[CentOS] Kernel or kernel-smp ?

William A. Mahaffey III wam at HiWAAY.net
Sun Aug 21 15:44:18 UTC 2005


Robert wrote:

> Since this is National Kernel Day, I have a question. No, 2 questions:
> I'm running an Asus A7N8X Deluxe ver 2 m/b with an AMD processor:
>
>     [root at mavis ~]# cat /proc/cpuinfo
>     processor       : 0
>     vendor_id       : AuthenticAMD
>     cpu family      : 6
>     model           : 10
>     model name      : AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2600+
>     stepping        : 0
>     cpu MHz         : 1912.933
>     cache size      : 512 KB
>     fdiv_bug        : no
>     hlt_bug         : no
>     f00f_bug        : no
>     coma_bug        : no
>     fpu             : yes
>     fpu_exception   : yes
>     cpuid level     : 1
>     wp              : yes
>     flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge
>     mca cmov patpse36 mmx fxsr sse syscall mmxext 3dnowext 3dnow
>     bogomips        : 3776.51
>
> For some reason, Anaconda thinks I need an smp kernel.  This is a 
> wrong-headed notion that showed up in FC1 and continued to FC2, FC3 
> and CentOS 4.  It always installs both kernels, making -smp the 
> default which I have to change to non-smp for ntpd to work right 
> (Gives off-the-chart jitter, never syncs, etc).  I have read in one 
> place or another that:
> 1. It's O.K. to run an smp kernel on a single-processor machine
> 2. The installer picks the smp kernel if the cpu flag "ht" is set -- 
> which mine isn't.
>
> So, can anyone explain why, on a fresh bare-metal install I'm blessed 
> with an smp kernel?  Also, is the statement about an smp kernel 
> running O.K. on a single processor machine pure hogwash or is there 
> something goofy about my m/b and/or processor? 
> Of course, once there is an -smp kernel installed "yum update kernel*" 
> keeps the string of luck going.
> -- 
> It is Sun Aug 21 09:48:33 CDT 2005 ratnow. The next Next-Step will
> begin in 2526087 seconds at 3:30 P.M. on Monday 9/19/2005
> at the Golden Gristle ratcheer: http://snipurl.com/ag20
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>

FWIW, SuSE (8.2, 9.2, maybe others) does the same thing :-).

-- 
	William A. Mahaffey III
---------------------------------------------------------------------
	Remember, ignorance is bliss, but
	willful ignorance is LIBERALISM !!!!

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