Getting AMD64 powernow up and working under Gentoo

[gaga]

arf

my voltage doesn't change, that's the problem....

I don't know why !!

thks for your reply

[IMSargon]

I have a mobile AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Newark, socket 754)

computer gives me:

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FATAL: Error inserting powernow_k8 (/lib/modules/2.6.19/kernel/arch/i386/kernel/cpu/cpufreq/powernow-k8.ko): No such device

I am confident that I do have a processor in my laptop, and that the cpu supports frequency scaling.

I dmesg, which gives me:

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powernow-k8: Found 1 Mobile AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+ processor (version 2.00.00)
powernow-k8: BIOS error - no PSB or ACPI _PSS objects

As per a previous post, I checked my BIOS settings. I don't have any settings relating to Powernow, Cool'n'Quiet, or multiplier settings.

As per the wiki that pointed me here, I have "ACPI Processor P-States driver" enabled in my kernel. It happens to be a module.
If I try to modprobe acpi, I get:

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FATAL: Error inserting acpi_cpufreq (/lib/modules/2.6.19/kernel/arch/i386/kernel/cpu/cpufreq/acpi-cpufreq.ko): No such device

I have the very latest BIOS version, and the company will never release another BIOS update.

And thus my very expensive processor has been stuck at 800Mhz for five months now. Please help?

-Sargon

[drescherjm]

Does this file /lib/modules/2.6.19/kernel/arch/i386/kernel/cpu/cpufreq/acpi-cpufreq.ko exist?


Arch i386? What do you have as your CHOST in /etc/make.conf

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grep CHOST /etc/make.conf

[IMSargon]

Thanks for your reply, Drescherjm.

Does ... acpi-cpufreq.ko exist?

yes, here's the cpufreq folder...

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#ls
acpi-cpufreq.ko  p4-clockmod.ko  powernow-k8.ko  speedstep-centrino.ko speedstep-lib.ko

What do you have as your CHOST in /etc/make.conf

Ah, you caught me. That was Knoppix. The same thing happens in Gentoo, except it actually says:

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FATAL: Error inserting acpi_cpufreq (/lib/modules/2.6.19-gentoo-r5/kernel/arch/x86_64/kernel/cpufreq/acpi-cpufreq.ko): No such device

I get the same message with i686 gentoo, too, with a slightly different path.

Here's my CHOST line for that setup.

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CHOST="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"

Sorry for the confusion.

-Sargon

[RayDude]

Sargon,

See this info.

http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Fix_Common_ACPI_Problems

However, don't get your hopes up, I tried that with a standard mobo and a Turion 32 (its a turion 64 stripped to 32 bits with a tiny cache) and I couldn't get acpi to work.

Raydude

[IMSargon]

Thanks, RayDude. I took a look at that link you posted.

See this info.
http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Fix_Common_ACPI_Problems

In diagnosing the problem, as per the wiki, it seems that I don't have the particular problem that the wiki solves. My DSDT is compiled with the Intel compiler, and only gave off one warning when I recompiled it:

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Warning  1103 -    Possible operator timeout is ignored ^

The RSDT, FADT, MADT, and OEMB are all compiled with the Microsoft compiler. However, I have no idea what these things do, or if they have anything to do with my CPU multiplier settings or Powernow.

Any recommendations, anyone?

-Sargon

[RayDude]

Thanks, RayDude. I took a look at that link you posted.

See this info.
http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Fix_Common_ACPI_Problems

In diagnosing the problem, as per the wiki, it seems that I don't have the particular problem that the wiki solves. My DSDT is compiled with the Intel compiler, and only gave off one warning when I recompiled it:

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Warning  1103 -    Possible operator timeout is ignored ^

The RSDT, FADT, MADT, and OEMB are all compiled with the Microsoft compiler. However, I have no idea what these things do, or if they have anything to do with my CPU multiplier settings or Powernow.

Any recommendations, anyone?

-Sargon

I tried to get my server (which is on all the time) to run acpi with a mobile sempron skt 754. I couldn't get ACPI to work, period. No clock throttling, no voltage changing, nothing. Big waste of time and I'm still wasting power. At least with my old Athlon XP I was able to use nforce 2 fsb shifting to underclock it when it wasn't under load...

