Genuineintel---intel64-family-6-model-58 - Acpi

Here’s a breakdown of what that string means, followed by content you can use for documentation, a blog post, a system report, or a troubleshooting guide.

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Part 5: Common Issues and Debugging

5. Performance and Legacy Status

As of 2024, Family 6 Model 58 (Ivy Bridge) is considered legacy hardware. acpi genuineintel---intel64-family-6-model-58

• Capabilities: It supports PCIe 3.0, USB 3.0 (native on 7-series chipsets), and DDR3 memory.
• Windows 11 Compatibility: These CPUs are not officially supported by Windows 11. The processor model does not appear on Microsoft's compatibility list because it lacks hardware security features like TPM 2.0 (native) and specific architectural protections required by the OS, although users have found workarounds.
• Modern Usage: These CPUs are still capable of basic office work, web browsing, and serving as home servers, but they lack the efficiency and speed of modern 14nm or 10nm/Intel 4/7 architectures.

Part 6: Historical Context and Rarity

The exact triple-dash string is not standard in any major Linux distribution’s clean logs. Searching the internet yields few direct results; those who see it often ask on forums about “strange CPU identifier” or “acpi genuineintel---”. It is likely an artifact of a custom build, an old kernel (2.6.32 era with certain ACPI debug flags), or a poorly written kernel module that prints raw CPUID and ACPI concatenated fields. Here’s a breakdown of what that string means,

Nevertheless, family 6 model 58 is very common in the wild. Millions of Ivy Bridge systems were sold from 2012–2014, and many still run Linux as home servers, media centers, or legacy workstations. Part 5: Common Issues and Debugging 5

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Case C: No Such String Found on a Genuine Ivy Bridge System

If you expect to see it but don’t, your kernel might have been compiled with CONFIG_DEBUG_KERNEL=n or CONFIG_ACPI_DEBUG=n. The string is debug-level (KERN_DEBUG), so it may be hidden by default. Run dmesg -l debug to reveal it.

2.1 Processor Objects

• \_PR.CPUx – Each logical processor (core + HT). Model 58 has up to 4 cores / 8 threads (desktop/mobile), or up to 10 cores / 20 threads (Xeon E5 v2).
• _PSS (Performance Supported States) – Defines P-states (frequency/voltage pairs). The OS expects:
  • MSR PERF_CTL (0x199) and PERF_STATUS (0x198) for P-state transitions.
  • Uses Enhanced Intel SpeedStep (EIST).
• _PPC (Performance Present Capabilities) – Dynamic limit for thermal/power throttling.
• _TSS (Throttling Supported States) – T-states via clock modulation (MSR 0x19A). Rarely used in modern OS, but ACPI includes it.

Part 7: Relevance to Modern Linux (2025)

As of kernel 6.x, Ivy Bridge (model 58) is considered legacy but still supported:

• intel_pstate driver no longer enables itself by default (requires intel_pstate=force).
• acpi-cpufreq remains the default scaling driver.
• Spectre/Meltdown mitigations (IBRS, IBPB) are available but have performance impact.
• The intel_idle driver is fully functional.

If you see the malformed string on a modern kernel, it is harmless if no functional issues exist. If you’re maintaining a distribution or embedded system based on Ivy Bridge, you can safely ignore cosmetic printk anomalies.

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