Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id ; Fri, 27 Oct 2000 07:12:08 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id ; Fri, 27 Oct 2000 07:11:58 -0400 Received: from office.mandrakesoft.com ([195.68.114.34]:38131 "HELO test1.mandrakesoft.com") by vger.kernel.org with SMTP id ; Fri, 27 Oct 2000 07:11:41 -0400 To: Vojtech Pavlik Cc: Martin Mares , "Richard B. Johnson" , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: Possible critical VIA vt82c686a chip bug (private question) In-Reply-To: <20001026190309.A372@suse.cz> <20001027120220.A5741@atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz> <20001027124947.A476@suse.cz> <20001027130151.A607@suse.cz> From: Yoann Vandoorselaere Date: 27 Oct 2000 13:16:34 +0200 In-Reply-To: Vojtech Pavlik's message of "Fri, 27 Oct 2000 13:01:51 +0200" Message-ID: Lines: 45 User-Agent: Gnus/5.0807 (Gnus v5.8.7) Emacs/20.6 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Vojtech Pavlik writes: > On Fri, Oct 27, 2000 at 12:58:12PM +0200, Yoann Vandoorselaere wrote: > > > > > > So this is not our problem here. Anyway I guess it's time to hunt for > > > > > i8259 accesses in the kernel that lack the necessary spinlock, even when > > > > > they're not probably the cause of the problem we see here. > > > > > > > > BTW what about trying to modify your work-around code to make it > > > > attempt to read the timer again? This way we could test whether it was > > > > a race condition during timer read or really timer jumping to a bogus > > > > value. > > > > > > Actually if I don't reprogram the timer (and just ignore the value for > > > example), the work-around code keeps being called again and again very > > > often (between 1x/minute to 100x/second) after the first failure, even > > > when the system is idle. > > > > > > When reprogramming, next failure happens only after stressing the system > > > again. > > > > > > So it's not just a race, the impact of the failure on the chip is > > > permanent and stays till it's reprogrammed. > > > > Are you sure there is not an error in the way the > > chipset is programmed ? > > Which part of the chipset you mean? The PIT (programmable interrupt > timer)? That one is standard since XT times. The rest of the ISA bridge? > Maybe, but that's mostly BIOS work and shouldn't impact the PIT > under sane conditions. What is strange is that a number of persons seem to be hit by this problem... And if VIA didn't corrected it it's probably because they are not aware of it... I think that if such problem occured under windows (thinking to the windows user base), VIA would be already in touch. -- -- Yoann http://www.mandrakesoft.com/~yoann/ Tiniest "mesures unities?" - lenght : millimeter - volume : milliliter - intelligence : military man - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/