[G4] MDD L2, L3 cache switch off at startup. Does it matter?

[dkmnow]

Pretty low-priority question, but here goes:

First, the system details:
G4 Dual-867 MDD Power Mac
133mHz bus, 512mb DDR2 PC2100 RAM
Running OSX 10.4.10
Firmware version unknown.

Okay, this may be a Tiger thing, but I figured it was
worth asking.  I know virtually nothing about what the
L2 and L3 cache do, but I have noticed that the
Hardware pane in my System Preferences shows that L2
and L3 are set to "none."  I have tried switching
these to their normal (rated) settings, but after
startup, they always revert to "none."  I tried this
on 10.4.8 and .9 as well, with the same result.  I'm
not having problems of any kind with this machine, but
for obvious reasons, this just doesn't seem right.

My first thought would be firmware, but I'm reluctant
in this case.  If I were having "issues," yeah.  But
am I right in thinking there would be very little gain
in performance simply by inducing the L2 and L3 cache
to remain on?

My general and rather vague understanding is that, at
least in the case of the G3 iMacs, the chip where the
firmware lives can only be rewritten a limited number
of times, and if you exceed that limitation, you're
toast.  I have no idea if this applies to this
machine.  Also, I bought this machine second-hand last
year, so I have no idea how many times the firmware
might have been rewritten, if at all.  And from what
I've seen on the web, the wiser contributors seem to
agree that updating firmware is pointless at best
unless you're actually having problems known to be
addressed by an update.

So, there it is: What will keep the L2 and L3 cache
running -- and should I care?  :-p

Also, is there a way to check my existing firmware
version without getting too technical?  It doesn't
seem to be listed by the System Profiler.

Thanks, and best wishes to all.

David K. March

[report on recent cooling/airflow mod to follow shortly]


       
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