Australian PC World - K6 bug plagues propellerheads only

K6 bug plagues propellerheads only

Tip
Is your new Advanced Micro Devices K6 processor buggy? AMD released an errata sheet describing maths errors in early versions of the K6 (http://www.amd.com/K6/k6docs/pdf/21266f.pdf). But so far, the only real-world problem the error causes is that Linux users can't compile the OS's source code using the gcc compiler on PCs with more than 32Mb RAM. Why, it's enough to melt your shirt-pocket protector!
Ivlynn Yap Cheng Theng, AMD's South Asia Pacific Public Relations Manager, writes: "We have observed that the conditions necessary for this problem to occur are rare and only occasionally arise while recompiling the Linux core.This erratum was identified by our validation team and communicated to our customers early this year. A design change that fixes the erratum has been identified and is implemented in the current shipping revision of the AMD-K6 processor." The company will replace K6 chips if users are affected by the problem, but since AMD has no local support line, customers will need to call the US on (408) 749 3060. For independent bug reports and scuttlebutt, see "A Weird K6 Bug" at
http://www.chorus.com/~poulot/k6bug.html.
Intel and Cyrix CPUs aren't immune from bugs either (sorry -- errata). In particular, Pentium Pro and Pentium II owners should check out
http://www.intel.com/design/news/flag/. For the best information on Cyrix processors, see Bryan Davis's encyclopaedic Cyrix Upgrade Advice Guide at
http://www.alternativecpu.com.
- Scott Spanbauer and Neville Clarkson

Category: Bugs and fixes
Issue: Feb 1998
Pages: 179