>
> kris@koehntopp.de said:
> > The following message is an SCO PTF document posted to bugtraq. It is
> > about SCO Unix fixing PPro and Pentium II microcode when the kernel
> > comes up.
>
> > It does not say anything about Pentium or Pentium MMX microcode fixes.
>
[SNIPPED]
> According to http://www.sandpile.org/80x86/mcupdate.shtml ,
the Pentium doesn't have the microcode update facility:
>
> > It has been asked, whether the well-known Pentium FDIV bug could have been
> > fixed that way. Well, even if the Pentium would have had some microcode
> > update feature (which it did not), ...
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Note that Digital has a patent on the WCS (Writable Control Store). It
has used this for years for VAXen. All the microcode necessary to run
the main CPU is uploaded by an ancillary processor (8085) on VAX/11-730,
VAX/11-750, etc.
Can we guess that Intel did not want to disclose the presence of a
WCS in their Pentiums because of possible patent problems? Can we guess
that the fact that the WCS exists within the Pentium II is now known
because of the recent DEC/Intel Lawsuit settlement?
Stay tuned.
Cheers,
Dick Johnson
Richard B. Johnson
Project Engineer
Analogic Corporation
Penguin : Linux version 2.1.60 on an i586 machine (66.15 BogoMips).
Warning : It's hard to remain at the trailing edge of technology.