SOLVED Only running on 1 core of a dual-core

[bidder]

Hi

After install a SuerKaramba script for dual-core processors, I noticed only activity on one core showed up.

lscpu shows this

Architecture:          i686
CPU op-mode(s):        32-bit, 64-bit
CPU(s):                1
Thread(s) per core:    1
Core(s) per socket:    1
CPU socket(s):         1
Vendor ID:             GenuineIntel
CPU family:            6
Model:                 15
Stepping:              2
CPU MHz:               1870.000
Virtualisation:        VT-x
L1d cache:             32K
L1i cache:             32K
L2 cache:              2048K

The thing is, I also have Fedora16 installed on the same machine and it shows both cpus.

I am running an up to date KDE installation

uname -a
Linux localhost.localdomain 2.6.38.8-pclos3.bfs #1 SMP PREEMPT Fri Jul 8 18:01:30 CDT 2011 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

I have tried different kernels but no luck. The system is sluggish so I would like to fix this.

Any ideas?

[pags]

Could you supply the make/model of your hardware?

Also, the output of:

Code:

cat /proc/cpuinfo

Thanks.

[bidder]

cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor       : 0
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 15
model name      : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU          6300  @ 1.86GHz
stepping        : 2
cpu MHz         : 1870.000
cache size      : 2048 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 1
core id         : 0
cpu cores       : 1
apicid          : 0
initial apicid  : 0
fdiv_bug        : no
hlt_bug         : no
f00f_bug        : no
coma_bug        : no
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 10
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm lahf_lm dts tpr_shadow
bogomips        : 3732.57
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

mobo: biostar G4-M7

[AS]

please try:

Code:

dmesg | grep -i kernel

[pags]

cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor       : 0
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 15
model name      : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU          6300  @ 1.86GHz
stepping        : 2
cpu MHz         : 1870.000
cache size      : 2048 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 1
core id         : 0
cpu cores       : 1
apicid          : 0
initial apicid  : 0
fdiv_bug        : no
hlt_bug         : no
f00f_bug        : no
coma_bug        : no
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 10
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm lahf_lm dts tpr_shadow
bogomips        : 3732.57
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

mobo: biostar G4-M7

I think that may be a single core CPU.  The Core 2 Duo is the dual core:

Code:

cat /proc/cpuinfo

processor       : 0
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 23
model name      : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU     P9700  @ 2.80GHz
stepping        : 10
cpu MHz         : 800.000
cache size      : 6144 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 2
core id         : 0
cpu cores       : 2
apicid          : 0
initial apicid  : 0
fdiv_bug        : no
hlt_bug         : no
f00f_bug        : no
coma_bug        : no
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 13
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 xsave lahf_lm ida dts tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority
bogomips        : 5586.45
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor       : 1
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 23
model name      : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU     P9700  @ 2.80GHz
stepping        : 10
cpu MHz         : 800.000
cache size      : 6144 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 2
core id         : 1
cpu cores       : 2
apicid          : 1
initial apicid  : 1
fdiv_bug        : no
hlt_bug         : no
f00f_bug        : no
coma_bug        : no
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 13
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 xsave lahf_lm ida dts tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority
bogomips        : 5585.70
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

[bidder]

I think that may be a single core CPU.  The Core 2 Duo is the dual core:

Thanks for the help Pags. It is not a matter of is it 2-core, it is(http://ark.intel.com/products/27248/Intel-Core2-Duo-Processor-E6300-(2M-Cache-1_86-GHz-1066-MHz-FSB)). As I said , the performance is much more responsive on KDE fedora 16 on the same machine. The bios has both cores running and F16 reports both running. It is only my PCLOS that doesn't recognise the second core. I don't know how long this has been an issue. This particular computer is in my shop where it is used for graphics and A/V. I have had this config for a couple of years.
Thanks again!
Larry  

[AS]

Because it appear that /proc/cpuinfo actually report a single core, and because this is direct representation of kernel info, no other software is involved other than the kernel itself, the only thing I can think of that can produce such behavior, are kernel boot params, (other than a kernel bug ...).

