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   From: "Dariusz Piatkowski"    
      
   Jonathan,   
      
   On Tue, 9 Aug 2011 09:39:25 UTC, Jonathan de Boyne Pollard    
    wrote:   
      
   > >> My machine is NOT configured to support ACPI, however, setting my   
   > >> BIOS to ACPI enabled and using MPS map 1.4 seems to produce an   
   > >> otherwise pretty darn stable system. [...]   
   > >   
   > > So you have ACPI disabled even though having it enabled is more stable?   
   >    
   > The last time around, M. Piatkowski said APIC, not ACPI.  I pointed out    
   > then that xe shouldn't be mixing up xyr initialisms.  Disabling the    
   > Advanced Configuration and Power Interface is a very different kettle of    
   > fish to disabling any use of Advanced Programmable Interrupt    
   > Controllers.  It's actually the latter that M. Piatkowski is doing.   
   >    
   > In an AMIBIOS machine, the setting that M. Piatkowski was talking about    
   > earlier is named "ACPI APIC Support" and it deals with APICs.  In    
   > AWARD-Phoenix firmwares, the equivalent setting is named "APIC Mode".    
   > It almost goes without saying that if one disables the use of APICs    
   > entirely, by setting APIC mode to "disabled", then I/O APICs are as a    
   > consequence unavailable.  If all local APICs are switched off during    
   > POST (as essentially all that this setting has to do), then whatever I/O    
   > APICs may do is entirely irrelevant: there is no-one listening to them.   
      
   Well...you did bring up an excellent point. I had read your original response   
   to   
   my other post and had intended to respond...however I did encounter a    
   soft-freeze and wasn't able to find the posting anymore in my news reader...???   
      
   So here is the response, hopefully if I used the wrong terminology last time I    
   am getting it correct this time...I am in fact using the correct terms as    
   applicable to my hardware and in my descriptions I am addressing 2 separate    
   issues:   
      
   1) ACPI - replacing APM for example   
   2) APIC - dealing with SMP support and things like advanced programmable IO    
   controllers   
      
   In the BIOS of my motherboard, which is the MSI 790X-G45 piece, I do in fact    
   have 2 such separate settings.    
      
   1) Enabling ACPI also appears to enable the IOAPIC (that's correct), disabling    
   ACPI shuts OFF IOAPIC   
      
   2) SMP related stuff, I believe is really just the MPS table selection of 1.1   
   or   
   1.4   
      
   What I do not know is how enabling ACPI turns on the IOAPIC and how that in   
   turn   
   relates to supporting SMP in OS2.   
      
   Here is a link to a mb review, and while it's not the matching model, it is   
   very   
   close: MSI 790FX-GD70, the BIOS screenshots are very close (not the same    
   ofcourse for all settings) to what I see for my 790X-G45,    
   http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/08/04/msi_790fxgd70_amd_motherboard/   
      
   Specifically, this is AMI BIOS and shows the following:   
      
   1)    
   http://www.hardocp.com/image.html?image=MTI0NTM3OTE2NFhVdWJNdTV0   
   zNfMl80X2wuZ2lm   
      
   ...shows the IOAPIC function, it is ONLY present when ACPI has been turned ON   
      
   2)    
   http://www.hardocp.com/image.html?image=MTI0NTM3OTE2NFhVdWJNdTV0   
   zNfMl84X2wuZ2lm   
      
   ...shows the ACPI controls   
      
   OK...so now given that information, I stand by my earlier conclusion...how   
   does    
   ACPI control the IOAPIC??? Unless, the IOAPIC is only used to support the ACPI    
   functionality and has absolutely nothing to do with SMP.   
      
   --- Internet Rex 2.31   
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