| Invalid Instruction Errata Home Software Vendor Statements How to Contact Us Software Backgrounder - Updated Nov. 20 1997 Erratum Technical Description - Updated Nov. 20 1997 Software Vendor Statements The following companies have issued statements on the status of their products with regard to the "Invalid Operand with Locked CMPXCHG8B Instruction" erratum. Berkeley Software Design, Inc. "BSDI has worked closely with Intel since they contacted us about this erratum. We were able to develop a workaround for BSD/OS very quickly, and Intel's assistance was invaluable in this process. BSDI is confident that the software workaround solves this problem for our customers. Patches for our current (3.0 and 3.1) releases, as well as for the previous release, are available for download now: BSD/OS 3.1 and 3.0 ftp://ftp.bsdi.com/bsdi/patches/patches-3.1/M310-001 BSD/OS 2.1 ftp://ftp.bsdi.com/bsdi/patches/patches-2.1/K210-030 General information about BSDI can be found at http://www.bsdi.com or by calling 800-ITS-BSD8 (800-487-2738)." Mike Karels, VP Engineering IBM In response to the invalid instruction erratum confirmed Monday (11/10/97) by Intel, IBM and Intel are working together to deliver a software workaround for OS/2 users to the processor erratum. The erratum, under certain user-definable conditions, can affect Intel Pentium® Processor and Pentium Processor with MMX™ Technology systems running any operating system, including IBM's OS/2. Once testing is completed, the workaround will be made available to OS/2 customers. Linux "We have been in discussion with the Intel engineering team with regard to the Pentium® Processor Invalid Instruction Erratum, including the software work-around solution. The software workaround is in place in kernel versions starting at 2.0.32 and 2.1.64, available for download at ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/ and various mirrors of the Linux kernel development site." Linus Torvalds Linux Microsoft "Microsoft has worked closely with Intel to understand and characterize the effects of the recently uncovered Pentium® processor erratum, and we're in the process of studying the implementation of potential workarounds in order to meet the needs of our customers," said Moshe Dunie Vice-President Windows Operating Systems Division at Microsoft. "Since this erratum can only be exploited by a program that was developed with malicious intent and deliberately uses this illegal instruction, following common-sense computing practices, such as not downloading or running executables from unknown sources, can protect a user from this problem." For more information, please visit: http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q163/8/52.asp NCR NCR is working closely with Intel to determine the impact of this problem on our customers' systems and develop corrective procedures. Our goal is to minimize any disruption necessary to correct the problem. Any NCR customers who have questions on how this will affect their systems should call their customer support representatives through normal channels. Novell "Novell's network operating system NetWare/IntranetWare is not affected by the invalid instruction erratum found in the Pentium® processor. NetWare/IntranetWare requires proper authentication to run NLM's and applications on the server. Due to this secure access, NetWare/IntranetWare is not susceptible to NLM's or applications that would use the invalid opcode. For further information, please contact Novell at 1-801-861-5533 or www.novell.com." Tom Oldroyd Senior Marketing Manager Novell Inc. SCO "SCO has been informed of the latest erratum for the Pentium® Processors by Intel. SCO and Intel are working together to determine the extent to which this erratum effects the SCO Operating Environments (SCO OpenServer and SCO UnixWare) and to develop any necessary fixes or supplements to resolve such issues and maintain the integrity of the SCO environments. SCO will release these as soon as they are available. For further information contact your SCO reseller or visit SCO's website at www.sco.com/support/." Doug Michels CTO and EVP, Products SCO Sequent "Sequent is working closely with Intel to understand any issues raised by the Pentium® Processor erratum. Once we have full insight into these issues we will take appropriate measures to ensure the continued success of our customers." Kevin Joyce Director of Product Marketing Sequent Computer Systems, Inc. SunSoft SunSoft has not yet received any eports from its customers of problems related to the Pentium® Processor Invalid Instruction Erratum. SunSoft is working closely with Intel to understand the problem and its impact, if any, to the Solaris operating environment. For an update and the list of available Solaris patches and their locations, please go to: http://sunsolve.sun.com/sunsolve/secbulletins/security-alert-161.txt Unisys "Unisys is actively working with Intel to incorporate the work-around for the Pentium® Processor Invalid Instruction erratum into our Operating Environments. We will provide updates to our customers as they are available. For further information, please contact Unisys at http://www.unisys.com or by phone at 215-986-4788." Martin Krempasky Dir of Public Relations. |
Intel will not provide future software updates to support new operating systems or improve compatibility with third-party devices and software products.