Please, run the command:

Code:

dmesg | grep -i kernel

[bidder]

Because it appear that /proc/cpuinfo actually report a single core, and because this is direct representation of kernel info, no other software is involved other than the kernel itself, the only thing I can think of that can produce such behavior, are kernel boot params, (other than a kernel bug ...).

Please, run the command:

Code:

dmesg | grep -i kernel

Will do when I get home.

[bidder]

It's 2 days later and I'm finally in the shop.

 dmesg | grep -i kernel
Notice: NX (Execute Disable) protection cannot be enabled: non-PAE kernel!
kernel direct mapping tables up to 2ebfe000 @ bfa000-c00000
Booting paravirtualized kernel on bare hardware
Kernel command line: BOOT_IMAGE=2.6.38.8-pclos3.bfs root=UUID=d9297c03-70f6-4a38-9f66-9fafb5d64096 nolapic vmalloc=256M splash=silent acpi=ht vga=788
Memory: 3084552k/3145344k available (3339k kernel code, 60340k reserved, 1645k data, 512k init, 2379400k highmem)
virtual kernel memory layout:
Freeing unused kernel memory: 512k freed
fglrx: module license 'Proprietary. (C) 2002 - ATI Technologies, Starnberg, GERMANY' taints kernel.
Disabling lock debugging due to kernel taint
[fglrx] Kernel PAT support is enabled
[fglrx] Firegl kernel thread PID: 1020
[fglrx] Firegl kernel thread PID: 1021
[fglrx] Firegl kernel thread PID: 1022
vboxdrv: TSC mode is 'synchronous', kernel timer mode is 'normal'.

[AS]

Kernel command line: BOOT_IMAGE=2.6.38.8-pclos3.bfs root=UUID=d9297c03-70f6-4a38-9f66-9fafb5d64096 nolapic vmalloc=256M splash=silent acpi=ht vga=788

What's the reason of nolapic and acpi=ht, which are not standard PCLinuxOS options ?
What ISO do you have used for installation ?

acpi=ht  is probably responsible for disabling the second core.
nolapic, surely will impact the overall performance.

AS

[bidder]

Thanks for everything so far! I did not know about acpi=ht.  Here's my
GRUB menu.lst:

timeout 10
color black/cyan yellow/cyan
gfxmenu (hd0,1)/boot/gfxmenu
default 4

title linux-nonfb
kernel (hd0,1)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux-nonfb root=UUID=d9297c03-70f6-4a38-9f66-9fafb5d64096 lapic vmalloc=256M
initrd (hd0,1)/boot/initrd.img

title failsafe
kernel (hd0,1)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=failsafe root=UUID=d9297c03-70f6-4a38-9f66-9fafb5d64096 failsafe vmalloc=256M
initrd (hd0,1)/boot/initrd.img

title linux
kernel (hd0,1)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=UUID=d9297c03-70f6-4a38-9f66-9fafb5d64096 lapic vmalloc=256M splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd0,1)/boot/initrd.img

title memtest-4.20
kernel (hd0,1)/boot/memtest-4.20 BOOT_IMAGE=memtest-4.20  lapic

title 2.6.38.8-pclos3.bfs
kernel (hd0,1)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38.8-pclos3.bfs BOOT_IMAGE=2.6.38.8-pclos3.bfs root=UUID=d9297c03-70f6-4a38-9f66-9fafb5d64096 lapic vmalloc=256M splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd0,1)/boot/initrd-2.6.38.8-pclos3.bfs.img

title 2.6.38.8-pclos3
kernel (hd0,1)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38.8-pclos3 BOOT_IMAGE=2.6.38.8-pclos3 root=UUID=d9297c03-70f6-4a38-9f66-9fafb5d64096 lapic vmalloc=256M splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd0,1)/boot/initrd-2.6.38.8-pclos3.img