I just don't think the mobo manufacturers get the fact that we want power savings on conventional PCs as well as laptops.

Raydude

[mikb]

I have a mobile AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Newark, socket 754)

computer gives me:

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FATAL: Error inserting powernow_k8 (/lib/modules/2.6.19/kernel/arch/i386/kernel/cpu/cpufreq/powernow-k8.ko): No such device

I am confident that I do have a processor in my laptop, and that the cpu supports frequency scaling.

I dmesg, which gives me:

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powernow-k8: Found 1 Mobile AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+ processor (version 2.00.00)
powernow-k8: BIOS error - no PSB or ACPI _PSS objects

Have you, by any chance, recently upgraded the CPU on your mobo?

I have the very latest BIOS version, and the company will never release another BIOS update.

And thus my very expensive processor has been stuck at 800Mhz for five months now. Please help?

I had a very similar experience, with an Asus whitebox notebook. I had installed a processor (Athlon 64 Mobile 3700+) the BIOS didn't recognise (it only believed in processors up to 3400+, so it couldn't (wouldn't) populate the PSS, and no BIOS PSB table existed for the same reason.

So I had the reverse situation to you: power the notebook up attached to AC, and it locked at 2.4GHz. If I subsequently unplugged it, it had about 30mins of battery life. Or I could have your situation: power the notebook up without AC, and run permanently @ 800MHz.

Eventually, I found the relevant documentation on the processor that allowed me to set up the tables by hand in the DSDT. This is obviously dangerous, as mucking up the F-V relationships can damage your CPU, but I was desparate.

Assuming you have the documentation for your processor (search AMD's site), find the tables for your processor.

Extract your DSDT from the BIOS, and disassemble it as described.

My dsdt contained no _PCT or _PSS packages, and no _PPC method. However, it did contain APCT and APSS packages and a APCT method that were in the right format, so I edited these. You will need to calculate the correct representations of the parameters.

After that the trick was to load the custom dsdt during kernel boot, as described in the Wiki above.

I have a reference for this, but can't find it on the web at the moment. I will try and post it later.

[IMSargon]

mikb:

Have you, by any chance, recently upgraded the CPU on your mobo?

Yes. Yes I did. Apparently there's a gazillion different "AMD Athlon 64 Mobile 3200+" processors. I had the 82W clawhammer, and I wanted to go to 62W. Instead of getting the 62W Clawhammer, which is supported, I got the 62W Newark. I mean, geeze, they're all called "AMD Athlon 64 Mobile 3200+", they're all the same speed, and all fit in the same socket! Apparently, the Newark isn't supported my my motherboard. I've gone and ordered another chip, and I guess I'm just going to have a spare $175 CPU lying around.

Unless, UNLESS, you have some magic way to add support via a custom DSDT. That would be amazing. I'm listening if you have any resources on that kind of thing.

RayDude:

I just don't think the mobo manufacturers get the fact that we want power savings on conventional PCs as well as laptops.

Having no powersavings on your server is bad, but having no powersavings on my LAPTOP is inexcusable. But then again, it's really the opposite problem that I have. My laptop runs at the lowest possible speed all the time. Boy was it a shock when I realized that my 2Ghz laptop had been running at 800MHz FOR SIX MONTHS before I noticed!

-Sargon

[RayDude]

RayDude:

I just don't think the mobo manufacturers get the fact that we want power savings on conventional PCs as well as laptops.

Having no powersavings on your server is bad, but having no powersavings on my LAPTOP is inexcusable. But then again, it's really the opposite problem that I have. My laptop runs at the lowest possible speed all the time. Boy was it a shock when I realized that my 2Ghz laptop had been running at 800MHz FOR SIX MONTHS before I noticed!

-Sargon

Holy crap! You obviously don't run Beryl...

Heh.

Or any games.

Or notice your emerge times.

How long did it take to emerge X11 and KDE, anyway? Wow. Must've been at least three days.

You couldn't set the bios to force 2000MHz all the time?

Homer

[IMSargon]

Holy crap! You obviously don't run Beryl...

Actually, Beryl on KDE runs great under knoppix and PCLinuxOS. I haven't tried it under Gentoo.

Or notice your emerge times.

I was running Windows for most of the time. For class notes, writting reports, and even photo editing, I noticed no slowness - until I tried backing up and compressing some DVDs. When I realized what was wrong, I switched CPUs with an identical laptop which runs Linux, hoping some hack could get the processor to change speeds when Windows couldn't. I didn't happen to do much emerging at that point, though performance didn't take much of a hit for my normal Linux work either.

You couldn't set the bios to force 2000MHz all the time?

You should see my BIOS. Nearly featureless. I can set the date and time, the order of the drives for booting, and a password to protect the BIOS settings. That's about it.

-Sargon

[RayDude]

Holy crap! You obviously don't run Beryl...

Actually, Beryl on KDE runs great under knoppix and PCLinuxOS. I haven't tried it under Gentoo.

Or notice your emerge times.

I was running Windows for most of the time. For class notes, writting reports, and even photo editing, I noticed no slowness - until I tried backing up and compressing some DVDs. When I realized what was wrong, I switched CPUs with an identical laptop which runs Linux, hoping some hack could get the processor to change speeds when Windows couldn't. I didn't happen to do much emerging at that point, though performance didn't take much of a hit for my normal Linux work either.

You couldn't set the bios to force 2000MHz all the time?

You should see my BIOS. Nearly featureless. I can set the date and time, the order of the drives for booting, and a password to protect the BIOS settings. That's about it.

-Sargon

My laptop is the same. No BIOS features at all. Stupid HP.

Raydude

[ihtruelsen]

I guess this is a bit of a me too, but I have a HP dv9000 and I can't get powernow to work:

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powernow-k8: Found 2 AMD Turion(tm) 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-50 processors (version 2.00.00)
powernow-k8: MP systems not supported by PSB BIOS structure
powernow-k8: MP systems not supported by PSB BIOS structure

Am I to take it that there is no way to get this thing to throttle down at all? The battery life is pathetic under linux.

[RayDude]

I guess this is a bit of a me too, but I have a HP dv9000 and I can't get powernow to work:

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powernow-k8: Found 2 AMD Turion(tm) 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-50 processors (version 2.00.00)
powernow-k8: MP systems not supported by PSB BIOS structure
powernow-k8: MP systems not supported by PSB BIOS structure

Am I to take it that there is no way to get this thing to throttle down at all? The battery life is pathetic under linux.

My 9000z works perfectly with my AMD Turion(tm) 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-60, so you must have the kernel misconfigured or your BIOS might be really out of date and not have ACPI set up correctly.

To update your bios you must be running windows. (don't that suck) but it may be worth trying.

Also, to aid, here's how I have my cpu scaling section set up:

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  │ │    [*] CPU Frequency scaling                                        │ │
  │ │    [*]   Enable CPUfreq debugging                                   │ │
  │ │    < >   CPU frequency translation statistics                       │ │
  │ │          Default CPUFreq governor (userspace)  --->                 │ │
  │ │    <*>   'performance' governor                                     │ │
  │ │    <*>   'powersave' governor                                       │ │
  │ │    ---   'userspace' governor for userspace frequency scaling       │ │
  │ │    <*>   'ondemand' cpufreq policy governor                         │ │
  │ │    <*>   'conservative' cpufreq governor                            │ │
  │ │    ---   CPUFreq processor drivers                                  │ │
  │ │    <*>   AMD Opteron/Athlon64 PowerNow!                             │ │
  │ │    < >   Intel Enhanced SpeedStep (deprecated)                      │ │
  │ │    <*>   ACPI Processor P-States driver                             │ │
  │ │    ---   shared options                                             │ │
  │ │    [ ]   /proc/acpi/processor/../performance interface (deprecated) │

Also make sure you are running this kernel:

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[I--] [ ~] sys-kernel/suspend2-sources-2.6.21-r5 (2.6.21-r5)

Ask more questions, this should work.

Raydude

[ihtruelsen]

Okay. I switched to the suspend2 sources from the gentoo-sources. I am now running the same kernel as you suggested. I updated my bios to the most recent Phoenix bios (F28). And I set up my cpu scaling section as you did, with the exception that the acpi_cpufreq will not allow me to build it into the kernel. It is either a module or nothing.

So, when I try to modprobe acpi_cpufreq, I get:

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FATAL: Error inserting acpi_cpufreq (/lib/modules/2.6.21-suspend2-r5/kernel/arch/x86_64/kernel/cpufreq/acpi-cpufreq.ko): No such device

And there are no acpi options in the bios. Actually, beyond the boot order and setting the hardware clock, there are really no options at all in the bios.

[RayDude]

Okay. I switched to the suspend2 sources from the gentoo-sources. I am now running the same kernel as you suggested. I updated my bios to the most recent Phoenix bios (F28). And I set up my cpu scaling section as you did, with the exception that the acpi_cpufreq will not allow me to build it into the kernel. It is either a module or nothing.

So, when I try to modprobe acpi_cpufreq, I get:

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FATAL: Error inserting acpi_cpufreq (/lib/modules/2.6.21-suspend2-r5/kernel/arch/x86_64/kernel/cpufreq/acpi-cpufreq.ko): No such device

And there are no acpi options in the bios. Actually, beyond the boot order and setting the hardware clock, there are really no options at all in the bios.

acpi-cpufreq doesn't run. I have it in there because its a fall back recommended by some of the forum posts I've seen.

Check to see if powernow is running...

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dmesg | grep -i powernow

If you do then you are set, you can set your governor anyway you like. I use klaptop.

I get this

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brian@srim ~ $ dmesg | grep powernow
powernow-k8: Found 2 AMD Turion(tm) 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-60 processors (version 2.00.00)
powernow-k8:    0 : fid 0xc (2000 MHz), vid 0x13
powernow-k8:    1 : fid 0xa (1800 MHz), vid 0x15
powernow-k8:    2 : fid 0x8 (1600 MHz), vid 0x17
powernow-k8:    3 : fid 0x0 (800 MHz), vid 0x1e

Raydude

[ihtruelsen]

Nope. Still getting:

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ACPI: SSDT 3BF16C0E, 0182 (r1 HP     POWERNOW  6040000  LTP        1)
powernow-k8: Found 2 AMD Turion(tm) 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-50 processors (version 2.00.00)
powernow-k8: MP systems not supported by PSB BIOS structure
powernow-k8: MP systems not supported by PSB BIOS structure

[Roman_Gruber]

hi, cool thread

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notebook dsdt # iasl  -tc dsdt.dsl 

Intel ACPI Component Architecture
ASL Optimizing Compiler version 20060912 [Jun 11 2007]
Copyright (C) 2000 - 2006 Intel Corporation
Supports ACPI Specification Revision 3.0a

dsdt.dsl  1245:                             Package (0x06)
Error    4046 -               Initializer list too long ^ 

ASL Input:  dsdt.dsl - 3434 lines, 111995 bytes, 1216 keywords
Compilation complete. 1 Errors, 0 Warnings, 0 Remarks, 478 Optimizations
notebook dsdt # 

As you can See I get errors, too.

[RayDude]

Nope. Still getting:

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ACPI: SSDT 3BF16C0E, 0182 (r1 HP     POWERNOW  6040000  LTP        1)
powernow-k8: Found 2 AMD Turion(tm) 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-50 processors (version 2.00.00)
powernow-k8: MP systems not supported by PSB BIOS structure
powernow-k8: MP systems not supported by PSB BIOS structure

Here's the bug report.

http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=8075

acpi processor pstates driver MUST be loaded for powernow-k8 to work. I don't know why you can't make it compiled in, but you got to figure it out.

Or, make powernow-k8 a module and make sure acpi pstates loads first.

I guess the kernel guys are working on this...

Raydude

[RayDude]

Also, for the heck of it, assuming you build your own kernel, try this:

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cd /usr/src/linux
make headers_install

This makes module building much easier for me.

Raydude

[ihtruelsen]

Well, I am part of the way there. I managed to get everything loaded in kernel. Apparently, you have to have the acpi processor built in to build the acpi_cpufreq in to the kernel.

I also echoed ondemand as the governor through local.start as I could not build it in as the default (only userspace or performance).

The only problem that I am having now is that it takes about 2 minutes of no load for the cpu to drop down. There must be some sort of configuration for this?

Oh, and for the record:

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powernow-k8: Found 2 AMD Turion(tm) 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-50 processors (version 2.00.00)
powernow-k8:    0 : fid 0x8 (1600 MHz), vid 0x13
powernow-k8:    1 : fid 0x0 (800 MHz), vid 0x1e

[RayDude]

Well, I am part of the way there. I managed to get everything loaded in kernel. Apparently, you have to have the acpi processor built in to build the acpi_cpufreq in to the kernel.

I also echoed ondemand as the governor through local.start as I could not build it in as the default (only userspace or performance).

The only problem that I am having now is that it takes about 2 minutes of no load for the cpu to drop down. There must be some sort of configuration for this?

Oh, and for the record:

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powernow-k8: Found 2 AMD Turion(tm) 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-50 processors (version 2.00.00)
powernow-k8:    0 : fid 0x8 (1600 MHz), vid 0x13
powernow-k8:    1 : fid 0x0 (800 MHz), vid 0x1e

I believe that's the normal behavior. Mine takes a while to tune down as well.

You can get amdpwrmon from amd's website to watch cpufreq do its thing...

Raydude

[fips]

Been looking around the net for a answer to my prob but nothing even comes close:
if i try to load powernow-k8 module or have it compiled in kernel will cause kernel to freezeup with random error or just reboot and ofcource CnQ is enabled in bios ... disabling it will make the module complain: powernow-k8: BIOS error - no PSB or ACPI _PSS objects
but atleast it says something instead of just silently rebooting.

Im runing MSI K8N NEO4-FI board which i belive is based on NF4-Ultra and Athlon 64 3500+ 939 socket CPU.

Any suggestions what i should try next... or should i just give up

[RayDude]

Been looking around the net for a answer to my prob but nothing even comes close:
if i try to load powernow-k8 module or have it compiled in kernel will cause kernel to freezeup with random error or just reboot and ofcource CnQ is enabled in bios ... disabling it will make the module complain: powernow-k8: BIOS error - no PSB or ACPI _PSS objects
but atleast it says something instead of just silently rebooting.

Im runing MSI K8N NEO4-FI board which i belive is based on NF4-Ultra and Athlon 64 3500+ 939 socket CPU.

Any suggestions what i should try next... or should i just give up

If you've got a non-laptop mobo there, chances are it won't work out of the box. You have to install your own DSDT in the kernel to try and get it working. And I tried it on my own and it didn't work because the DSDT that comes with the standard mobo bioses does not even come close to being functional.

Honestly, I think what we need is a data base repository where people with laptops can check in their DSDT tables with full documentation on their chipset / bios / video card, etc so that people with standard PCs can look in there and try the DSDT table that matches their mobo chipset.

The motherboard manufacturers are simply not putting effort into getting ACPI to work at the CPU level on non-laptop motherboards.

Raydude

[fips]

If you've got a non-laptop mobo there, chances are it won't work out of the box. You have to install your own DSDT in the kernel to try and get it working. And I tried it on my own and it didn't work because the DSDT that comes with the standard mobo bioses does not even come close to being functional.

Honestly, I think what we need is a data base repository where people with laptops can check in their DSDT tables with full documentation on their chipset / bios / video card, etc so that people with standard PCs can look in there and try the DSDT table that matches their mobo chipset.

The motherboard manufacturers are simply not putting effort into getting ACPI to work at the CPU level on non-laptop motherboards.
Raydude

Yeah came to that conclusion my self eventualy after thinkering about it, i have a newer motherboard by diffrent manufacturer and newer AMD cpu, well it works fine on that setup (Altho its runing m$ OS atm). Older board is allready runing the latest bios so no help there.

I did play around with using custom DSDT, original had 1 error and 1 warning, nothing releated to this tho, fixing them was easy so im guessing its just missing the data needed to get it working.