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Saturday, August 20, 2011

AMD Phenom II optimized 64bit kernel 3.0.3 ubuntu packages for testing

Someone asked in the comments if the i7 optimized kernel will run on AMD phenom six core. i7 optimized will run only on i3, i5 or i7 processors.

Here is a build optimized for amd phenom 2. I dont have amd phenom processor to test. So feel free to test yourself. In case of errors, reboot into Ubuntu default kernel

If it works for you great, post in the comment about your experience

Here is what I did to optimize the amd phenom 2 compilation of kernel

I took the safe cflags from Gentoo Wiki for march settings and built the kernel

http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/Safe_Cflags/AMD#23xx_Quad-Core_Barcelona

From the wiki I understood, amdfam10 or barcelona is used for latest phenom chips (I may be wrong)


The following are the configuration settings


  1. Processor is selected as K8
  2. Makefile and Makefile_32.cpu modified to reflect march settings to barcelona for K8 processor
  3. Configuration of oneiric kernel is taken as base. See the kernel ppa for 3.0.3 here, http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.0.3-oneiric
  4. Kernel Timer Frequency is 100 HZ
  1. Changed to use SLAB allocator instead of SLUB (as this seems to give a speed boost in my barcelona processor and SLAB is proven to work everywhere)

How to install


To install go into the directory where the header, header all and linux image deb are downloaded, just give

sudo dpkg -i *.deb



I have provided a Readme.pdf and Readme.odt in the dropbox download link which is in detail for whoever wishes

Dropbox download links


SHA256SUMS as text
56e98c00d05179cc7ad1799df261e405eb1c319283ddd2869c90d17c6fff8a7e  BuildKernel3.0.3.sh
9d3ee43079a1fe0f0d1a1821c9d0705ef86a66d78bd00ccdf1dcb975082d9871  linux-headers-3.0.3-030003_3.0.3-030003.201108180913_all.deb
345fafa7ab1cf0b36e9488d4c8c1684cbf19a751d98fd9597acbf13053516656  linux-headers-3.0.3-030003-barcelona_3.0.3-030003.201108180913_amd64.deb
0d933a931fbe8d151454303d1cf0efdd67f8e5c2f63bb42351edaedce4914242  linux-image-3.0.3-030003-barcelona_3.0.3-030003.201108180913_amd64.deb
adb017be7f2fe285435eceedb88c963bd1c2f94f138b2b3d7789f795e1474d56  Readme.odt
ca0f10413393e9b98f82000031b5e2314f75a0c2acdb557f2e2d784fff9fd7ff  Readme.pdf



19 comments:

  1. Hi i am the anonymous that requested the amd phenom kernel.
    I am using dell xps studio 7100 AMD Phenom™ II X6 six-core processor with AMD Turbo Core technology.
    I hope this is enough info to build the kernel.

    ReplyDelete
  2. :)

    Can you give a try and tell if this is working, I dont have AMD processor

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is the results i got - fglrx (8.840)... [fail]

    Studio-XPS-7100:~/Kernel3$ sudo dpkg -i *.deb

    Selecting previously deselected package linux-headers-3.0.3-030003.
    (Reading database ... 259462 files and directories currently installed.)
    Unpacking linux-headers-3.0.3-030003 (from linux-headers-3.0.3-030003_3.0.3-030003.201108180913_all.deb) ...
    Selecting previously deselected package linux-headers-3.0.3-030003-barcelona.
    Unpacking linux-headers-3.0.3-030003-barcelona (from linux-headers-3.0.3-030003-barcelona_3.0.3-030003.201108180913_amd64.deb) ...
    Selecting previously deselected package linux-image-3.0.3-030003-barcelona.
    Unpacking linux-image-3.0.3-030003-barcelona (from linux-image-3.0.3-030003-barcelona_3.0.3-030003.201108180913_amd64.deb) ...
    Done.
    Setting up linux-headers-3.0.3-030003 (3.0.3-030003.201108180913) ...
    Setting up linux-headers-3.0.3-030003-barcelona (3.0.3-030003.201108180913) ...
    Examining /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d.
    run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/dkms 3.0.3-030003-barcelona /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    * dkms: running auto installation service for kernel 3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    * virtualbox-ose-guest (4.0.4)... [ OK ]
    * fglrx (8.840)... [fail]
    * vboxhost (4.1.2)... [ OK ]
    run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/nvidia-common 3.0.3-030003-barcelona /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    Setting up linux-image-3.0.3-030003-barcelona (3.0.3-030003.201108180913) ...
    Running depmod.
    update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    Examining /etc/kernel/postinst.d.
    run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms 3.0.3-030003-barcelona /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    * dkms: running auto installation service for kernel 3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    * virtualbox-ose-guest (4.0.4)... [ OK ]
    * fglrx (8.840)... [fail]
    * vboxhost (4.1.2)... [ OK ]
    run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools 3.0.3-030003-barcelona /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/nvidia-common 3.0.3-030003-barcelona /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/pm-utils 3.0.3-030003-barcelona /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/update-notifier 3.0.3-030003-barcelona /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-update-grub 3.0.3-030003-barcelona /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    Generating grub.cfg ...
    Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-11-generic
    Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-11-generic
    Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-9-generic
    Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-9-generic
    Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin
    done

