Arch Linux

scar

Member

From: Hungary

Registered: 2009-10-01

Posts: 449

[SOLVED] Realtek 8139 causes system freeze ( or kernel panic? )

I  have a box with three realtek 8139 NICs, and after a fresh install I've noticed
a system freeze ( I'm not sure if it is a kernel panic, since I don't see "kernel panic" anywhere)
The freeze is generated by tcp-ip traffic ( such as running pacman, links, wget, dhcpcd )
but not by ICMP traffic ( I've set my NICs on static IPs, and tried to ping, IT WORKS )

kernel is: 3.1.5-1-ARCH
lspci -k shows that the kernel is using the 8139cp module

the network cards work well with the install disc ( probably an older kernel )
they work well without installing the "linux" package, and installing kernel26-lts instead

What is wrong here?

Last edited by scar (2012-01-10 18:06:01)

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“The future has already arrived. It's just not evenly distributed yet.”
― William Gibson

foolishrobot

Member

From: Chicago

Registered: 2011-11-18

Posts: 7

Re: [SOLVED] Realtek 8139 causes system freeze ( or kernel panic? )

Have you tried booting with noapic? When I had issues similar to what you're describing on my VIA card, noapic resolved it.

ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 20,701

Re: [SOLVED] Realtek 8139 causes system freeze ( or kernel panic? )

... I'm not sure if it is a kernel panic, since I don't see "kernel panic" anywhere...

Are any keyboard lights flashing?

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How to Ask Questions the Smart Way

scar

Member

From: Hungary

Registered: 2009-10-01

Posts: 449

Re: [SOLVED] Realtek 8139 causes system freeze ( or kernel panic? )

updated to the latest linux package, same thing

foolishrobot: I'll give it a try this evening, thanks (interesting, mine is a VIA component too)
ewaller: yes, caps and num lock are flashing

Last edited by scar (2012-01-02 09:58:10)

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“The future has already arrived. It's just not evenly distributed yet.”
― William Gibson

ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 20,701

Re: [SOLVED] Realtek 8139 causes system freeze ( or kernel panic? )

ewaller: yes, caps and num lock are flashing

That is a fairly positive indication of a kernel panic.

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Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature -- Michael Faraday
The shortest way to ruin a country is to give power to demagogues.— Dionysius of Halicarnassus
---
How to Ask Questions the Smart Way

scar

Member

From: Hungary

Registered: 2009-10-01

Posts: 449

Re: [SOLVED] Realtek 8139 causes system freeze ( or kernel panic? )

OK, so that is a kernel panic, but why?
noapic boot parameter gets me to the same kernel panic...
fallback kernel is panicking too..

If I use  the 8139too module instead of the 8139cp, the machine doesn't see the NICs.

ps: ubuntu server with the same kernel works on the machine... I just like arch muuuuuch better...
      latest kernel from abs goes down too...
      commenting ( ! ) the network service in arch saves me from the panic...
     

      Pretty flatlined for a router

Last edited by scar (2012-01-03 07:13:39)

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“The future has already arrived. It's just not evenly distributed yet.”
― William Gibson

scar

Member

From: Hungary

Registered: 2009-10-01

Posts: 449

Re: [SOLVED] Realtek 8139 causes system freeze ( or kernel panic? )

So, that's me again.

I've built a new (3.1.7) kernel from source, same kernel panic happens.

Source-built 3.0.1 kernel causes NO KERNEL PANIC at all.

I will launch a couple of builds to determine the kernel version which fails to use NICs on my box.
(It will take a huge amount of time, because i'm compiling it on a 600 Mhz box )

SHALL I  REPORT THIS AS A BUG?

Last edited by scar (2012-01-07 20:37:23)

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“The future has already arrived. It's just not evenly distributed yet.”
― William Gibson

MadCat_X

Member

Registered: 2009-10-08

Posts: 189

Re: [SOLVED] Realtek 8139 causes system freeze ( or kernel panic? )

Can you get us a crashdump? If I'm not mistaken it should be saved automatically to /var/log/kernel.log in case of a kernel panic. If it isn't, you can dump it manually by pressing SysRq+Alt+C (you'll need "kernel.sysrq = 1" in your /etc/sysctl.conf to make them work)

EDIT:
I just checked the commit log for 3.1.8 and 3.0.1 kernels and it appears that there were only two changes in the 8139cp driver. It should be easy to revert those two patches and find out what's causing the problem.

Last edited by MadCat_X (2012-01-08 15:26:31)

scar

Member

From: Hungary

Registered: 2009-10-01

Posts: 449

Re: [SOLVED] Realtek 8139 causes system freeze ( or kernel panic? )

The bug was in the 3.1.0 kernel, see:

https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/26906

Thus, the forum thread is SOLVED ( but not the bug )

Last edited by scar (2012-01-10 18:06:33)

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“The future has already arrived. It's just not evenly distributed yet.”
― William Gibson

MadCat_X

Member

Registered: 2009-10-08

Posts: 189

Re: [SOLVED] Realtek 8139 causes system freeze ( or kernel panic? )

The patch mentioned on the Arch bugzillla appears to be applied in 3.2, so it might be worth giving a try.

scar

Member

From: Hungary

Registered: 2009-10-01

Posts: 449

Re: [SOLVED] Realtek 8139 causes system freeze ( or kernel panic? )

Solved. Fixed in kernel 3.2.7.

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“The future has already arrived. It's just not evenly distributed yet.”
― William Gibson