3 ms·

> CPUs get microcode updates all the time, too. To fix bugs, sure. They don't generally get updates that contain new optimizations that radically break existin

by lmm 2y ago

> CPUs get microcode updates all the time, too. To fix bugs, sure. They don't generally get updates that contain new optimizations that radically break existing machine code, justifying this by saying that the existing code violated some spec.

carlmr 2y ago
>To fix bugs, sure. Maybe your program worked due to the bug they fixed.
- lmm 2y ago
  Extremely unlikely. CPU bugs generally halt the CPU or fail to write the result or something like that. The Pentium FDIV bug where it would give a plausible but wrong result was a once in a lifetime thing.
  - baq 2y ago
    Spectre and Meltdown exploits stopped working, too. Some of them on some CPUs, anyway.
    - lmm 2y ago
      Sure. But those were obviously exploits from the start. You wouldn't write code like that accidentally.
  - ryao 2y ago
    Do a web search for rdrand and systemd.
    - lmm 2y ago
      > Do a web search for rdrand and systemd. RDRAND always returning all-FF is exactly the kind of thing that's an obvious bug, not a plausible-but-wrong result.
      - ryao 2y ago
        The other guy said "Maybe your program worked due to the bug they fixed.". The RDRAND fix achieved exactly that.