2.4.x kernel crashing
Hey everyone, I've written about this before, but I've specific questions now ;-) I'm running stock 2.4.16, self compiled, on a Beige G3/266, with KDE as my window manager. I get random crashes with any 2.4.x kernel. I would like to use xmon to figure out what's wrong so that I can get it fixed, but I can't see the terminal/console because when I crash, the top portion of my screen becomes artifacts that I can't read (the rest of it is dead). I can't switch to another console, but at the very least, at the top of the screen, I get a blinking cursor that I know is in a shell mode with xmon. I want to record this xmon info to a file, which I tried, but it didn't save. I don't know where to get documentation on xmon so I can figure out how to save to a file (since I'm unable to read the screen). Can anyone help? Thanks! Russell
Re: 2.4.x kernel crashing
Hello! >>> Russell Hires <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 04.12.2001 14.30 Uhr >>> > I want to record this xmon info to a file, which I tried, but it didn't save. Maybe the program sends ist output to stderr? Have you tried "xmon foo bar 2>&1 > myfile"? --benny.
Re: 2.4.x kernel crashing
"Benny Siegert" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Maybe the program sends ist output to stderr? Have you tried "xmon > foo bar 2>&1 > myfile"? That would be rather difficult since xmon is a in-kernel debugger... ttyl, -- Josh Huber | [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
Re: 2.4.x kernel crashing
On Tue, 2001-12-04 at 14:30, Russell Hires wrote: > I'm running stock 2.4.16, self compiled, on a Beige G3/266, with KDE as my > window manager. I get random crashes with any 2.4.x kernel. I would like to > use xmon to figure out what's wrong so that I can get it fixed, but I can't > see the terminal/console because when I crash, the top portion of my screen > becomes artifacts that I can't read (the rest of it is dead). That machine has a Mach64 chip, right? That's what you get for an XFree86 driver which doesn't support the framebuffer device - when I get kicked into xmon I can read it perfectly. Maybe you could too if before running X, you set the VT X runs on to the same depth (using fbset) you have configured in X. You'll have to find out yourself. > I can't switch to another console, but at the very least, at the top of > the screen, I get a blinking cursor that I know is in a shell mode > with xmon. No shell, just the xmon prompt. > I want to record this xmon info to a file, which I tried, but it > didn't save. I don't know where to get documentation on xmon so I can > figure out how to save to a file (since I'm unable to read the > screen). If that was the only problem... when you're in xmon, bad things have happened and everything is interrupted. Only when you exit xmon (by entering 'x') does the system continue to run. So there is no filesystem access in xmon. xmon is a tool for developers. If you don't know how to use it, it's probably better to just exit it right away and then try to decode the oops with ksymoops on the syslog output. But then you could as well disable xmon in your kernels, though you might not notice when the oopses happen then. -- Earthling Michel Dänzer (MrCooper)/ Debian GNU/Linux (powerpc) developer XFree86 and DRI project member / CS student, Free Software enthusiast
Re: 2.4.x kernel crashing
> That machine has a Mach64 chip, right? I forgot to include an important detail: I'm actually running with a Voodoo3 card. > if before > running X, you set the VT X runs on to the same depth (using fbset) you > have configured in X. You'll have to find out yourself. I guess I've got more reading to do! I'll have to figure this part out. > > If that was the only problem... when you're in xmon, bad things have > happened and everything is interrupted. Only when you exit xmon (by > entering 'x') does the system continue to run. So there is no filesystem > access in xmon. Typing 'x' could be bad anyway, since the whole system is down. At least it would allow for an orderly shutdown? I've got another question related to this: could it be a hardware failure on my computer's part somewhere? The kind of failure that a 2.4 kernel would see, where a 2.2. kernel wouldn't? Thanks for the help! Russell
Re: 2.4.x kernel crashing
On Thu, 2001-12-06 at 01:00, Russell Hires wrote: > > > If that was the only problem... when you're in xmon, bad things have > > happened and everything is interrupted. Only when you exit xmon (by > > entering 'x') does the system continue to run. So there is no filesystem > > access in xmon. > Typing 'x' could be bad anyway, since the whole system is down. At least it > would allow for an orderly shutdown? If it's only an oops, yes. If it's a panic, you won't be able to do anything but force reboot after you exit xmon. > I've got another question related to this: could it be a hardware failure on > my computer's part somewhere? The kind of failure that a 2.4 kernel would > see, where a 2.2. kernel wouldn't? I rather doubt that. I could imagine one kernel showing hardware problems more than another, but not that one does and the other not at all. -- Earthling Michel Dänzer (MrCooper)/ Debian GNU/Linux (powerpc) developer XFree86 and DRI project member / CS student, Free Software enthusiast
Re: 2.4.x kernel crashing
Okay, accepting for the moment that when the kernel dies, I can't read the console to find out what went wrong, what else can I do to figure out what's wrong? Which kernel or other system logs would tell me? I do know that for some reason, heavy disk activity kills the kernel. I run anacron, and I know that after a few days of not being on, my computer runs a bunch of tasks in the background. I think that it's the "locate" database update that could be the culprit. But then, how would I know for sure? Thanks for all the help! Russell On Thursday 06 December 2001 04:52 pm, Michel Dänzer wrote: > On Thu, 2001-12-06 at 01:00, Russell Hires wrote: > > > If that was the only problem... when you're in xmon, bad things have > > > happened and everything is interrupted. Only when you exit xmon (by > > > entering 'x') does the system continue to run. So there is no > > > filesystem access in xmon. > > > > Typing 'x' could be bad anyway, since the whole system is down. At least > > it would allow for an orderly shutdown? > > If it's only an oops, yes. If it's a panic, you won't be able to do > anything but force reboot after you exit xmon. > > > I've got another question related to this: could it be a hardware failure > > on my computer's part somewhere? The kind of failure that a 2.4 kernel > > would see, where a 2.2. kernel wouldn't? > > I rather doubt that. I could imagine one kernel showing hardware > problems more than another, but not that one does and the other not at > all.
Re: 2.4.x kernel crashing
On Mon, 2001-12-10 at 15:34, Russell Hires wrote: > Okay, accepting for the moment that when the kernel dies, I can't read the > console to find out what went wrong, what else can I do to figure out what's > wrong? Which kernel or other system logs would tell me? /var/log/kern.log, but as it seems to be a panic (the kernel would keep running after an oops), there probably won't be anything there. You'd have to use a serial console or something. > I do know that for some reason, heavy disk activity kills the kernel. I run > anacron, and I know that after a few days of not being on, my computer runs a > bunch of tasks in the background. I think that it's the "locate" database > update that could be the culprit. But then, how would I know for sure? You can be sure that it's not any userspace program's fault. :) The kernel dying is either a kernel bug or a hardware fault. -- Earthling Michel Dänzer (MrCooper)/ Debian GNU/Linux (powerpc) developer XFree86 and DRI project member / CS student, Free Software enthusiast
