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**dibl** · Jul 04, 2009, 10:09 AM

Re: SIGSEGV #11 segmentation fault keeps coming up, no matter what. Jaunty 9.04

That's a bad one.

It's a classic troubleshooting problem -- you have to begin eliminating possible sources, beginning with the question of whether the cause is the hardware platform or the running OS. I would start with a Live CD. Boot the Live CD, and just let the system run, overnight perhaps, without any user operations. Does it run indefinitely with no crash? If yes, then you can make a theory that the hardware is OK, except the hard drive, which is not used for the Live CD. If it won't run a Live CD session for 24 hours without crashing, then there's something wrong in the motherboard/memory/video/PSU hardware.

So, if the hardware will run a Live CD session for 24 hours with no crash, then you can begin to suspect that there is some problem with the installed OS or the hard disk drive. Boot the installed system, and let it run with no user activity. Does it crash by itself? Or does the user have to do something to make it crash? Will it run trouble-free with no X server running, or does it only crash when the X server is running?

**tafi** · Jul 04, 2009, 10:26 AM

Re: SIGSEGV #11 segmentation fault keeps coming up, no matter what. Jaunty 9.04

Yesterday I booted up the PC after a while, and it worked OK when "idle", w/o user activity last night.
All the programs were up that I left open.

Live CD has worked OK as well, when there's no user activity.

Furthermore, I strongly believe, that I've seen "segmentation fault" w/o X
server running, in root command text mode as well.

What's the verdict?

**dibl** · Jul 04, 2009, 11:03 AM

Re: SIGSEGV #11 segmentation fault keeps coming up, no matter what. Jaunty 9.04

Originally posted by tafi

What's the verdict?

It's a little early for a verdict, but it sounds like the hardware works.

So, it seems some user activity causes the crash. Here are some questions that might help narrow the focus:

1. If you Ctrl-Alt-F1 out of X, then shut down the X server with

Code:

sudo /etc/init.d/kdm stop

so you only have the terminal, can you crash it? Try -- plus you'll learn to explore the CLI.

Run "man apt-cache" and study the manual, run "man df" and "man du" and learn all about examining disk usage and free space. What I want to know is whether the Kubuntu Linux system underneath KDE is solid when there's no X running.

2. If you can't crash it from a tty terminal, then start the X server with

Code:

sudo /etc/init.d/kdm start

and log in. Now, open just one package that you commonly use -- anything, and work with that package and see if you can cause a crash. Pay attention, so you can see what causes the crash -- is it accessing the Internet, is it fancy graphics, or what?

**tafi** · Jul 06, 2009, 09:04 AM

Re: SIGSEGV #11 segmentation fault keeps coming up, no matter what. Jaunty 9.04

Thanks a lot dibl so far.

I'm still testing. Me and my buddy joined "Linux Repair Forces" as well, and are trying to be systematic.

No crashes in tty terminal so far, I've been very aggressive with "find / | grep -v prog | grep -v dev | xargs file".

I thought I cracked it with crappy vesa-driver (800x600) vs. Nvidia, but no. Now KTorrent keeps crashing all the time. At the first crash it was idle for 20 hrs, i.e. not doing anything.

I might change the old GeForce 6200 256Mb back in, and bypass the integrated GF 7050 256Mb in MoBo. I'll keep the forum posted.

**tafi** · Jul 08, 2009, 08:57 AM

Re: SIGSEGV #11 segmentation fault keeps coming up, no matter what. Jaunty 9.04

Sorry to be the only one who's posting here, but this is how I get more posts to my profile, haha.

I'm still with integrated MoBo GeForce 7050. An update to the situation coming, at this time the PC was left alone for about 20hrs, and when I got back to it the next day, it was in total full tilt. Even the clock was showing yesterday evening, and none of the six programs I had left open, didn't work, even maximize from bottom menu. The only thing to do was hard boot from power switch.

Makes me wonder, is my PSU, only 350W, enough for the mojo? I only have DVD/RW, 320Gb Seagate HDD and 12V water pump spinning. MoBo has only normal stuff, LAN cable, Logitech Z4 speakers, 19" VGA connected LCD and very standard keyb. USB has HP printer , mouse, sometimes digital camera and barcode pen. What do you think?

