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**dibl** · Dec 11, 2009, 04:33 PM

Re: New system locking up frequently - Maddening!

Kernel panics suggest that it's not peripherals, it's more likely the CPU or motherboard or memory.

One stick of RAM? Normally DDR2 needs 2 sticks, no?

**mr.anthrope** · Dec 11, 2009, 07:34 PM

Re: New system locking up frequently - Maddening!

Thanks for the suggestion. From what I've been able to find, DDR needs 2 sticks for optimum performance, but if you only have one, the mobo will just run in single-channel mode. I haven't found anything to indicate that running only 1 stick of DDR memory will cause catastrophic failure. BTW, this was a barebone kit, and it only came with one module.
I tend to agree that it's the processor or the motherboard, but how to tell . . . ? I'll have to keep digging.

**Qqmike** · Dec 11, 2009, 07:57 PM

Re: New system locking up frequently - Maddening!

Believe it or not, it is possible that Asus has a troubleshooting guide that, although somewhat general, may indicate pointers to mobo or CPU or memory or what. Intel has such guides. Try the Asus site.

**Qqmike** · Dec 11, 2009, 08:11 PM

Re: New system locking up frequently - Maddening!

http://support.asus.com/troubleshoot...Language=en-us

Haven't studied it, may be too general, but worth a look-see.

**dibl** · Dec 11, 2009, 08:44 PM

Re: New system locking up frequently - Maddening!

If in a Konsole you will enter

Code:

dmesg | more

it will give you the kernel messages about your hardware, one screen at a time. Use the spacebar or Enter to page through them. There might be some clue there.

**mr.anthrope** · Dec 12, 2009, 07:03 AM

Re: New system locking up frequently - Maddening!

I did look at the Asus site, but I've already done the troubleshooting steps listed there, thanks.

If I could get the system to stay running for more than 5 minutes I would try "dmesg | more" but that doesn't seem to be an option at this point.

Below is some more information from this morning; this time I was trying to load the Kubuntu live CD and the PC locked up after less than 2 minutes, with the following on the screen:

[ 123.533795] [<c01a1536>] ? do_wp_page+0x206/0x650
[ 123.533797] [<c0502cf8>] ? _spin_lock+0x8/0x10
[ 123.533801] [<c01a2000>] ? handle_mm_fault+0x300/0x380
[ 123.533803] [<c050521d>] ? do_page_fault+0x1fd/0x790
[ 123.533805] [<c02873f5>] ? security_path_permission+0x25/0x30
[ 123.533808] [<c01b4e7b>] ? shmem_get_acl+0x3b/0x80
[ 123.533811] [<c0501a4b>] ? mutex_lock+0xb/0x20
[ 123.533813] [<c01e8414>] ? inotify_inode_is_dead+0x74/0x80
[ 123.533816] [<c01b1b08>] ? shmem_destroy_inode+0x18/0x20
[ 123.533817] [<c01b1b08>] ? shmem_destroy_inode+0x18/0x20
[ 123.533819] [<c01b3aa0>] ? shmem_delete_inode+0x0/0x100
[ 123.533821] [<c01c5d65>] ? putname+0x25/0x40
[ 123.533824] [<c01c5d65>] ? putname+0x25/0x40
[ 123.533825] [<c01c8390>] ? do_unlinkat+0x40/0x150
[ 123.533827] [<c01d387d>] ? mntput_no_expire+0x1d/0x120
[ 123.533830] [<c0505020>] ? do_page_fault+0x0/0x790
[ 123.533832] [<c0503082>] ? error_code+0x72/0x80
[ 123.533833] [<c0500000>] ? relay_hotcpu_callback+0x6d/0xbd
[ 123.533837] Code: eb f1 8d b6 00 00 00 00 f6 03 04 90 8d 74 26 00 0f 85 0f 01
00 00 89 73 04 8b 55 08 8b 04 95 50 4e 51 c0 89 03 8b 43 08 8b 76 30 <8b> 38 c1
ef 1e 89 f8 c1 e0 06 8d 04 06 89 45 e4 e8 10 81 34 00
[ 123.533849] EIP: [<c01baabb>] mem_cgroup_charge_common+0xcb/0x220 SS:ESP 0068
:f6389d90
[ 123.533853] ---[ end trace 0f224103dfcf8c1b ]---
_

The "relay_hotcpu_callback" may be a clue, but I got into the BIOS and have been watching the hardware monitor. The CPU is staying right around 30-31°C, which is not hot. Just to make sure the sensor isn't dead I unplugged the CPU fan briefly, long enough to see that it will register a temperature change, and it does.

I keep suspecting the CPU itself, but that may be because the last few pages of the processor installation guide are printed upside down, and that makes me think "counterfeit."

Thanks again.

**dibl** · Dec 12, 2009, 07:55 AM

Re: New system locking up frequently - Maddening!

It says in the spec that motherboard supports 667 or 800 MHz memory. What is the model of your Kingston memory module?

