uralmasha

I have AMD x2 4400+ , dual core processor (hence SMP kernel), on a ABIT A8N Ultra motherboard (that's nvidia chip). I had not changed anything in the system before the problem appeared, nor have I touched the hardware after. I never reset or cut the power, always shutdown the thing. The only actions I have taken were updating some pachakges via --auto-select, but that is, again, had happened before on a regular basis. Another thing I was suspicious of was the custom kernel 2.6.15, based on Mandriva's config,(however it had been running for a few weeks already, and before that there was another custom kernel which also worked fine). So, I would say it does look like hardware falure (one core dead, or some wires between them), but Ubuntu seems to be OK with that, it just runs, and shows 2 icons at boot, one for each "CPU" it finds.

Progress report: 1. Hard disk is checked by "thorough" check, clean. 2. Memtest ran w/o errors 3. Non-SMP kernel loads and runs, both stock kernel and self-compiled by me. What are the implications? Does that mean hardware falure?

Gowator, scarecrow, I have to admit, I cannot quite imagine myself touching the motherboard, and pulling some weird cables from it. I think it's a great thing that it has a paper "sealing" on it, to keep me from exploring.

The boot drive is from Western digital, they have only tools for Windows. I am not sure I should useit, though they do say "read only" (with a warning) and provide an ISO image for "dos". As a first approximation to a hardware test I installed Ubuntu in that same partition, and exploited it for some time. It did not show any errors, so I guess it's my actions that have ruined the system. I only have to think more when doing things. This time I am going to keep log of everything I install/modify (unfortunately, I cannot get all I need from RPMs and have to compile a thing or two). Next thing I try is try other kinds of kernels and then it will be a trip to the shop. Thank you guys, again. Ah, yes. I also have reset the motherboard settings! :)

Depending on how often and how many of your files change, you might also have a look at Easy Automated Snapshot-Style Backups with Linux and Rsync .

Thank you, ianw1974. I'll give memtest a try... it's gonna take a long time. I would say, kernel compilation is already a good a memtest, though. Anyway, I am not entirely sure about BIOS, as I have not changed anything in there recently. Just in case I will load those "optimised defaults" (seems we have similar bios versions). I'll report backk here when it's done.

Ok. The new installation did not help. I re-partitioned /dev/sda to increase the size of /dev/sda1 (empty, added 200M) and /dev/sda5 (formatted as ReiserFS), where I installed Madriva 2006. Eventually I got the same result as before: hangs at startup or later. I would not like to open the case yet, it is sealed by the shop,. Maybe later when I have no other option. Now the question: are there any live-CDs with diagnostic tools for memory/disc surface? Sigh.

Uhm. Unplugging usb connectors from the motherboard? Pull the TV card? Is that what you mean, scarecrow? btw, here is the error from /var/log/messages from previous incarnation of my mandriva, that I accidentaly saved: Jan 18 20:00:25 kokoc kernel: [<ffffffff88031000>] (nv_interrupt+0x0/0xe0 [sata_nv]) Jan 18 20:00:25 kokoc kernel: [<ffffffff881ef9a0>] (nv_nic_irq+0x0/0x4f0 [forcedeth]) Jan 18 20:00:28 kokoc kernel: irq event 217: bogus return value 7ffbbe39 Jan 18 20:00:28 kokoc kernel: handlers: Jan 18 20:00:28 kokoc kernel: [<ffffffff88031000>] (nv_interrupt+0x0/0xe0 [sata_nv]) Jan 18 20:00:28 kokoc kernel: [<ffffffff881ef9a0>] (nv_nic_irq+0x0/0x4f0 [forcedeth]) Jan 18 20:00:28 kokoc kernel: irq event 217: bogus return value 2c1d221 So far it runs, no obvious errors in messages.

Arctic, I don't know if it has something to do with Thac, because this accident happened 2 days after I updated to his -28 build. I suppose it would have manifested itself much earlier than yesterday. I have been using this PC since August, it is reasonably new. Started with LE edition (very spartan on x86-64), then cooker and now upgraded to 2006. I can't complain at stability, if understand this term right. There is a dead kded now and then, but that's it. I had, however, some deeper troubles once in the fall, when my ethernet swithched with iee1394 interface, all of a sudden, too. I check /var/log/messages sporadically, and kernel/errors, too. Nothing fancy there. The only thing kernel complained about was those 2 errors I mentioned above. I have compiled and used "vanilla" kernels 2.6.14 (to solve the timer problem I had with 2.6.12, and I'm likely to do it again :-( ) and then 2.6.15 , using mandriva's .config as an oldconfig and a tutorial. This is actually the reason I in the end decided to wipe the partition: I thought Mandy discovered some bad code in 2.6.15 it has not happened to see before (there has been some intensive usage of database and apache just hours before the clinic death of my PC). I don't have a spare partition just now, apart from Ubuntu. If this installation does not screw, I'd prefer not to turn it into as 32-bit one. Otherwise I'll report here when I have the 32-bit install. BTW, would ReiserFS on root partition / be enough or all partitions would need to be re-formatted/converted?

