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News BSD coder finds AMD processor bug

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by brumgrunt, 6 Mar 2012.

  1. brumgrunt

    brumgrunt What's a Dremel?

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  2. B1GBUD

    B1GBUD ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Accidentally Funny

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    I doubt he'll be rewarded for his efforts!!

    Should that read "can create a condition where the processor incorrectly updates the stack pointer."
     
  3. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Yes. Yes, it should. Fixed, ta!
     
  4. Amsalpedalb

    Amsalpedalb What's a Dremel?

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    So exactly which CPUs does this affect?
     
  5. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    AMD hasn't said yet; we'll have to wait for the updated errata document to be sure.
     
  6. Harlequin

    Harlequin Modder

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  7. k4p84

    k4p84 What's a Dremel?

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    We all make mistakes, it seems a rather specific set of instructions needed to occur to cause a bug so it would seem unlikely that it would happen much IRL. At least they said cheers for finding a bug !
     
  8. Paradigm Shifter

    Paradigm Shifter de nihilo nihil fit

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    All CPUs have errata lists that seem to go on forever. I'm impressed with the professionalism of both Dillon and AMD in this case; I'd have half expected the developer to go running to the internet media and bring down a firestorm. Instead, he works for a year to isolate it, then works with the manufacturer to validate the issue.

    It's not exactly a scenario that is going to happen very often, though - at least consumers won't have anything to worry about if it only happens on >=48 core systems...
     
  9. NethLyn

    NethLyn Minimodder

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    That's all right then, as long as it's not going to affect my gaming it's hard to be worried about this issue, both chip firms give you more or less lifetime guarantees anyway if you're not overclocking.

    They should offer him a job :)
     
  10. thehippoz

    thehippoz What's a Dremel?

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    good find
     
  11. SpAceman

    SpAceman What's a Dremel?

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    I'm impressed at how well he kept his cool.. Segmentation faults can be.. Stressful.
    Must have been somewhat of a relief when he finally figured out it wasn't his code stuffing up.
     
  12. Adnoctum

    Adnoctum Kill_All_Humans

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    Where's his reward for finding your erratum?
     
  13. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    It's that warm glow of self-satisfaction you get. You know the one. That's the reward.*

    * Reward has no cash value. Not redeemable for cash. No alternative will be offered. Limit one per household. Limited time offer. No purchase necessary. See website for details. May contain nuts. Keep out of reach of children. Offer void where prohibited.
     
  14. Houndofhell

    Houndofhell One Particle to Rule Them All

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    I'd best be looking out for it then.

    Any word on which CPUs in particular are affected?
     
  15. DbD

    DbD Minimodder

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    Who knows - it doesn't announce itself, it just makes your machine crash. Perhaps it's effected plenty of people with random crashes?
     
  16. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Article updated with a response from AMD - seems it affects the previous four generations of Opteron chips, but not the new Bulldozer-based parts. No desktop or laptop parts affected, either.
     
  17. Christopher N. Lew

    Christopher N. Lew Folding in memory of my father

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    So my new-build 'Mangy-Cours' machine is broken before I've even finished putting it together?!
     
  18. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Only if you're doing something so rare and specific it took an experienced coder a year just to find a reliable test case...
     
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