Return-path: Received: from charlotte.tuxdriver.com ([70.61.120.58]:53276 "EHLO smtp.tuxdriver.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1757414Ab0DWOAS (ORCPT ); Fri, 23 Apr 2010 10:00:18 -0400 Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2010 09:48:23 -0400 From: "John W. Linville" To: Pedro Francisco Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, linux-wireless@vger.kernel.org, me@bobcopeland.com, mickflemm@gmail.com Subject: Re: ath5k misbehaving affecting other kernel parts unrelated? Message-ID: <20100423134823.GB5004@tuxdriver.com> References: <201004230806.13628.pedrogfrancisco@gmail.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii In-Reply-To: <201004230806.13628.pedrogfrancisco@gmail.com> Sender: linux-wireless-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 08:06:13AM +0100, Pedro Francisco wrote: > Greetings! > > Is it possible a faulty ath5k module to affect diverse parts of kernel causing > different oopses to happen referencing things as different as cdrom_ioctl, > find_vma, i915_gem_object_get_pages, get_vfs_caps_from_disk, > warn_slowpath_common (ath5k_tasklet_rx), proc_lookup_de and > _spin_lock(ext4_getattr) [soft lookup]? > > The task in which such errors happen is capturing packets with kismet during > the night. The errors aren't easy to create, sometimes they've already > happened when I check the computer in the morning and sometimes they require > stirring up the computer a bit such as starting X. > > I memtested the machine during 7h and no error was detected. > > I've been trying different kernels but main one is 2.6.32-21-generic, Ubuntu > flavour, with linux-backports-modules-wireless-lucid-generic installed. I would > use 2.6.34-rc5 vanilla if shutdown and suspend worked ;) > > As such: > a) is it "normal"? I thought modules were somewhat isolated these days. > b) any advices for debugging? I've yet to have two oopses that are similar.... It is certainly possible -- improper setup of DMA could be scribbling over memory that doesn't belong to ath5k. That sort of thing can be ugly to track-down... You mentioned Kismet. Do you experience this sort of problem when using ath5k for "normal" purposes (e.g. browsing the web)? Or only when using it to monitor the network? John -- John W. Linville Someday the world will need a hero, and you linville@tuxdriver.com might be all we have. Be ready.