The Linux Kernel Getting Fixed Up For Booting On Some Intel Systems - No "8254"

There have been Linux reports of problems pertaining to "8254 Clock Gating" going back a while but more so recently. This problem is some newer Intel Skylake~Apollolake derived systems particularly with Intel SoCs where certain systems ship with the 8254 PIT to be gated via a special register and up until now that has caused Linux to fail to boot.

With the PIT gating by default, Linux would fail to boot with a kernel panic over "IO-APIC + timer doesn't work!" But as this panic would happen before the frame-buffer is even setup, it would be hard for users to diagnose and workaround. There has been a workaround often of toggling the "8254 Clock Gating" option within the affected systems' BIOS. But now there's a kernel patch pending to make Linux happy in the no-8254 configuration.

The patch contains additional details for those interested. That fix is currently queuing in the x86/apic tree. Given an uptick in recent reports around "8254 clock gating" woes appearing in Google search results, good to see Linux getting fixed for these Intel systems.