How/why would dev.cpu.0.freq_levels change??!?

[David Wolfskill]

On Mon, Jun 30, 2008 at 03:24:11PM +1000, Ian Smith wrote:
> ...
>  > * As you can see, this can lead to the "interesting" situation that the
>  >   current CPU frequency is higher than the maximum "available."
> 
> Perhaps just morbid curiousity, but I'm wondering which cpufreq drivers
> this machine winds up using (acpi_perf or est/p4tcc or .. ?)
> 
>   grep -i acpi /var/run/dmesg.boot ?
>   sysctl hw.acpi ?

I've placed copies of the dmesg.boot from each of RELENG_6, RELENG_7,
and HEAD in www.catwhisker.org:~david/public_html/FreeBSD, as well
as copies of the kernel configs (joining the ASL/DSDT stuff).  I
just added output from "sysctl hw.acpi" from each, as well:

bunrab(4.11-S)[3] ls -l laptop.i8200.*
-rw-r--r--  1 david  staff  91343 Jun 29 17:22 laptop.i8200.asl
-rw-r--r--  1 david  staff  28033 Jun 30 06:51 laptop.i8200.dmesg.boot.6
-rw-r--r--  1 david  staff  30401 Jun 30 06:54 laptop.i8200.dmesg.boot.7
-rw-r--r--  1 david  staff  34133 Jun 30 07:41 laptop.i8200.dmesg.boot.8
-rw-r--r--  1 david  staff  12622 Jun 29 17:22 laptop.i8200.dsdt
-rw-r--r--  1 david  staff    975 Jun 30 08:55 laptop.i8200.hw.acpi.6
-rw-r--r--  1 david  staff    974 Jun 30 08:57 laptop.i8200.hw.acpi.7
-rw-r--r--  1 david  staff    976 Jun 30 09:08 laptop.i8200.hw.acpi.8
-rw-r--r--  1 david  staff   9502 May  7 15:05 laptop.i8200.kernel.6
-rw-r--r--  1 david  staff   9154 Jun  8  2007 laptop.i8200.kernel.7
-rw-r--r--  1 david  staff   9399 Jan 12 17:26 laptop.i8200.kernel.8
bunrab(4.11-S)[4] 

>...
> Had a quick look at your .asl, doesn't mean much to me, but I wonder
> 
>   . are you running the latest BIOS/ACPI upgrade available from Dell?
>         "Project: DELL Mojave",
>         "Date: 01/28/1998",
>         "Ver: 1.00.04"

Errr... hmmm?  The machine shows "BIOS Version: A11".

>   . might you have any BIOS settings re performance/economy/cooling set?

My settings under "Power Management" (in the BIOS config/setup menus):

                    BATTERY       AC
                    _______       __
      Brightness: [XXXXX   ]  [XXXXXXX ]
Power Management:   Enabled     Enabled
Display Time-Out:  4 Minutes   Disabled
   Disk Time-Out:  3 Minutes   Disabled
Suspend Time-Out:  Disabled    Disabled
    22D Time-Out:  Disabled    Disabled
  Smart CPU Mode:   Enabled     Enabled
   Display Close:   Active      Active 


  Ring/Event Resume:         Enabled
       Alarm Resume:         Enabled
      Wakeup On LAN:        Disabled
Intel SpeedStep(tm):         Enabled
          CPU on AC:        Automatic
     CPU on Battery:        Automatic
       Auto On Mode:        Disabled
       Auto On Time:          00:00


Most of the above are defaults; I disabled Suspend & S2D on battery,
as well as told it to remain active on battery if I shut the lid.
Everything else should be a default setting.

>   . not running it in a dock are you?

I am not running it in a docking station or port replicator.

> From what you've described, it almost sounds like a hardware temperature
> sensor may have failed, or be reporting wrong, or something .. as this
> has only appeared recently, either something's broken, or perhaps you've
> inadvertantly changed something?  You did mention having been inside ..
> did that go as far as re-pasting the CPU or other heatsinks?

I did not see how to get the CPU heat sink off, so I didn't mess with
that.

I did remove the keyboard, and it appears that the keyboard acts as a
secondary heat sink for the video card; I did clean both surfaces (the
chip & the underside of the keyboard) and place a thin layer of thermal
compound on the chip before re-seating the keyboard.  That does not
appear to have had a noticable effect either way.

Thanks for the help so far.

I'm getting the distinct impression that it's likely that some of the
hardware is failing, and that I either need to have the machine repaired
by someone competent to do so (as opposed to me) or I need to consider
replacing it.  (There are, after all, significant parts of the machine
that are over 5 years old.  And I've been tracking various FreeBSD
branches on it just about daily as long as I've had it and it's been
working.)

Peace,
david
-- 
David H. Wolfskill				david at catwhisker.org
I submit that "conspiracy" would be an appropriate collective noun for cats.

See http://www.catwhisker.org/~david/publickey.gpg for my public key.
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