Linux Driver Revived For Finally Being Able To Read DDR4 Memory SPD Data

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Linux Driver Revived For Finally Being Able To Read DDR4 Memory SPD Data

DDR4 memory has been around for several years already yet the mainline Linux kernel doesn't have a driver for reading the SPD EEPROMs abiding by the JEDEC EE1004 standard as used by DDR4 SDRAM memory modules...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Linux-DDR4-SPD-Driver-EE1004

[rene]

Is it just the web archive view, or is the patch whitespace mangled? Also this is just for informational purposes anyway, not that it would have any functional effect to a running Linux system, … more like let's poke what info is in this ICs, …

[Aeder]

Is it just the web archive view, or is the patch whitespace mangled? Also this is just for informational purposes anyway, not that it would have any functional effect to a running Linux system, … more like let's poke what info is in this ICs, …

It's probably useful when it comes to providing support to a user with an unstable system and you want him to quickly check that his RAM memory isn't misconfigured.

[some_canuck]

I thought you could already get this data from dmidecode, odd that we need a driver for it.

[rene]

It's probably useful when it comes to providing support to a user with an unstable system and you want him to quickly check that his RAM memory isn't misconfigured.

I do not think so, because the data is static, it does not reflect what is currently configured. DMIdecode may show what is currently configured, if the BIOS updates the table accordingly.

[rene]

I thought you could already get this data from dmidecode, odd that we need a driver for it.

DMI only shows what the BIOS stores in the tables. This may or not be correct. You know, BIOS code quality, ...

[Sonadow]

Do we really need a driver for this?

Stuff like this really only is relevant to the processor (especially Ryzen and Threadripper), which in turn depends on UEFI.

Don't see any use for an OS-level driver.

[Jabberwocky]

Do we really need a driver for this?

Stuff like this really only is relevant to the processor (especially Ryzen and Threadripper), which in turn depends on UEFI.

Don't see any use for an OS-level driver.

Like Aeder and Rene said, it can be used to identify a misconfiguration/stability issue. Not everyone builds and configures hardware in house before shipping it to a data centre. It's very useful if you maintain systems remotely and depend on 3rd party to build/maintain hardware configurations.

PS: These days UEFI is a polished turd at best, it was forced into the industry without proper design.

[numacross]

Do we really need a driver for this?

Stuff like this really only is relevant to the processor (especially Ryzen and Threadripper), which in turn depends on UEFI.

Don't see any use for an OS-level driver.

The processor gets this information in a different way. Getting this information directly from the modules is very useful for inventory purposes. Or imagine you want to expand your RAM and don't want to open the case to look directly at the sticks you bough years ago.

Not to mention that we can't be worse than Windows now can we?