[PATCH RFC] x86/AMD: write PAT after ucode update

[PATCH RFC] x86/AMD: write PAT after ucode update

[Jan Beulich]

The increased number of messages (spec_ctrl.c:print_details()) within a
certain time window made me notice some slowness of boot time screen
output. Experimentally I've narrowed the time window to be from
immediately after the early ucode update on the BSP to the PAT write in
cpu_init(). For that reason, as a workaround, write PAT with its
designated value immediately after the ucode load.

Similar slowness cannot be observed on APs.

Signed-off-by: Jan Beulich <jbeulich@suse.com>
---
RFC: Preferably to be confirmed by AMD.
---
Will need re-basing on top of Andrew's patch eliminating host_pat, if
that goes in earlier.

--- a/xen/arch/x86/microcode_amd.c
+++ b/xen/arch/x86/microcode_amd.c
@@ -226,6 +226,13 @@ static int apply_microcode(unsigned int
         return -EIO;
     }
 
+    /*
+     * Experimentally this helps with performance issues on at least certain
+     * Fam15 models. Oddly enough only the BSP is affected, but to be on the
+     * safe side, do the write uniformly.
+     */
+    wrmsrl(MSR_IA32_CR_PAT, host_pat);
+
     printk(KERN_WARNING "microcode: CPU%d updated from revision %#x to %#x\n",
            cpu, uci->cpu_sig.rev, hdr->patch_id);
 





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