Tue, 19 Oct 2004
microcode.ctl
Intel CPUs have a feature which allows them to be updated with bug fixes on the fly. Now, most people probably could care less if they have a fully updated CPU or not, so long as it works. However, then it comes out that the CPU doesn’t always work (scroll down to the x86 CPU detection section).
The Debian [microcode.ctl] package installs the userland microcode loader and
downloads the current microcode from Debian’s servers. It’s worth checking
http://www.urbanmyth.com/microcode/ for updates every so often; they
aren’t annnounced very widely. If there is a new one, just download it,
bzunzip2 it, and put it in /usr/share/misc/microcode.dat. Then run
/etc/init.d/microcode.ctl start, and your CPU will be fully patched.