Intel Errata

Collected by Robert R. Collins

February 1998	If you've ever done any programming in System Management Mode, especially on the Pentium Pro processor, then you must read this article. In this article, I disclose a bug in Intel's documentation that might help you save dozens of hours debugging your code. In the worst case, your code might actually appear correct, but could cause system-wide failure; even a processor shutdown. Before wasting any more time writing SMM code, you need to know all of the facts. This article will be the first in a series of articles about Intel's System Management Mode on the Pentium Pro -- and all of the details that Intel never told you.
December 1997	A few months ago, Intel's world was rocked with the F00F bug fiasco. When encountered, bug was capable of locking up an entire network. Any user who had malicious intentions could write a program which contained this specific opcode, and bring down an entire network server. Luckily, a few software workarounds were discovered which would squash this bug. And like usual, there's always a story behind the story. This article has all of the details.
August 1997	Two days before Intel's biggest processor announcement in years, a math bug in the Pentium Pro and Pentium II came to light. Robert takes you inside the Dan-0411 "flag erratum," and tells how the story unfolded.
March 1997	When transitioning between 4MB pages and 4KB pages, it is possible to retain the old page translations in the TLB. This should be considered an anomaly, at best. However, without specific knowledge of this problem, it might come up and hit you when you least expect it.
February 1997	FDIV: the thought of the FDIV bug sends shivers up most peoples spine. In this article, I look into the FDIV bug -- with my own unique perspective.
January 1997	Intel claims that using illegal indices for RDMSR and WRMSR will result in a general protection error (#GP(0)). However, as this article shows, it is possible to access a few MSRs that remain undocumented. Some of the MSRs are actually useful and should be documented by Intel.