| MTRR (Memory Type Range Register) control |
| |
| Richard Gooch <rgooch@atnf.csiro.au> - 3 Jun 1999 |
| Luis R. Rodriguez <mcgrof@do-not-panic.com> - April 9, 2015 |
| |
| =============================================================================== |
| Phasing out MTRR use |
| |
| MTRR use is replaced on modern x86 hardware with PAT. Direct MTRR use by |
| drivers on Linux is now completely phased out, device drivers should use |
| arch_phys_wc_add() in combination with ioremap_wc() to make MTRR effective on |
| non-PAT systems while a no-op but equally effective on PAT enabled systems. |
| |
| Even if Linux does not use MTRRs directly, some x86 platform firmware may still |
| set up MTRRs early before booting the OS. They do this as some platform |
| firmware may still have implemented access to MTRRs which would be controlled |
| and handled by the platform firmware directly. An example of platform use of |
| MTRRs is through the use of SMI handlers, one case could be for fan control, |
| the platform code would need uncachable access to some of its fan control |
| registers. Such platform access does not need any Operating System MTRR code in |
| place other than mtrr_type_lookup() to ensure any OS specific mapping requests |
| are aligned with platform MTRR setup. If MTRRs are only set up by the platform |
| firmware code though and the OS does not make any specific MTRR mapping |
| requests mtrr_type_lookup() should always return MTRR_TYPE_INVALID. |
| |
| For details refer to Documentation/x86/pat.txt. |
| |
| =============================================================================== |
| |
| On Intel P6 family processors (Pentium Pro, Pentium II and later) |
| the Memory Type Range Registers (MTRRs) may be used to control |
| processor access to memory ranges. This is most useful when you have |
| a video (VGA) card on a PCI or AGP bus. Enabling write-combining |
| allows bus write transfers to be combined into a larger transfer |
| before bursting over the PCI/AGP bus. This can increase performance |
| of image write operations 2.5 times or more. |
| |
| The Cyrix 6x86, 6x86MX and M II processors have Address Range |
| Registers (ARRs) which provide a similar functionality to MTRRs. For |
| these, the ARRs are used to emulate the MTRRs. |
| |
| The AMD K6-2 (stepping 8 and above) and K6-3 processors have two |
| MTRRs. These are supported. The AMD Athlon family provide 8 Intel |
| style MTRRs. |
| |
| The Centaur C6 (WinChip) has 8 MCRs, allowing write-combining. These |
| are supported. |
| |
| The VIA Cyrix III and VIA C3 CPUs offer 8 Intel style MTRRs. |
| |
| The CONFIG_MTRR option creates a /proc/mtrr file which may be used |
| to manipulate your MTRRs. Typically the X server should use |
| this. This should have a reasonably generic interface so that |
| similar control registers on other processors can be easily |
| supported. |
| |
| |
| There are two interfaces to /proc/mtrr: one is an ASCII interface |
| which allows you to read and write. The other is an ioctl() |
| interface. The ASCII interface is meant for administration. The |
| ioctl() interface is meant for C programs (i.e. the X server). The |
| interfaces are described below, with sample commands and C code. |
| |
| =============================================================================== |
| Reading MTRRs from the shell: |
| |
| % cat /proc/mtrr |
| reg00: base=0x00000000 ( 0MB), size= 128MB: write-back, count=1 |
| reg01: base=0x08000000 ( 128MB), size= 64MB: write-back, count=1 |
| =============================================================================== |
| Creating MTRRs from the C-shell: |
| # echo "base=0xf8000000 size=0x400000 type=write-combining" >! /proc/mtrr |
| or if you use bash: |
| # echo "base=0xf8000000 size=0x400000 type=write-combining" >| /proc/mtrr |
| |
| And the result thereof: |
| % cat /proc/mtrr |
| reg00: base=0x00000000 ( 0MB), size= 128MB: write-back, count=1 |
| reg01: base=0x08000000 ( 128MB), size= 64MB: write-back, count=1 |
| reg02: base=0xf8000000 (3968MB), size= 4MB: write-combining, count=1 |