**dibl** · Jul 08, 2009, 11:23 AM

Re: SIGSEGV #11 segmentation fault keeps coming up, no matter what. Jaunty 9.04

Originally posted by tafi

and 12V water pump spinning

Hmmmm. And how many watts is that CPU pulling, at full capacity, plus the GPU?

**nukedathlonman** · Jul 08, 2009, 05:00 PM

Re: SIGSEGV #11 segmentation fault keeps coming up, no matter what. Jaunty 9.04

A 350W supply should be more then large enough for that system configuration. My Desktop is comprised of a Gigabyte GA-K8NF9 mobo (old school s939) , an Operton 180 (2.0Ghz dual core CPU with a TDP of 110W - I believe his is 89W), two 1G DDR 3200 memory sticks, a pair of Samsung Spin point PIDE 500G HD's, two PIDE DVD drive's (one ROM, one writer), an internal USB connected 17-in one card reader, floppy drive, Haupauge PVR-150, an internal PCI modem, a total of 9 semi-quiet speed adjustable fans (8x 80mm, 1x 110), factory over-clocked Asus GeForce 6600GT, and several lights in side the case for effects. I installed a 550W supply in it when I built it thinking that was only slightly larger then I needed... Boy was I wrong. I've had a Kill-a-watt meter on it, and at idle with cool and quiet disabled it shows the system eating 110W at 65% efficiency (Yuck). Full out running 3D-Mark-06 the highest peek I could get showed only 190W of power being drawn - thats just under 37% load for the power supply. According to the manual, my shiny green Ultra X-connect PSU is supposed to be 78% efficient when loaded to 70% capacity - it's not loaded down enough to reach it's most power efficient point. So consider this - his system is built with much less power hungry stuff, while his PSU size is close to being about the ideal size for my tank. If it is a PSU problem he having, I'd suspect it's more likely that one of the rails is going bad and that's what's creating the instability.

I'd start a little more basic - how does the computer look internally in terms of collected dust, esp the heat sinks? I'm thinking that maybe it's a simple case of the system over heating from a dust infestation (lord knows I've fixed enough computers experiencing that problem). Another thing to consider, could the capacitor's in the voltage regulation circuits of the mobo be fried?

Hmm, wait a second - 12V water-pump... Is the system by any chance over-clocked? If so, by how much? reconsidering things, it might be best if you can borrow a kill-a-watt meter to find out how many watts your pulling as an over-clocked system can get power hungry in a hurry. The total draw of the system unit (not counting any self powered external devices such as the display) and including any loss of power that occurs from the PSU's efficiency shouldn't exceed about 70-75% of the rating of the PSU for saftey.

**tafi** · Jul 09, 2009, 10:34 AM

Re: SIGSEGV #11 segmentation fault keeps coming up, no matter what. Jaunty 9.04

CPU+GPU power pull, I think jes, 89W+some 55 odd W. Who knows.

Hey, I'm not a writer, not a speaker, only a doer, so I made my PC water cooled with self made components. Because it was possible. And because it made the mojo dead quiet. The only fan in the system is in PSU.

MoBo is brand new, the caps are all OK. I checked.

Overclocked, no. Never. CPU temp when idle is 40C, in business I've seen 48C.

Dust in the tank, not that much at all no.

What about the PSU rails, please explain.

About DDRs, I don't know if it matters or not 'cos I've tested SIGSEGV#11 to occur with all possible memory configurations, but I have "mis-alignment", one 1Gb 400MHz and three 512Mb 400MHz's in four slots. All Kingston, though.

One other thing, I bought the PSU as used... That could mean a thing or two.

Tell you what, I'll downgrade the graphics card and try to measure the power output and consumption. Or take a peek from BIOS.

**nukedathlonman** · Jul 09, 2009, 12:56 PM

Re: SIGSEGV #11 segmentation fault keeps coming up, no matter what. Jaunty 9.04

The "rails" I'm talking about are internal to PSU, they regulate the voltage lines and current - so your 12V line is 12 volts, your 5V line is 5 volts, your 3.3V line is 3.3 volts. If the rails are week or starting to go, your 12V line might actualy only be 11.4V for example, or your 3.3V line might be 3.5 volt's.