    ReplyDelete
  4. Can you try with the fglrx from oneiric repository. If you donno how to do that, you can easily try sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates

    and update to latest fglrx

    ReplyDelete
  5. still got the same error:

    * fglrx (8.850)... [fail]

    ReplyDelete
  6. I see, oneiric has 8.872, not 8.850

    http://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=fglrx&searchon=names&suite=oneiric&section=all

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ok, I faced similar problem with natty and nvidia, then I upgraded my nvidia drivers using x updates ppa. Then it started working

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great Experiment man. It work.Thx.
    I am using version fglrx 8.881 from support.amd.com. it seems amd has a linux beta installer for the card.

    here's the result:

    Setting up linux-headers-3.0.3-030003-barcelona (3.0.3-030003.201108180913) ...
    Examining /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d.
    run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/dkms 3.0.3-030003-barcelona /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    * dkms: running auto installation service for kernel 3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    * vboxhost (4.0.12)... [ OK ]
    * fglrx (8.881)... [ OK ]
    * virtualbox-ose-guest (4.0.4)... [ OK ]
    run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/nvidia-common 3.0.3-030003-barcelona /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    Setting up linux-image-3.0.3-030003-barcelona (3.0.3-030003.201108180913) ...
    Running depmod.
    update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    Examining /etc/kernel/postinst.d.
    run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms 3.0.3-030003-barcelona /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    * dkms: running auto installation service for kernel 3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    * vboxhost (4.0.12)... [ OK ]
    * fglrx (8.881)... [ OK ]
    * virtualbox-ose-guest (4.0.4)... [ OK ]
    run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools 3.0.3-030003-barcelona /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/nvidia-common 3.0.3-030003-barcelona /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/pm-utils 3.0.3-030003-barcelona /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/update-notifier 3.0.3-030003-barcelona /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-update-grub 3.0.3-030003-barcelona /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    Generating grub.cfg ...
    Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-3.0.3-030003-barcelona
    Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-9-generic
    Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-9-generic
    Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin
    done

    ReplyDelete
  9. Using this kernal, it seems while using opera browser turbo mode on. The ram memory will suddenly increase. In my case i've got 8 gig of ram but when the turbo mode is activated. Ram usage will jump to 7.5 gig plus swap file will goto 40%.
    not sure how to remedy this.

    ReplyDelete
  10. i changed from the custom kernel to the generic. Seems to work much better. no problem with Opera Browser turbo mode.
    It seems my processor is K10

    ReplyDelete
  11. worked perfectly in ubuntu 10.10 64bit.
    I'm using AMD Turion II M500 (K10 family)

    Thank you!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is a phenom, not a opteron barcelona !
    I think it should be "Deneb" (X4) or "Thuban" (X6):
    http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/Safe_Cflags/AMD#Athlon_X2_7x50.2C_Phenom_X3.2FX4.2C_Phenom_II.2C_Athlon_II_X2.2FX3.2FX4.2C_Turion_II

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess instruction set barcelona includes optimizations for phenom, will check during this weekend

      Delete
  13. I see changes(Cool'n'Quiet, DDR3 etc...), and "k8" has been used and not "k8 -msse3 -msse4a".

    Now it is advisable to use "amdfam10".

    Best regards.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Will add this target and build with 3.4.6 kernel, should be fun, thanks for pointing and I could not verify as I dont have amd processor

      :)

      Delete
  14. I tested and I see no change in "/proc/cpuinfo".
    In everything the cases I can not have "sse3" in "/proc/cpuinfo", weird.

    I found this track for sse3:
    http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-894082-view-previous.html

    ReplyDelete