출처 : www.viahardware.com
리눅스커널에서 AGP와 관련된 페이징 문제가 발견되었다고 합니다.
이전에 AMD에서 발표한 윈도우 2000용 AGP 패치가 있는데 그것이 지금의 현상과
같은 문제를 해결하기 위해 발표된 것이라고 합니다.
말에는 약간 망가진(?) 프로세서들이 그런다고 하는데 낭설인거 같구...
문제의 핵심은 이렇습니다.
펜티엄 급으로 부상하면서 페이징 사이즈의 크기가 이전의 4킬로바이트에서
4메가바이트로 올라간 확장페이징모드가 추가되었는데 이 모드를 윈 2000이나
리눅스에서 사용한다고 합니다. 이 모드는 AGP와 밀접한 관련이 있어 안정성
문제가 발생한다고 하는군여. 2000용 AGP패치는 2000의 레지스트리를 수정
이 기능을 무능화시켜 이전의 4킬로바이트 페이징을 사용함으로써 문제를
해결하는것인데 이번의 새로운 리눅스커널에서 같은 방법이 쓰인다고 합니다.
참고하시길...
Gentoo Linux has posted a report that claims there is an bug in the Athlon processor family (affecting Athlon, AthlonXP, MP, and Duron) that prevents the chip from using Extended Paging when AGP is also in use.
A quick check of the MS Knowledge Base and the AMD website reveals easy access to a solution but not much data about the cause of the problem.
The article, overall, is useful and I recommend checking it out if you're a Linux user having trouble on an AMD system, but the author makes one comment I find simply absurd:
"Here's something that's even more unsettling -- consider what kind of Linux users actually use AGP. That's right -- desktop users. And in what area has Linux been struggling? Yes, the desktop. One wonders how many negative desktop Linux experiences have resulted from this unfortunate problem."
Probably not too many. In order for the above to be applicable, it would have to be shown that the majority of Linux desktop users are also AMD users.
Furthermore, it ignores some basic facts about the OS market. The reason Linux is struggling on the desktop is because not one OEM offers it as a primary OS. Some DO offer it as a secondary alternative (a positive step) but none of the Top 10 OEM's sell Linux as a primary system.
Furthermore, Linux still has a reputation for being difficult to use. From what I understand, the OS has come a very long way in recent years but it will have to come further still before the mass market will embrace it.
Finally, there is the simple fact that most computer users are barely literate about computers at all. Having learned to operate on OS at the minimal level in which to function they are completely intimidated and unwilling to learn another product.
There is a desktop, enthusiast market for Linux. One day, there may be a desktop non-enthusiast market for it as well. But until the day when Linux overcomes its own reputation as a fringe OS as well as the technical ignorance of the vast majority of computer "users" it will not be a mainstream desktop product.
This is not a defense of a Linux bug--clearly AMD has a problem they need to address--but blaming the low acceptance of Linux on AMD is a rather foolish thing to do--there are much larger causes..
