Kernel panic on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 when enabling HPC mode in BIOS

Solution Verified - Updated -

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1
  • Any server capable of "HPC Mode"

Issue

  • When enabling "HPC mode" in the BIOS you will experience a kernel panic under Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1

Resolution

  • Disable "HPC mode" in the BIOS
  • This issue will be fixed in a future release

Root Cause

  • The panic is caused in the cpufreq subsystem on systems where intermediate CPU performance states are not reported to the OS. Processor performance states (P-states) are part of the processor architecture that allow the processor to switch between different voltages and operating frequencies to control power consumption.

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