title 2.6.38.8-pclos1
kernel (hd0,1)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38.8-pclos1 BOOT_IMAGE=2.6.38.8-pclos1 root=UUID=d9297c03-70f6-4a38-9f66-9fafb5d64096 lapic vmalloc=256M splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd0,1)/boot/initrd-2.6.38.8-pclos1.img

title 2.6.37.4-pclos1
kernel (hd0,1)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.37.4-pclos1 BOOT_IMAGE=2.6.37.4-pclos1 root=UUID=d9297c03-70f6-4a38-9f66-9fafb5d64096 lapic vmalloc=256M splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd0,1)/boot/initrd-2.6.37.4-pclos1.img

title Fedora release 16 (Verne)
root (hd0,0)
chainloader +1

[AS]

Thanks for everything so far! I did not know about acpi=ht.  Here's my
GRUB menu.lst:

timeout 10
color black/cyan yellow/cyan
gfxmenu (hd0,1)/boot/gfxmenu
default 4

title linux-nonfb
kernel (hd0,1)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux-nonfb root=UUID=d9297c03-70f6-4a38-9f66-9fafb5d64096 lapic vmalloc=256M
initrd (hd0,1)/boot/initrd.img

title failsafe
kernel (hd0,1)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=failsafe root=UUID=d9297c03-70f6-4a38-9f66-9fafb5d64096 failsafe vmalloc=256M
initrd (hd0,1)/boot/initrd.img

title linux
kernel (hd0,1)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=UUID=d9297c03-70f6-4a38-9f66-9fafb5d64096 lapic vmalloc=256M splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd0,1)/boot/initrd.img

title memtest-4.20
kernel (hd0,1)/boot/memtest-4.20 BOOT_IMAGE=memtest-4.20  lapic

title 2.6.38.8-pclos3.bfs
kernel (hd0,1)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38.8-pclos3.bfs BOOT_IMAGE=2.6.38.8-pclos3.bfs root=UUID=d9297c03-70f6-4a38-9f66-9fafb5d64096 lapic vmalloc=256M splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd0,1)/boot/initrd-2.6.38.8-pclos3.bfs.img

title 2.6.38.8-pclos3
kernel (hd0,1)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38.8-pclos3 BOOT_IMAGE=2.6.38.8-pclos3 root=UUID=d9297c03-70f6-4a38-9f66-9fafb5d64096 lapic vmalloc=256M splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd0,1)/boot/initrd-2.6.38.8-pclos3.img

title 2.6.38.8-pclos1
kernel (hd0,1)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38.8-pclos1 BOOT_IMAGE=2.6.38.8-pclos1 root=UUID=d9297c03-70f6-4a38-9f66-9fafb5d64096 lapic vmalloc=256M splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd0,1)/boot/initrd-2.6.38.8-pclos1.img

title 2.6.37.4-pclos1
kernel (hd0,1)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.37.4-pclos1 BOOT_IMAGE=2.6.37.4-pclos1 root=UUID=d9297c03-70f6-4a38-9f66-9fafb5d64096 lapic vmalloc=256M splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd0,1)/boot/initrd-2.6.37.4-pclos1.img

title Fedora release 16 (Verne)
root (hd0,0)
chainloader +1

No, this is not the running menu, no one entry here list acpi=ht ...

[bidder]

No, this is not the running menu, no one entry here list acpi=ht ...

Yup. I, too, saw that acpi=ht was missing. I thought the options to the kernel were set/passed here by grub.
I did choose options for GRUB from within PCC.
I am going to re-boot and see.

[AS]

No, this is not the running menu, no one entry here list acpi=ht ...

Yup. I, too, saw that acpi=ht was missing. I thought the options to the kernel were set/passed here by grub.
I did choose options for GRUB from within PCC.
I am going to re-boot and see.

Correct, option are passed from grub. That probably means you have two instance of menu.lst  ... Do you have a separate /boot partition ?

[bidder]

Yahoo!! Both cores running. Back to peppy again!

Thank-you pags and as for your time and concern!!
Great forum as always!

Larry