Description of problem: The xen kernel only shows a limited number of CPU flags. Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): RHEL5.5 (-194 kernel) How reproducible: Every time Steps to Reproduce: 1. Install RHEL5.5 and look at /proc/cpuinfo in bare metal and xen kernels 2. Notice important CPU flags like 'vmx' are missing in xen kernel 3. Actual results: Missing CPU flags in Xen kernel Expected results: All CPU flags present in Xen kernel Additional info: This will halt system certification on any model experiencing this issue. The impact on the certification program is being discussed in Bug 576497
Here's an example: Core i5 650 on 5.5 Xen kernel (-194) flags : fpu tsc msr pae cx8 apic mtrr cmov pat clflush acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht syscall nx lm constant_tsc ida arat pni est ssse3 cx16 sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm Core i5 650 on 5.5 bare metal kernel (-194) 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 syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc ida nonstop_tsc arat pni monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm
I've thought about this issue before (see the bug I'm dupping this to). The thing is that dom0 is just a guest, so really the only way to see all the flags from it is to query the HV using some path where the HV doesn't "lie". cpuid will return whatever the HV wants to. *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 570091 ***