# I can't tell if all 4 cores of my i7 are being used

## TheBird

I finally got my first successful install done and got a working KDE up and running. I checked the system monitor application to see if everything was going well when I saw that only one cpu was listed on the system load tab. Normally, I'd expect there to be a separate CPU entry for each core. cat /proc/cpuinfo printed this:

```
processor       : 0

vendor_id       : GenuineIntel

cpu family      : 6

model           : 26

model name      : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         930  @ 2.80GHz

stepping        : 5

cpu MHz         : 2801.000

cache size      : 8192 KB

physical id     : 0

siblings        : 1

core id         : 0

cpu cores       : 1

apicid          : 0

initial apicid  : 0

fdiv_bug        : no

hlt_bug         : no

f00f_bug        : no

coma_bug        : no

fpu             : yes

fpu_exception   : yes

cpuid level     : 11

wp              : yes

flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc up arch_perfmon pebs bts xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm ida tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid

bogomips        : 5613.01

clflush size    : 64

cache_alignment : 64

address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual

power management:

```

The thing that really bothers me is this:

```
cpu cores       : 1
```

I had my processor type selected correctly when configuring the kernel, but here's my menuconfig kernel configuration file if anyone wants to look through it to see if I messed up somewhere (even if I did I can just recompile it again. Had to do that a few times now already): http://pastebin.com/YbiLyqeX

Thanks in advance.

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## rh1

Are you deliberately trying to use 32bit? Your kernel is configured that way. Not sure if that is part of the problem

If your not trying to use 32bit, did you use a 64 bit install cd?

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## dmpogo

Did you enable SMP in kernel ?

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## TheBird

 *rh1 wrote:*   

> Are you deliberately trying to use 32bit? Your kernel is configured that way. Not sure if that is part of the problem
> 
> If your not trying to use 32bit, did you use a 64 bit install cd?

 

I was intending to use 32bit, so I don't that's the problem.

 *dmpogo wrote:*   

> Did you enable SMP in kernel?

 

Yes, SMP is enabled.

Right now, I'm gonna go enable all the extra SMP related options I can find until some combination works, because I have no idea why it's acting like this.

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## suicidal_orange_II

Random thought - are all the cores enabled in BIOS?  The attached .config looks fine to me...

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## TheBird

 *suicidal_orange_II wrote:*   

> Random thought - are all the cores enabled in BIOS?  The attached .config looks fine to me...

 

Yes, all the cores are enabled and they work just fine in Windows 7.

This is really baffling.

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## Etal

Does it show the correct number of cores with a livecd?

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## trilexx

I believe you should actually get this output 8 times, because all i7 cores are hyperthreaded. On my i7 L620, which is a dual core mobile processor, I get this output 4 times, two times for two hyperthreaded cores. Could it be you have set apci=off as kernel boot parameter? If so, try without. Do you have ACPI enabled in the BIOS?

greetings,

trilexx

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## dmpogo

 *trilexx wrote:*   

> I believe you should actually get this output 8 times, because all i7 cores are hyperthreaded. 

 

Correct

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## Naib

can you paste your .config for your running kernel

Also could you boot from whatever install medium you used and see what /proc/cpuinfo shows. this will determine if it is kernel or bios related

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## suicidal_orange_II

 *Naib wrote:*   

> can you paste your .config for your running kernel 

 

It's linked in the first post if you'd like a look  :Smile: 

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