check your vulnerabilities:

empty@hegel:~ $ grep -r . /sys/devices/system/cpu/vulnerabilities/                                                                                                                                                 
/sys/devices/system/cpu/vulnerabilities/spectre_v2:Mitigation: Full generic retpoline
/sys/devices/system/cpu/vulnerabilities/spec_store_bypass:Vulnerable
/sys/devices/system/cpu/vulnerabilities/spectre_v1:Mitigation: __user pointer sanitization
/sys/devices/system/cpu/vulnerabilities/meltdown:Mitigation: PTI
empty@hegel:~ $

So I would recommend installing the intel-ucode package and reconfiguring GRUB [1].

#9

The intel-ucode package is installed and used in grub. Still got this error message. That’s why I asked the question :wink:

#10

We shouldn’t assume anything :wink:

Can we see

pacman -Qi intel-ucode
grep ucode /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Are you absolutely sure that your system is booting from ArchLabs’ /boot/grub/grub.cfg?

If you’re not sure, try adding a custom stanza and see if it shows up in the boot menu.

OK, we can try applying the firmware manually, download the tarball from here:

Then unpack it and apply the update:

tar xf microcode-20180703.tgz
mkdir -p /usr/lib/firmware/intel-ucode # as root
cp intel-ucode/* /usr/lib/firmware/intel-ucode/ # as root
echo 1 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/microcode/reload # as root

Does dmesg then register the update?

This method should be equivalent to loading Arch{Labs}’ custom initrd though.

#11

I reinstalled and updated grub and all is working well now. No idea why it wasn’t before but hey, who cares :wink: