CPU Frequency Throttling not working on Xeon EM64T

[Master One]

Fresh Edubuntu Gutsy 64bit installation on a dual Xeon 3.2 EM64T machine, the intended kernel module acpi_cpufreq is present, but can not be loaded.

$ uname -a
Linux lanmaster 2.6.22-14-generic #1 SMP Sun Oct 14 21:45:15 GMT 2007 x86_64 GNU/Linux

$ cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 15
model : 4
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 3.20GHz
stepping : 1
cpu MHz : 3200.210
cache size : 1024 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 0
cpu cores : 1
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 5
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm syscall nx lm constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl cid cx16 xtpr
bogomips : 6404.88
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 128
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 1
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 15
model : 4
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 3.20GHz
stepping : 1
cpu MHz : 3200.210
cache size : 1024 KB
physical id : 3
siblings : 2
core id : 0
cpu cores : 1
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 5
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm syscall nx lm constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl cid cx16 xtpr
bogomips : 6400.81
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 128
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 2
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 15
model : 4
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 3.20GHz
stepping : 1
cpu MHz : 3200.210
cache size : 1024 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 0
cpu cores : 1
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 5
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm syscall nx lm constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl cid cx16 xtpr
bogomips : 6400.78
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 128
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 3
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 15
model : 4
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 3.20GHz
stepping : 1
cpu MHz : 3200.210
cache size : 1024 KB
physical id : 3
siblings : 2
core id : 0
cpu cores : 1
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 5
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm syscall nx lm constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl cid cx16 xtpr
bogomips : 6400.85
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 128
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

$ dmesg | grep -i throttling
[ 55.718656] ACPI: Processor [CPU0] (supports 8 throttling states)
[ 55.718683] ACPI: Processor [CPU1] (supports 8 throttling states)
[ 55.718704] ACPI: Processor [CPU2] (supports 8 throttling states)
[ 55.718725] ACPI: Processor [CPU3] (supports 8 throttling states)

$ lsmod | grep -i cpufreqcpufreq_stats 8160 0
cpufreq_conservative 9608 0
cpufreq_userspace 6048 0
cpufreq_powersave 3072 0
cpufreq_ondemand 10896 0
freq_table 6464 2 cpufreq_stats,cpufreq_ondemand

$ sudo modprobe acpi_cpufreq
FATAL: Error inserting acpi_cpufreq (/lib/modules/2.6.22-14-generic/kernel/arch/x86_64/kernel/cpufreq/acpi-cpufreq.ko): No such device

$ sudo cpufreq-selector -g ondemand
No cpufreq support

[NicolaB (brex2k8)]

Same problem here:brex@ubuntu-box:~$ uname -a
Linux ubuntu-box 2.6.22-14-generic #1 SMP Sun Oct 14 21:45:15 GMT 2007 x86_64 GNU/Linux
brex@ubuntu-box:~$ cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 15
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7500 @ 2.20GHz
stepping : 11
cpu MHz : 2194.742
cache size : 4096 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 0
cpu cores : 2
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 10
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm syscall nx lm constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr lahf_lm
bogomips : 4393.78
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 1
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 15
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7500 @ 2.20GHz
stepping : 11
cpu MHz : 2194.742
cache size : 4096 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 1
cpu cores : 2
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 10
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm syscall nx lm constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr lahf_lm
bogomips : 4389.63
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

brex@ubuntu-box:~$ lsmod | grep -i cpufreq_stats
cpufreq_stats 8160 0
freq_table 6464 2 cpufreq_stats,cpufreq_ondemand
brex@ubuntu-box:~$ sudo modprobe acpi_cpufreq
FATAL: Error inserting acpi_cpufreq (/lib/modules/2.6.22-14-generic/kernel/arch/x86_64/kernel/cpufreq/acpi-cpufreq.ko): No such device
brex@ubuntu-box:~$

Any clues??

[Dennis Krul (launchpad-themirror)]

Same issue here, no powersavings for me. I'm running a fresh Gutsy install (patches are up to date). I have 2 dualcore Xeon 3,46Ghz (Woodcrest) CPU's.

Linux studio 2.6.22-14-generic #1 SMP Tue Dec 18 05:28:27 UTC 2007 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[ 32.999078] ACPI: Processor [CPU0] (supports 8 throttling states)
[ 32.999137] ACPI: Processor [CPU1] (supports 8 throttling states)
[ 32.999192] ACPI: Processor [CPU2] (supports 8 throttling states)
[ 32.999246] ACPI: Processor [CPU3] (supports 8 throttling states)
[ 32.999259] ACPI Exception (processor_core-0783): AE_NOT_FOUND, Processor Device is not present [20070126]
[ 32.999272] ACPI Exception (processor_core-0783): AE_NOT_FOUND, Processor Device is not present [20070126]
[ 32.999284] ACPI Exception (processor_core-0783): AE_NOT_FOUND, Processor Device is not present [20070126]
[ 32.999297] ACPI Exception (processor_core-0783): AE_NOT_FOUND, Processor Device is not present [20070126]

Have the following related modules loaded:

cpufreq_userspace 6048 0
cpufreq_stats 8160 0
cpufreq_powersave 3072 0
cpufreq_ondemand 10896 0
cpufreq_conservative 9608 0
freq_table 6464 2 cpufreq_stats,cpufreq_ondemand

# modprobe acpi-cpufreq
FATAL: Error inserting acpi_cpufreq (/lib/modules/2.6.22-14-generic/kernel/arch/x86_64/kernel/cpufreq/acpi-cpufreq.ko): No such device

# cpufreq-selector -g -c1
No cpufreq support

[Joel (jkrauska-gmail)]

Also seeing this on most recent Feisty.

root@user0:~# uname -a
Linux user0 2.6.20-16-server #2 SMP Sun Sep 23 18:36:55 UTC 2007 x86_64 GNU/Linux

root@user0:~# dmesg | grep -i throttling
[ 81.146796] ACPI: Processor [CPU0] (supports 8 throttling states)
[ 81.146847] ACPI: Processor [CPU1] (supports 8 throttling states)
[ 81.146875] ACPI: Processor [CPU2] (supports 8 throttling states)
[ 81.146930] ACPI: Processor [CPU3] (supports 8 throttling states)
[ 81.146954] ACPI: Processor [CPU4] (supports 8 throttling states)
[ 81.147009] ACPI: Processor [CPU5] (supports 8 throttling states)
[ 81.147065] ACPI: Processor [CPU6] (supports 8 throttling states)
[ 81.147110] ACPI: Processor [CPU7] (supports 8 throttling states)

root@user0:~# modprobe acpi-cpufreq
FATAL: Error inserting acpi_cpufreq (/lib/modules/2.6.20-16-server/kernel/arch/x86_64/kernel/cpufreq/acpi-cpufreq.ko): No such device

root@user0:~# cpufreq-info
cpufrequtils 002: cpufreq-info (C) Dominik Brodowski 2004-2006
Report errors and bugs to <email address hidden>, please.
analyzing CPU 0:
  no or unknown cpufreq driver is active on this CPU
analyzing CPU 1:
  no or unknown cpufreq driver is active on this CPU
...

root@user0:~# cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 15
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU L5320 @ 1.86GHz
stepping : 7
cpu MHz : 1861.911
cache size : 4096 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 4
core id : 0
cpu cores : 4
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 10
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm syscall nx lm constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl vmx tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr dca lahf_lm
bogomips : 3726.73
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:
...

Can only speculate that they turned it off for server kernels?

[kevmitch (kevmitch)]

Looks like it's even in the latest Debian kernel (2.6.25-2-amd64). See the Debian bugtracker link above.

[graysky (da-audiophile)]

Same problem I'm having!

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/350360
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/332846

[graysky (da-audiophile)]

I figured it out! I took a clue from my /var/log/dmesg

[ 4.633657] [Firmware Bug]: BIOS needs update for CPU frequency support
[ 4.633718] ACPI Error (psloop-0136): Found unknown opcode 20 at AML address ffff88012d27c633 offset 4F, ignoring [20080926]
[ 4.633722] ACPI Error (psloop-0136): Found unknown opcode 6F at AML address ffff88012d27c638 offset 54, ignoring [20080926]
[ 4.633726] ACPI Error (psloop-0136): Found unknown opcode 20 at AML address ffff88012d27c63c offset 58, ignoring [20080926]
[ 4.633729] ACPI Error (psloop-0136): Found unknown opcode 6F at AML address ffff88012d27c640 offset 5C, ignoring [20080926]

That line that reads, "Firmware Bug: BIOS needs update for CPU frequency support" was really bugging me. So I took a risk, d/l'ed the latest BIOS for my board, flashed, reset all my custom BIOS settings, and rebooted into my new kernel. I'm now able to use acpi-cpufreq and scaling works smoothly :)

I think you can safely close this ticket and pass on the information to folks experiencing this same symptom: flash your BIOS!

[kernel-janitor (kernel-janitor)]

Hi masterone,

This bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? Can you try with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO CD images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/ .

If it remains an issue, could you run the following command from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal). It will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report.

apport-collect -p linux-image-`uname -r` 163398

Also, if you could test the latest upstream kernel available that would be great. It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please remove the 'needs-upstream-testing' tag. This can be done by clicking on the yellow pencil icon next to the tag located at the bottom of the bug description and deleting the 'needs-upstream-testing' text. Please let us know your results.

Thanks in advance.

[This is an automated message. Apologies if it has reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

This bug report was marked as Incomplete and has not had any updated comments for quite some time. As a result this bug is being closed. Please reopen if this is still an issue in the current Ubuntu release http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download . Also, please be sure to provide any requested information that may have been missing. To reopen the bug, click on the current status under the Status column and change the status back to "New". Thanks.

[This is an automated message. Apologies if it has reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]