| |
| This is for video RAM at base address 0xf8000000 and size 4 megabytes. To |
| find out your base address, you need to look at the output of your X |
| server, which tells you where the linear framebuffer address is. A |
| typical line that you may get is: |
| |
| (--) S3: PCI: 968 rev 0, Linear FB @ 0xf8000000 |
| |
| Note that you should only use the value from the X server, as it may |
| move the framebuffer base address, so the only value you can trust is |
| that reported by the X server. |
| |
| To find out the size of your framebuffer (what, you don't actually |
| know?), the following line will tell you: |
| |
| (--) S3: videoram: 4096k |
| |
| That's 4 megabytes, which is 0x400000 bytes (in hexadecimal). |
| A patch is being written for XFree86 which will make this automatic: |
| in other words the X server will manipulate /proc/mtrr using the |
| ioctl() interface, so users won't have to do anything. If you use a |
| commercial X server, lobby your vendor to add support for MTRRs. |
| =============================================================================== |
| Creating overlapping MTRRs: |
| |
| %echo "base=0xfb000000 size=0x1000000 type=write-combining" >/proc/mtrr |
| %echo "base=0xfb000000 size=0x1000 type=uncachable" >/proc/mtrr |
| |
| And the results: cat /proc/mtrr |
| reg00: base=0x00000000 ( 0MB), size= 64MB: write-back, count=1 |
| reg01: base=0xfb000000 (4016MB), size= 16MB: write-combining, count=1 |
| reg02: base=0xfb000000 (4016MB), size= 4kB: uncachable, count=1 |
| |
| Some cards (especially Voodoo Graphics boards) need this 4 kB area |
| excluded from the beginning of the region because it is used for |
| registers. |
| |
| NOTE: You can only create type=uncachable region, if the first |
| region that you created is type=write-combining. |
| =============================================================================== |
| Removing MTRRs from the C-shell: |
| % echo "disable=2" >! /proc/mtrr |
| or using bash: |
| % echo "disable=2" >| /proc/mtrr |
| =============================================================================== |
| Reading MTRRs from a C program using ioctl()'s: |
| |
| /* mtrr-show.c |
| |
| Source file for mtrr-show (example program to show MTRRs using ioctl()'s) |
| |
| Copyright (C) 1997-1998 Richard Gooch |
| |
| This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify |
| it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by |
| the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or |
| (at your option) any later version. |
| |
| This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, |
| but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of |
| MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the |
| GNU General Public License for more details. |
| |
| You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License |
| along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software |
| Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. |
| |
| Richard Gooch may be reached by email at rgooch@atnf.csiro.au |
| The postal address is: |
| Richard Gooch, c/o ATNF, P. O. Box 76, Epping, N.S.W., 2121, Australia. |
| */ |
| |
| /* |
| This program will use an ioctl() on /proc/mtrr to show the current MTRR |
| settings. This is an alternative to reading /proc/mtrr. |
| |
| |
| Written by Richard Gooch 17-DEC-1997 |
| |
| Last updated by Richard Gooch 2-MAY-1998 |
| |
| |
| */ |
| #include <stdio.h> |
| #include <stdlib.h> |
| #include <string.h> |
| #include <sys/types.h> |
| #include <sys/stat.h> |
| #include <fcntl.h> |
| #include <sys/ioctl.h> |
| #include <errno.h> |
| #include <asm/mtrr.h> |
| |
| #define TRUE 1 |
| #define FALSE 0 |
| #define ERRSTRING strerror (errno) |
| |
| static char *mtrr_strings[MTRR_NUM_TYPES] = |
| { |
| "uncachable", /* 0 */ |
| "write-combining", /* 1 */ |
| "?", /* 2 */ |
| "?", /* 3 */ |
| "write-through", /* 4 */ |
| "write-protect", /* 5 */ |
| "write-back", /* 6 */ |
| }; |
| |
| int main () |
| { |
| int fd; |
| struct mtrr_gentry gentry; |
| |
| if ( ( fd = open ("/proc/mtrr", O_RDONLY, 0) ) == -1 ) |
