Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id ; Wed, 14 Aug 2002 08:34:18 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id ; Wed, 14 Aug 2002 08:34:18 -0400 Received: from pc2-cwma1-5-cust12.swa.cable.ntl.com ([80.5.121.12]:10223 "EHLO irongate.swansea.linux.org.uk") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id ; Wed, 14 Aug 2002 08:34:17 -0400 Subject: Re: GA-7DX+ crashes From: Alan Cox To: Matt Bernstein Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org In-Reply-To: References: Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Ximian Evolution 1.0.3 (1.0.3-6) Date: 14 Aug 2002 13:35:39 +0100 Message-Id: <1029328539.26226.19.camel@irongate.swansea.linux.org.uk> Mime-Version: 1.0 Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 2445 Lines: 54 On Wed, 2002-08-14 at 13:12, Matt Bernstein wrote: > We're very much at a loss as to why the 60 new PCs we've bought largely > don't run Linux (various 2.4 kernels including 2.4.19, limbo1-BOOT) for > very long without crashing. One of them seems to work OK; its /proc/pci is > identical, but the batch number on the southbridge seems one lower--is > this dodgy VIA hardware again? We'll be trying a different IDE controller > next, but 60 of those ain't cheap.. My immediate assumption would be a batch of bad hardware or faulty bios > Has anyone else had success or failure stories in particular with this > motherboard? We don't really have a significant number of data points just > yet, but are willing to try pretty much anything anyone might suggest! > > symptoms > - random data corruption (sometimes memory, more often HDD) > - somtimes oopsing, but never in the same place We've seen similar on pure VIA chipset machines. The kernel has fixes to work around the hardware problems there. We have no information on workarounds (or if they are needed) for the AMD/VIA combo other than the fact that the APIC cannot be used on them according to AMD docs. > what we think we've ascertained so far > - they pass memtest86 > - we've tried different HDDs, no effect > - tried ide=nodma, possibly makes it crash after longer > - tried noapic, no effect > - tried all sorts of BIOS settings, no effect (except--possibly--turning > off the on board IDE controller and playing nfsroot games) > - ..and yet they seem to run that other OS fine :-( > - extra cooling/underclocking doesn't seem to help > - seems to be fs-independent (tried ext3, reiserfs, jfs) Boot it up in linu grab an lspci with the full config space of each chip. Next boot it into windows and do the same. That may show what is being patched up. New BIOS versions may also help Other things to try Disable all ACPI/APM Disable any BIOS 'usb keyboard/mouse' support Finally if they still don't work and your purchase order stated that you intended to also run Linux on them then they are "not fit for the purpose for which they were sold". If your purchase order didnt mention that detail then someone wants kicking. - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/