net6501: Timer problems with Debian, no HPET support detected

[George-191]

Hi

I tried Debian/Ubuntu with different kernels 2.6.32 and 2.6.38 on net6501-70 BIOS 1.41a. All do not detect the HPET.

Kernel timer interrupt frequency is approx. 1000 Hz instead of 4000 Hz or higher with LowLatency kernel. Same kernels on other motherboards work fine.

cat /proc/timer_list does not list hpet and shows
.resolution: 999848 nsecs instead of 1 nsecs

Any workaround?

Regards George

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[Chris Boot]

On 10 Mar 2012, at 11:30, George <sentosa95@...> wrote:

> Hi
>
> I tried Debian/Ubuntu with different kernels 2.6.32 and 2.6.38 on net6501-70 BIOS 1.41a. All do not detect the HPET.
>
> Kernel timer interrupt frequency is approx. 1000 Hz instead of 4000 Hz or higher with LowLatency kernel. Same kernels on other motherboards work fine.
>
> cat /proc/timer_list does not list hpet and shows
> .resolution: 999848 nsecs instead of 1 nsecs
>
> Any workaround?

Disclaimer: I don't have a net6501.

I think you really want a later kernel than the ones in Debian Squeeze. You can either get a 3.2 kernel from backports.debian.org, or you could upgrade to wheezy. There are many issues with earlier kernels that mean the very new hardware in the 6501 isn't fully supported.

You should also grab the latest firmware for the 6501 from the Soekris web site. There may be beta firmware that will work better for you, as well.

Chris

--
Chris Boot
bootc@...

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[Frank Schuhmann]

Hi George,

perhaps you will do a list search for the following:

Author: Wim Vandeputte
Subject: [Soekris] net6501 - Linux 2.6.32-5-686 (Debian 2.6.32-35squeeze2)
= 2 messages

Author: Karl Auerbach
Subject: [Soekris] Linux on Net6501
= 2 messages

Is the bios from the Soekris net6501 ACPI conform? (If not shame on me)

Did you first install on another machine (Hardware) the OS and put this
medium (HDD/SSD) in the Soekris box?

<http://www.vdr-wiki.de/wiki/index.php/ACPI_Wakeup> is written in German but
declares the HEPT problematic
on some hardware at the example with Debian Linux very fine and shows some main
boards with and without support.

Or have a quick look at <https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=12013>
(English)

Did this main board have special options for enable and disable the HPET
in the bios and at the Soekris hardware this options should now be changed?

Wim Vandeputte was using the Debian 6.0 kernel version - 2.6.32-5-686 for a
test.
Karl Auerbach: wrote

>" I've now got Linux 3.0.8 up and running (in 32-bit mode) on the Net6501."
>"I had to apply the patch below to fix the kernel panic problem."

At some main boards HPET must be disabled by setting the kernel parameter
hpet=disabled,
it is not enough to discard this option during the kernel configuration, because
the RTC driver
does emulating a HPET device.

I hope this was helping you out.

--
Kind regards

Frank


> -----Original Message-----
> From: soekris-tech-bounces@... [mailto:soekris-tech-
> bounces@...] On Behalf Of George
> Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2012 12:31 PM
> To: soekris-tech@...
> Subject: [Soekris] net6501: Timer problems with Debian, no HPET support
detected
>
> Hi
>
> I tried Debian/Ubuntu with different kernels 2.6.32 and 2.6.38 on net6501-70
BIOS 1.41a.
> All do not detect the HPET.
>
> Kernel
>  timer interrupt frequency is approx. 1000 Hz instead of 4000 Hz or higher
with
> LowLatency kernel. Same kernels on other motherboards work fine.
>
> cat /proc/timer_list does not list hpet and shows
> .resolution: 999848 nsecs instead of 1 nsecs
>
> Any workaround?
>
> Regards George

 

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[George-191]

Thank you Chris.

