CPU Frequency on FreeBSD 5.4 and MSVS 2005 R2

[Tamouh H.]

> > I've been able to run couple of successful tests installing 
> FreeBSD 4.x and 5.x on Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 , 
> however, I've noticed for some reason FreeBSD is not 
> detecting the actual CPU speed:
> >
> > -------------------
> > FreeBSD 5.4-STABLE #0: Mon Jan 30 22:32:31 EST 2006
> >     msupport at freebsd.mssitename.com:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/INTERNDC
> > Timecounter "i8254" frequency 1193182 Hz quality 0
> >
> > CPU: Intel Pentium III Xeon (593.19-MHz 686-class CPU)
> >   Origin = "GenuineIntel"  Id = 0x6a4  Stepping = 4
> >   
> > 
> Features=0x380a97b<FPU,VME,PSE,TSC,MSR,PAE,CX8,SEP,PGE,CMOV,MMX,FXSR,S
> > SE>
> >
> > real memory  = 824115200 (785 MB)
> > avail memory = 796700672 (759 MB)
> > npx0: <math processor> on motherboard
> > npx0: INT 16 interface
> > acpi0: <A M I OEMRSDT> on motherboard
> > acpi0: Power Button (fixed)
> > Timecounter "ACPI-safe" frequency 3579545 Hz quality 1000
> > ------------
> >
> > The frequency should be 900MHz. The BIOS does not state CPU 
> frequency, nor the boot sequence.
> >
> > In fact, if I reboot the FreeBSD virtual machine, the 
> frequency would be different (sometimes 460MHz , others 
> 550MHz...etc). I think this is causing a considerable 
> degradation in the FreeBSD speed.
> >
> > Any suggestions in this regard ?  MSFT doesn't officially 
> support FreeBSD, but I'm aware they support Linux on their 
> virtual server.
> >
> 
> It's typical for the cpu speed to very inside a virtual 
> machine, VMware does this all the time, typically it's 0 ~ 
> 100MHz off, but yours is way off... I did know the answer to 
> this question but don't remember, sorry. try a google search 
> for VMware and cpu speed or frequency.

I have been able to fix issues with the time counter by adding disabling

device	apic

and adding these lines:

options	SYSVSHM
options	SYSVMSG
options	CPU_DISABLE_CMPXCHG
device	cpufreq

However, the issue with the CPU speed not picked up properly is still there:

freebsd# sysctl hw.clockrate
hw.clockrate: 486

Any other options I can play with to change the CPU frequency ?

Thanks

Tamouh