| { |
| if (errno == ENOENT) |
| { |
| fputs ("/proc/mtrr not found: not supported or you don't have a PPro?\n", |
| stderr); |
| exit (1); |
| } |
| fprintf (stderr, "Error opening /proc/mtrr\t%s\n", ERRSTRING); |
| exit (2); |
| } |
| for (gentry.regnum = 0; ioctl (fd, MTRRIOC_GET_ENTRY, &gentry) == 0; |
| ++gentry.regnum) |
| { |
| if (gentry.size < 1) |
| { |
| fprintf (stderr, "Register: %u disabled\n", gentry.regnum); |
| continue; |
| } |
| fprintf (stderr, "Register: %u base: 0x%lx size: 0x%lx type: %s\n", |
| gentry.regnum, gentry.base, gentry.size, |
| mtrr_strings[gentry.type]); |
| } |
| if (errno == EINVAL) exit (0); |
| fprintf (stderr, "Error doing ioctl(2) on /dev/mtrr\t%s\n", ERRSTRING); |
| exit (3); |
| } /* End Function main */ |
| =============================================================================== |
| Creating MTRRs from a C programme using ioctl()'s: |
| |
| /* mtrr-add.c |
| |
| Source file for mtrr-add (example programme to add an MTRRs using ioctl()) |
| |
| Copyright (C) 1997-1998 Richard Gooch |
| |
| This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify |
| it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by |
| the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or |
| (at your option) any later version. |
| |
| This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, |
| but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of |
| MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the |
| GNU General Public License for more details. |
| |
| You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License |
| along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software |
| Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. |
| |
| Richard Gooch may be reached by email at rgooch@atnf.csiro.au |
| The postal address is: |
| Richard Gooch, c/o ATNF, P. O. Box 76, Epping, N.S.W., 2121, Australia. |
| */ |
| |
| /* |
| This programme will use an ioctl() on /proc/mtrr to add an entry. The first |
| available mtrr is used. This is an alternative to writing /proc/mtrr. |
| |
| |
| Written by Richard Gooch 17-DEC-1997 |
| |
| Last updated by Richard Gooch 2-MAY-1998 |
| |
| |
| */ |
| #include <stdio.h> |
| #include <string.h> |
| #include <stdlib.h> |
| #include <unistd.h> |
| #include <sys/types.h> |
| #include <sys/stat.h> |
| #include <fcntl.h> |
| #include <sys/ioctl.h> |
| #include <errno.h> |
| #include <asm/mtrr.h> |
| |
| #define TRUE 1 |
| #define FALSE 0 |
| #define ERRSTRING strerror (errno) |
| |
| static char *mtrr_strings[MTRR_NUM_TYPES] = |
| { |
| "uncachable", /* 0 */ |
| "write-combining", /* 1 */ |
| "?", /* 2 */ |
| "?", /* 3 */ |
| "write-through", /* 4 */ |
| "write-protect", /* 5 */ |
| "write-back", /* 6 */ |
| }; |
| |
| int main (int argc, char **argv) |
| { |
| int fd; |
| struct mtrr_sentry sentry; |
| |
| if (argc != 4) |
| { |
| fprintf (stderr, "Usage:\tmtrr-add base size type\n"); |
| exit (1); |
| } |
| sentry.base = strtoul (argv[1], NULL, 0); |
| sentry.size = strtoul (argv[2], NULL, 0); |
| for (sentry.type = 0; sentry.type < MTRR_NUM_TYPES; ++sentry.type) |
| { |
| if (strcmp (argv[3], mtrr_strings[sentry.type]) == 0) break; |
| } |
| if (sentry.type >= MTRR_NUM_TYPES) |
| { |
| fprintf (stderr, "Illegal type: \"%s\"\n", argv[3]); |
| exit (2); |
| } |
| if ( ( fd = open ("/proc/mtrr", O_WRONLY, 0) ) == -1 ) |
| { |
| if (errno == ENOENT) |
| { |
| fputs ("/proc/mtrr not found: not supported or you don't have a PPro?\n", |
| stderr); |
| exit (3); |
| } |
| fprintf (stderr, "Error opening /proc/mtrr\t%s\n", ERRSTRING); |
| exit (4); |
| } |
| if (ioctl (fd, MTRRIOC_ADD_ENTRY, &sentry) == -1) |
| { |
| fprintf (stderr, "Error doing ioctl(2) on /dev/mtrr\t%s\n", ERRSTRING); |
| exit (5); |
| } |
| fprintf (stderr, "Sleeping for 5 seconds so you can see the new entry\n"); |
| sleep (5); |
| close (fd); |
| fputs ("I've just closed /proc/mtrr so now the new entry should be gone\n", |
| stderr); |
| } /* End Function main */ |
| =============================================================================== |