 I found no newer firmware than 1.41a on soekris downloads and I need a 2.6 kernel due to compatibility of own software (kernel driver).

Kind Regards

George


On 10.03.2012, at 15:34, Chris Boot <bootc@...> wrote:

> On 10 Mar 2012, at 11:30, George <sentosa95@...> wrote:
>
>> Hi
>>
>> I tried Debian/Ubuntu with different kernels 2.6.32 and 2.6.38 on net6501-70 BIOS 1.41a. All do not detect the HPET.
>>
>> Kernel timer interrupt frequency is approx. 1000 Hz instead of 4000 Hz or higher with LowLatency kernel. Same kernels on other motherboards work fine.
>>
>> cat /proc/timer_list does not list hpet and shows
>> .resolution: 999848 nsecs instead of 1 nsecs
>>
>> Any workaround?
>
> Disclaimer: I don't have a net6501.
>
> I think you really want a later kernel than the ones in Debian Squeeze. You can either get a 3.2 kernel from backports.debian.org, or you could upgrade to wheezy. There are many issues with earlier kernels that mean the very new hardware in the 6501 isn't fully supported.
>
> You should also grab the latest firmware for the 6501 from the Soekris web site. There may be beta firmware that will work better for you, as well.
>
> Chris
>
> --
> Chris Boot
> bootc@...
>

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[Peter Neubauer-5]

Linux depends on an ACPI BIOS to provide configuration for the HPET.  The net6501 does not support ACPI, so Linux does not use the HPET.

However, I've created a patch (attached) for Linux 3.2 that enables HPET on the net6501.  I've been running with this patch for several months and have no problems.

-Peter

On 3/10/2012 3:30 AM, George wrote:

I tried Debian/Ubuntu with different kernels 2.6.32 and 2.6.38 on net6501-70 BIOS 1.41a. All do not detect the HPET.

Kernel timer interrupt frequency is approx. 1000 Hz instead of 4000 Hz or higher with LowLatency kernel. Same kernels on other motherboards work fine.

cat /proc/timer_list does not list hpet and shows
.resolution: 999848 nsecs instead of 1 nsecs

--- linux-3.2-rc4/arch/x86/kernel/quirks.c 2011-12-01 14:56:01.000000000 -0800
+++ patched_quirks.c 2011-12-30 10:00:43.000000000 -0800
@@ -508,6 +508,20 @@
 DECLARE_PCI_FIXUP_HEADER(PCI_VENDOR_ID_ATI, PCI_DEVICE_ID_ATI_SBX00_SMBUS,
  force_disable_hpet_msi);
 
+
+static void e6xx_force_enable_hpet(struct pci_dev *dev)
+{
+ if (hpet_address || force_hpet_address)
+ return;
+
+ force_hpet_address = 0xfed00000;
+ force_hpet_resume_type = NONE_FORCE_HPET_RESUME;
+ dev_printk(KERN_DEBUG, &dev->dev, "Force enabled HPET at "
+ "0x%lx\n", force_hpet_address);
+}
+
+DECLARE_PCI_FIXUP_HEADER(PCI_VENDOR_ID_INTEL, 0x8183, e6xx_force_enable_hpet);
+
 #endif
 
 #if defined(CONFIG_PCI) && defined(CONFIG_NUMA)

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[Darryl Miles]

Peter Neubauer wrote:
> Linux depends on an ACPI BIOS to provide configuration for the HPET. The
> net6501 does not support ACPI, so Linux does not use the HPET.

Great news on the patch.


What is the reason for not having ACPI ?



Darryl
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[Chris Cappuccio]

Darryl Miles [darryl-mailinglists@...] wrote:
> Peter Neubauer wrote:
> > Linux depends on an ACPI BIOS to provide configuration for the HPET. The
> > net6501 does not support ACPI, so Linux does not use the HPET.
>
> Great news on the patch.
>
>
> What is the reason for not having ACPI ?
>

There is no use for it on the net6501. The BIOS implementation is a lot of work.
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