check-bios-nx

[Mike.lifeguard]

On 10-05-11 12:41 AM, Paul Graydon wrote:
> From the information provided it's a bit uncertain what we're dealing
> with.  The dmidecode information suggests (possibly?) that the CPU is
> underclocked, as it's maximum speed is 3.4Ghz....
> If underclocked then the CPU isn't capable of NX.  If it's not
> underclocked it is!

I don't think it is underclocked, but I also haven't been able to find
the NX setting (or any of the other names it goes by) in BIOS settings.

> I'm going to make a slight assumption here and presume that as it's a
> workstation masquerading as a server that it's not in a live internet
> serving environment?  If so it's not worth fussing about.  If, on the
> other hand, it is visible to the great unwashed masses, it may well be
> worth switching to a PAE kernel or installing a 64bit version of Ubuntu
> on there.  In a live environment any extra protection you can get is
> worth it, especially if it's easy to achieve!

It is a workstation pretending to be a server, yes. And yes, it is
visible to the unwashed masses - but it already uses a 32bit -pae
kernel, which should have emulated nx.

I guess I'll reboot again to look in BIOS settings for this & if I don't
see it I'll be satisfied with emulated nx from the -pae kernel.

Thanks for your help guys,
-Mike