**GreyGeek** · Dec 12, 2009, 08:33 AM

Re: New system locking up frequently - Maddening!

Among the error messages I saw

0e1a>] ? _spin_lock_irqsave+0x2a/0x40
[ 707.861049] [<c0158368>] __queue_work+0x28/0x40
........
[ 707.861049] [<c056c6d6>] start_secondary+0xc6/0xc8
[ 707.861049] [drm:intelfb_panic] *ERROR* panic occurred, switching back to text console
[ 707.861049] BUG: scheduling while atomic: swapper/0/0x10000100

I believe you have run into a bios dependent kernel bug: http://linux.derkeiler.com/Mailing-L.../msg14258.html

The following bug entry is on the current list of known regressions
from 2.6.30. Please verify if it still should be listed and let me know
(either way).

Alan Cox was at a loss

as to whether this is a network bug, a scheduler bug or something else.

Kernel developer Sergey Senozhatsky replied that

Hello Alan, Rafael,

BUG is still here...

kernel: [ 7331.719518] BUG: scheduling while atomic: pptpgw/4161/0x10000500
kernel: [ 7331.719526] Modules linked in: ppp_deflate zlib_deflate ppp_async crc_ccitt ppp_generic slhc ipv6 fuse loop snd_hda_codec_si3054 snd_hda_codec_realtek snd_hda_intel
snd_hda_codec snd_pcm snd_seq_midi snd_rawmidi snd_seq_midi_event snd_seq snd_timer snd_seq_device snd pcspkr soundcore psmouse serio_raw snd_page_alloc i2c_i801 rng_core evdev
asus_laptop usbhid hid sg sd_mod sr_mod cdrom ata_generic pata_acpi uhci_hcd ata_piix sdhci_pci sdhci ricoh_mmc mmc_core led_class ide_pci_generic ehci_hcd r8169 mii usbcore
kernel: [ 7331.719627]
kernel: [ 7331.719636] Pid: 4161, comm: pptpgw Not tainted (2.6.31-rc1-dbgnv-git4 #32) F3JC
kernel: [ 7331.719644] EIP: 0060:[<c13ffcd6>] EFLAGS: 00200246 CPU: 0
kernel: [ 7331.719657] EIP is at _spin_unlock_irqrestore+0x16/0x30

Those remarks were posted 6 months ago while 30 was being developed. It was marked closed five months ago but, apparently, either later kernel releases regressed, or your bios is an unusual case. : The bug was assigned to Ingo Molnar, who is the maintainer for and wrote the kernel scheduler, IIRC.

Perhaps a solution for your Asus is to downgrade to a kernel prior to 30.

**mr.anthrope** · Dec 12, 2009, 11:36 AM

Re: New system locking up frequently - Maddening!

Originally posted by dibl

It says in the spec that motherboard supports 667 or 800 MHz memory. What is the model of your Kingston memory module?

KVR667D2-2GR (it's discontinued) - hasn't failed any memory tests that I've run on it

Originally posted by GreyGeek

I believe you have run into a bios dependent kernel bug:

. . . apparently, either later kernel releases regressed, or your bios is an unusual case.

. . . Perhaps a solution for your Asus is to downgrade to a kernel prior to 30.

This issue has proven to be OS and software independent. But that raises a question: maybe the BIOS is corrupt?

Getting back to the data I posted this morning:

At http://docs.huihoo.com/linux/kernel/...api/re407.html I found:

"relay_hotcpu_callback — CPU hotplug callback . . . Description
Returns the success/failure of the operation. (NOTIFY_OK, NOTIFY_BAD)"

So, in the most recent case (loading Kubuntu live CD), was it trying to return the status of "CPU hotplug callback" when an error occurred? Then followed "mem_cgroup_charge_common" but I haven't found anything about that that I can understand. Is the the processor failing to process instructions, or is the memory failing somehow?
It doesn't matter what OS is installed on it; the computer won't run for more than 10 minutes (more like 2 to 5) without locking up or sponateously rebooting, with or without keyboard/mouse input. It's been that way since I unboxed it and assembled everything on 12/7. However, I did let it stay in BIOS setup for about an hour while I watched the CPU temp, and it kept running then with no problem.

**mr.anthrope** · Dec 13, 2009, 05:42 PM

Re: New system locking up frequently - Maddening!

Update:
I got into the BIOS and forced the RAM clock to 667 MHz. That helped a lot, and the system stayed running longer, but it still had kernel panics and locked up.
After some more research, I downloaded the latest BIOS version (making sure it was for the P5KPL-AM SE) from the Asus website. I flashed the BIOS, and as I did so, the system told me it was reading the existing BIOS; then it was flashing the BIOS; then verifying the BIOS. Finally it said flashing was successful and it would reboot. It rebooted, and now the system is nothing more than a paperweight, waiting to have a new, different, motherboard installed.

Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions. I really appreciate your time, experience and willingness to help.

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