Arch Linux

chochem

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From: Denmark

Registered: 2008-03-02

Posts: 176

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[SOLVED] Network connection / APIC / b44

The quote is the original post. I sort of suspected that it was an interrupt issue, so I messed about with some boot parameters and - at least for the past two or three hours - i've had no crashes or freezes with 'noapic irqpoll'. However, it's the crappiest of solutions since my usb connections are down to a crawl (<1Mb/s). Any suggestions about less invasive boot params or ways of isolating the guilty party are welcome.

I have a problem with my network connection disappearing, seemingly at random.

When I first installed arch a few weeks ago, I used a dhcp connection through a router, a recent donation from a friend. However, as this problem started popping up, I suspected the router and ditched it in favour of a direct line (which uses a static IP). I tried switching between network profiles with netcfg and detailing the interface right in rc.conf. I tried disabling various modules and daemons. Still, the interruptions kept popping up. Sometimes, immediately after boot, sometimes minutes or even an hour or two after. Restarting the b44 module (which appears to be repsonsible for eth0), restarting the network daemon didn't help. Dmesg didn't say anything much. The only thing that would bring back the network was restarting. The problem itself affected all of networking afaict: Attempts to ping my own gateway would fail. On a few occasions, the network stop was followed by a freeze and on one occasion , two of the LOCK leds starting flashing (which I think usually signals a kernel panic, no?)

Now, I pretty much gave up on figuring out what it was, and figured that at clean install would set things right. Not so: While still on the command line, I had one install go haywire, because of an interrupted package installation. I hoped that it was a one-off and started over, installed xorg, openbox, catalyst (ati driver) and a browser (midori), roxterm and leafpad. I left it pinging google overnight, crossing my fingers in my sleep, and when I woke up it was still at it. Encouraged I started my morning browsing routine which after a while led me to loose the connection again and before I could investigate any further, the screen froze.

Last edited by chochem (2008-09-03 17:43:26)

chochem

Member

From: Denmark

Registered: 2008-03-02

Posts: 176

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Network connection / APIC / b44

EDIT: Once again, I posted too soon. It was not related to X in any way - I just had less network traffic in X an do it apparently took longer time to provoke the error.

I think that the simpelst explanation I can come up with  - and the simplest tends to be the best, Occam's shaver yadi yadi - is that the shift from ubuntu prompted a shift from 2.6.24 to 2.6.26 and according to this thread on kerneltrap, 2.6.25 introduced problems for some using the b44 driver.
It's just a thought and since that thread doesn't come up with any answers, I'll just leave it at that and try to make do with wireless as best I can.

Last edited by chochem (2008-09-03 17:43:00)