If your not over clocked in any way shape or form, then I'm sure your very well with in the wattage of the PSU.

**tafi** · Jul 11, 2009, 03:30 AM

Re: SIGSEGV #11 segmentation fault keeps coming up, no matter what. Jaunty 9.04

Originally posted by nukedathlonman

The "rails" I'm talking about are internal to PSU, they regulate the voltage lines and current - so your 12V line is 12 volts, your 5V line is 5 volts, your 3.3V line is 3.3 volts.

Allright,
My lines are now 3.3V=3.36V
5.0V=5.14V
12.0V=12.17V so, I'm well within range.

I've done some other things as well, that's bad testing, I know. I downgraded the display card, changed it's driver back to nvidia, and from BIOS I changed Memory Flexibility Option from Disabled to Enabled.
Now 16 hours power on and so far w/o SIGSEGV #11.

New information from the web, Geforce 7050 when integrated to MoBo, draws 107W easily.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums...highlight=7050

Furthermore, it has come up, that in some PSUs, the more power consumption, say, in 12V line, the more the 12V line fluctuates. I.e. the current is not stable. In that case it may as well be that 350W is not enough for MoBo with display card integrated in it. Couldn't it be?

**dibl** · Jul 11, 2009, 06:42 AM

Re: SIGSEGV #11 segmentation fault keeps coming up, no matter what. Jaunty 9.04

Originally posted by tafi

In that case it may as well be that 350W is not enough for MoBo with display card integrated in it. Couldn't it be?

I did not want to be the "wet blanket at the party" ... but YES, I think 350W is borderline, for your CPU and GPU and drives.

I personally blew a brand new Antec 550W PSU on my first attempt to build my desktop system -- it has a Core 2 Extreme CPU and a big Nvidia power-hog of a GPU, plus 4G of RAM and 3 hard drives. The math said 550W was sufficient, but the smoke said "Not big enough". I run a 650W PSU now, for almost 3 years. The lesson -- buy more PSU than the math says you need.

**tafi** · Jul 11, 2009, 08:12 AM

Re: SIGSEGV #11 segmentation fault keeps coming up, no matter what. Jaunty 9.04

The mojo slapped me in the face and threw me out!

Logged me off and killed all programs! The extra one was KMagnifier that blew up the roof. I had six programs open when that happened. The CPU temp was @50C only. 10 seconds before that KMagnifier crashed and caused a SIGSEGV #11 error.

While writing this my browser just closed, without any warning and no trace.

So, what do you think I should go for, more powerful PSU or new HDD replacing 2y old Seagate? I'd say 95% PSU, 5% HDD.

**dibl** · Jul 11, 2009, 09:16 AM

Re: SIGSEGV #11 segmentation fault keeps coming up, no matter what. Jaunty 9.04

Originally posted by tafi

I'd say 95% PSU, 5% HDD.

Yep. I'd even got to "0% hdd" -- there's no hdd failure mode that I've ever heard of that will cause the crash error that you're seeing. Usually a failing hdd causes boot failures and fsck errors.

If it's not the PSU, which it probably is, then it would be some electrical issue on the mobo, including RAM and all the connectors.

**tafi** · Jul 13, 2009, 09:43 AM

Re: SIGSEGV #11 segmentation fault keeps coming up, no matter what. Jaunty 9.04

Littlebit OT follows:

Since we live here in a small village, of 9000, I would have had to make an order on the PSU anyway, so I made an international order. From a 20% cheaper country. Let's see when it arrives, delivery schedule is the only weak point in internet orders. Tagan PipeRock 600W will be heading my way. No more power shortage for me, please.

I also won a local internet auction for a Club 3D 8500GT with 512Mb. Maybe I'll be looking for a HDD or Writer as well, since my MoBo has one IDE conn. only. So these both are in the same cable...

I'll keep the forum posted on the PSU results: I hope I am able to mark the thread [solved].

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[SOLVED] SIGSEGV #11 segmentation fault keeps coming up, no matter what. JJ 9.04

[SOLVED] SIGSEGV #11 segmentation fault keeps coming up, no matter what. JJ 9.04

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