Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard (More info?)

A very interesting thing has come up regarding SP2 and the motherboard
industry in general. An anomaly was detected in the installation of XP SP2
on Intel 865/875 chipset mobos. After SP2 install most all such mobos from
most all mfgs would HANG on reboot.

See this post in: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
http://www.google.com/groups?q=+%2 [...] gbl&rnum=1

An MVP there Cari had detected the issue and was pursuing it with MS and
Intel.

Current Intel CPUs have the ability to have their internal microcode updated
on the fly(addenda fixed). Apparently that microcode update is done both by
the mobo's BIOS during POST and during OS init by
%windir%\system32\drivers\update.sys.

What was determined is that MOST all the major mobo mfgs around are NOT
keeping their microcode current, at least for 865/875 chipset mobos, even
with recent BIOS updates! That old CPU microcode(non-existent BIOS
microcode update apparently in many cases[=0]) was causing SP2 to hang after
install.

One can view/report that microcode revision level by running Intel's
Frequency ID utility. The entry to look for is "CPU Revision = n" where n
>= 0 which is the microcode revision level.

Cari's conclusion as apparently gleaned from MS & Intel was that NO major
mobo mfg has been keeping their microcode(addenda) current EXCEPT Intel.
Cari claimed to have tried a broad range of 865 and 875 chipset mobos with
SP2 and most all failed! She then said that she'd never use anything except
an Intel mfged mobo again as if after her eureka moment.

Does anyone know more precise details of the overall technology involved
here and the overall industry competence with respect to CPU microcode
updates. What is the BIOS supposed to be doing here; is there any
standard? What does %windir%\system32\drivers\update.sys do exactly?

The implication is that most all of us 865/875 chipset mobo owners (and I
assume that the issue is MUCH WIDER) have been running with all the CPU
bugs/addenda UNFIXED!