Re: memory corruption under heavy load?

tim middlekoop (mtim@lab.housing.fsu.edu)
Tue, 2 Apr 1996 10:51:24 -0500 (EST)


I had problems along simular lines, disabling the external cache worked
also, could it be that the kernel is having problems with external cache,
or just slow memory.

tim...

--
Tim Middelkoop                                   O
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On Mon, 1 Apr 1996, Colten Edwards wrote:

> > > On Mon, 1 Apr 1996, Marek Michalkiewicz wrote: > > > Trying to stress-test some new hardware, I did "make -j" on the kernel > > sources. It runs for a while, starts swapping a lot, load average goes > > up to 30 or so, then cc1 gets fatal signal 11. There is still plenty > > of free swap space at this point (20MB total, about 10MB free). > been there.. done that > > > > > Before everyone will tell me: "it's a hardware problem, read the signal > > 11 FAQ, Linux has no bugs", read on... > > > > This never happens on the same machine under 1.2.13, 1.3.45 and 1.3.58 > > (it runs happily until it runs out of swap space). I can reproduce it > > every time I try "make -j" on any large source package, under 1.3.80 > > and 1.3.74. Normal compiles work fine under 1.3.80, just not "make -j" > > so I don't think it's a hardware problem. > > > > The symptom is usually signal 11, but sometimes also syntax errors in > > perfectly good include files. It looks like memory corruption caused > > by some changes between 1.3.58 and 1.3.74. I suspect the new swapping > > or page cache code. I can do a binary search, to determine exactly > > which patchlevel broke things - just tell me if this is necessary. > > been here.. had that. > > > > > Hardware: GigaByte GA-5486AL PCI motherboard with ALI1489 chipset (BTW, > > it seems to work fine with normal IDE driver, specifying ide0=ali14xx > > slows it down 3MB/s -> 1MB/s!), AMD 5x86-160 CPU, WD AC2850 hard drive > > (814MB EIDE), 8MB RAM (two 70ns 4MB PS/2 SIMMs). > > Gigabyte GA 586 PCI with triton chipset. 256k pipeline burst. Intel 586 > 100 WD 1gig and a Quantum 1.2g 16meg of 60ns ram. > > On my first board I could get rid of the problem by disabling the > external cache. I had the board replaced and the problem has gone away. > So yes it can be a hardware problem. BTW that board probably would work > fine with dos or windows. Just not under linux. So try disabling the > external cache and slow down your memory access because of the slow > SIMM's and see what happens.... If it cures the problem then it's > probably not a linux problem but a hardware problem. > > Colten Edwards >