In the SLES7 2.4.7 kernel, the "timer patch" added an option called (IIRC) "hz_timer" to the kernel that could be enabled at kernel build time. SuSE supplied two different kernels, one with the feature enabled, the other disabled.
The patch was enhanced somewhere between 2.4.7 and 2.4.19 (SLES8) to allow it to be turned on and off via a file in /proc (/proc/sys/kernel/hz_timer, to be exact). Putting a 1 in this file DISABLES the timer, putting in a 0 ENABLES it. As distributed, it defaults to "1" (DISABLED). sysctl and /etc/sysctl.conf just provide a "simple" mechanism for setting this and other kernel variables at boot time. I've found that it often doesn't work though, and haven't been able to figure out why. > -----Original Message----- > From: Linux on 390 Port [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of > Kevin Ellsperman > Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2003 11:31 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [LINUX-390] k_timer for SLES8 > > > Maybe I've been working under a misperception. I always > thought that the > k_timer patch from SLES 7 was incorporated into SLES 8. If I > am reading > the listserv correctly, the patch is in SLES8 but not turned on? I've > searched the web for any information I can about this and > have turned up > nil. I did find a page at IBM in the developerworks area > talking about > some perfermance tools that mentions turning the mh_timer in > /proc/sys/kernel on and off via sysctl -w kernel.hz_timer=0. > Has anybody > seen any documentation on the time patch for SLES 8? TIA! > > Kevin Ellsperman > Payless ShoeSource, Inc. > 785-559-6326 >
