Arch Linux

Michel

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2004-07-31

Posts: 286

linux crashes after about 5 minutes (when I start Xorg)

Hello,

my linux-system hasn't been stable a lot during the last couple of weeks, ... or even since I used linux on my system. Only once, when I used a specific version of the nvidia-drivers as my system really stable. Mostly, it was stable enough to use. Maybe I'm wrong, but that is my impression at the moment. I have to say that my chipset (via kt133 I think) or the implementation of it, can have a problem which causes this instability.

Anyway, the last time, it was only the screenimage that stopped working. Sound, ... kept on going, so I supposed it was an xorg-problem ...?
However, since the last archlinux kernelupdate (and I also tried my own custom-kernels with 2.6.16.x as the base-kernel), linux crashes very quickly as soon as I start xorg and my internet-connection (but it happens also without my internet-connection up it seems). This time, also the music stops playing.

Now, I heard of cases where Xorg starts using 100% cpu, but I can't login with ssh or so, although there may be others possibilities.
I notice that when my screen, ... freezes the led of my harddisk is ona nd stays on.
I'm not sure about the following. I once enabled logging and got some output on a vt. I thought that ther system frooze (my harddisk light was on it seemed) and some moments later my system went on working. I'm not sure if this is the same as what I experience most of the time, since it doesn't seem to come out of it (or maybe I haev to wait longer ...). Anyway, I got:

dmastatus=0x61
DMAXxxx error
status=0x58
DriverReady SeekComplete Datarequest failed
opcode was unknown

My Question: Does anyone else experience these instability-problems with the latest kernel?

I may compile xorg myself and wee what it gives ...

thank you and greetings,

Michel

Michel

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2004-07-31

Posts: 286

Re: linux crashes after about 5 minutes (when I start Xorg)

Hello again,

I want to add that this crash happens with the nv-driver (with and without acceleration) and also with the vesa-driver.

greetings,

Michel

Bysshe

Member

Registered: 2004-12-10

Posts: 271

Re: linux crashes after about 5 minutes (when I start Xorg)

I have to say that my chipset (via kt133 I think) or the implementation of it, can have a problem which causes this instability.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badcaps.net

FUBAR

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2004-12-08

Posts: 1,029

Website

Re: linux crashes after about 5 minutes (when I start Xorg)

I'd run a "factory certification" test on the hard drives. You'll need your disk's manufacturer's tool for that. Those DMA-errors sound pretty nasty to me, they could easily cause the instability.

---

A bus station is where a bus stops.
A train station is where a train stops.
On my desk I have a workstation.

byte

Member

From: Düsseldorf (DE)

Registered: 2006-05-01

Posts: 2,046

Re: linux crashes after about 5 minutes (when I start Xorg)

I use smartmontools from [community] for that.

---

1000

Michel

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2004-07-31

Posts: 286

Re: linux crashes after about 5 minutes (when I start Xorg)

Heya,

I run Windows ME on the same computer and it has a lot less problems than linux at the moment if I compare to the xorg-mode.

Linux with xorg has functionned ... and it seems to function withou xorg.

Thanks for your comments,

Michel.

FUBAR

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2004-12-08

Posts: 1,029

Website

Re: linux crashes after about 5 minutes (when I start Xorg)

I've had Windows 2000 pass a night of excruciating stress testing (3D Mark 2005 + 6 PiFast's + 2 SuperPI's + some other stress tools), but when I booted into Linux and compiled something it crashed after two minutes.

Apparently my overclock wasn't really stable.

---

A bus station is where a bus stops.
A train station is where a train stops.
On my desk I have a workstation.

JGC

Developer

Registered: 2003-12-03

Posts: 1,664

Re: linux crashes after about 5 minutes (when I start Xorg)

DriveReadySeekComplete errors are either:
- IDE controler failure
- Bad cables
- Bad harddisk

Out of these 3, the last one sounds the most reasonable with nowadays harddrives. And yes, your system will hang when all your important processes are hanging while trying to do disk I/O.

What windows does is switching back to PIO mode and never report anything, until you hit the nice BSOD telling you to replace the floppydisk in drive C...

Michel

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2004-07-31

Posts: 286

Re: linux crashes after about 5 minutes (when I start Xorg)

Heya,

thanks for the info, but would this explain that the locking only seems to occur when I run xorg ( not sure, but could be.). i"m waiting for the next xorg_release (19 may?) and hope that it will fix it if xorg is the problem. Previously, i spinned down my harddrives also, so that could be the problem, although i'm not sure though (Has been a while).

Greetings,

Michel