cpuid(4) — Linux manual page
cpuid(4) Kernel Interfaces Manual cpuid(4)
NAME
cpuid - x86 CPUID access device
DESCRIPTION
CPUID provides an interface for querying information about the
x86 CPU.
This device is accessed by lseek(2) or pread(2) to the
appropriate CPUID level and reading in chunks of 16 bytes. A
larger read size means multiple reads of consecutive levels.
The lower 32 bits of the file position is used as the incoming
%eax, and the upper 32 bits of the file position as the incoming
%ecx, the latter is intended for "counting" eax levels like
eax=4.
This driver uses /dev/cpu/CPUNUM/cpuid, where CPUNUM is the minor
number, and on an SMP box will direct the access to CPU CPUNUM as
listed in /proc/cpuinfo.
This file is protected so that it can be read only by the user
root, or members of the group root.
NOTES
The CPUID instruction can be directly executed by a program using
inline assembler. However this device allows convenient access
to all CPUs without changing process affinity.
Most of the information in cpuid is reported by the kernel in
cooked form either in /proc/cpuinfo or through subdirectories in
/sys/devices/system/cpu. Direct CPUID access through this device
should only be used in exceptional cases.
The cpuid driver is not auto-loaded. On modular kernels you
might need to use the following command to load it explicitly
before use:
$ modprobe cpuid
There is no support for CPUID functions that require additional
input registers.
Early i486 CPUs do not support the CPUID instruction; opening
this device for those CPUs fails with EIO.
SEE ALSO
cpuid(1)
Intel Corporation, Intel 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software
Developer's Manual Volume 2A: Instruction Set Reference, A-M,
3-180 CPUID reference.
Intel Corporation, Intel Processor Identification and the CPUID
Instruction, Application note 485.
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