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I have dual Xeon X5675 processors in my Ubuntu 16.04 machine.

I tried clicking the "Using Processor microcode firmware for Intel CPUs from intel-microcode (proprietary)" option in "Software and upates" and clicking Apply Changes. The software and upates page then told me to reboot, so I did.

After the reboot, I could not log into Unity anymore, as the screen just flicked back to the login screen. I managed to fix the issue by reinstalling the NVIDIA 375 drivers for my Quadro 4000.

Looking at the Software & Updates page, the Processor microcode is not being used, so it looks like the installation did not work.

So...

Does it mater that I don't have the Processor Microcode installed? What errors am I likely to get without it?

Can or should I install it manually, or should I just keep on going until I hit a problem?

Ginger
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  • Generally you install Intel microcode to get support for newest processors that haven't reached the older published kernels. I selected the Ubuntu optional proprietary Intel Microcode Drivers for my 3rd generation Intel I-7 (circa 2012) without any ill-effects though. Your question is rather broad and could result in many answers I think. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Jan 02 '17 at 22:53
  • Intel don't generally share the specifics in their microcode updates, so it is very hard to say. Normally it is patching specific processor flaws/issues as sometimes detailed in their processor ERRATA documents. – Colin Ian King Jan 02 '17 at 23:25

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