Yeah, the first 1- GB of /dev/sda is left empty in case Windoze will be needed... However, it just told me it would need at least 1033Mb of space, some 20Mb more that I reserved... So, I gave Mandriva another chance.

thank you guys for a quick reaction! Arctic, /var/log/messages is just gone ! However, there were some errors reported in there, related to "bogus address" in modules nv_sata and forcedeth . I'll post them here, as I have an extract in my knotes. I had checked /var/log/kernel/errors , and there were nothing unusual. It had always complained about hid_core.c failing, something related to USB, and not being able to allocate region 3 of device 00:00:02:blah:blah , I don't know what it is, ubuntu complained about the two things, too... Since it worked, I left it as is. Some time ago it reported that it would not find System.map "the kernel modules will not be loaded", but this had been happening for a while (like a few days), and the modules did load, in fact. I just did not have chance to see it before yesterday. ianw1974, I re-created partition manually, it did not complain. Now I am hesitating whether I should try Windows (for troubleshooting) or another go at mandriva...

All of a sudden my system hoses up completely, sometimes right during boot, sometimes a bit later, but always pretty soon. The latest thing I did to the system was update to Thac's X11 (2 days ago) and regular urpmi --auto-select which installed 3 packages from the official repo. Well, it looks like an error in the hardware, apart from the fact that Ubuntu on the same machine, same harddrive seems to run OK. I eventually reinstalled Mandriva-2006, as neither rescue nor "upgrade" from the disk did not really help. This is the last screen I got, after a clean install with formatting the root partition: General protection fault : 0000 [1] SMP CPU 1 Modules linked in: usb_storage usbmouse usbhid usbkbd usbhlp ehci_hcd ohci_hcd usbcore evdev ext3 jbd sd_mod sata_nv libata scsi_mod Pid: 0, comm: swapper Not Tsinted 2.6.12-12mdksmp RIP: 0010:[ffffffff80194da7] <ffffffff8094da7> {tasklet_action+55} RSP: 0018:fffff EFLAGS: 00010286 <same kind of hexadecimal numbers with RBX RCX RDX , looks like register content> ... etc prefixes, in totalabout 24 Further there is stack and Call tracer information, Code: 48 8b ... etc <0>Kernel panic: not synching: Aiee, killing interrupt handler! I ran fsck.ext3 -cv /dev/sda5 on the root partition and it seems to be in order, there were no errors, only a message that the "file system was modified" -- I suppose this is the concequence of a number of hard resets I had to apply to the PC :-( Anyways, what next? Has anyone any faintest idea what this might be, how to fix this and -- more important -- how to avoid this in the future? Please, help if you have any idea!

Well, if you only care about killing the process, you can use the root console. "top" command will show you all your processes, pretty much like in Gnome sys.monitor, which you can order and filter any way you like (type "?" for help). For instance "k" will initiate the killing dialogue, "u root" will show only root's processes. I don't know how to make the Gnome sys.monitor to ask for the root's password and whether this is possible at all.

Bitstream Vera is an alias for dejaVu on my system.

(1) You can check /etc/smbpasswd and /etc/passwd files to see the UIDs (UID follows the username). It may be different if you use a smb.conf file from the previous incvarnation of mandriva (created new users in different order). In my previous post i meant (4) that I could not set up shared printer for samba in MCC. I thought, perhaps it would help if I show my own smb.conf that works. I edited it myself a million times using online tutorials, but it never helped. Then I used MCC to set it up -- no luck (shares visible, printer don't print). This config created by SWAT works. The only difference is that my Wind. PC runs XP, and I don't setup home dirs. I also noticed that Windws caches the network neighbourhood, so I preferred to reboot the laptop after I changed samba setting. There is an XP user `uralmasha' and a sambauser `uralmasha', and a Mandriva user `uralmasha'. Hope this helps. # Samba config file created using SWAT # from 127.0.0.1 (127.0.0.1) # Date: 2005/12/15 18:34:17 [global] workgroup = WG server string = Samba Server %v password level = 8 username level = 8 log file = /var/log/samba/%m.log max log size = 50 socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192 printcap cache time = 60 printcap name = cups preferred master = Yes domain master = Yes dns proxy = No hosts allow = 192.168.2., 127. [printers] comment = All Printers path = /var/spool/samba write list = uralmasha, @adm, root printer admin = uralmasha, root create mask = 0700 guest ok = Yes printable = Yes use client driver = Yes browseable = No [print$] path = /var/lib/samba/printers write list = uralmasha, @adm, root inherit permissions = Yes guest ok = Yes [SHAREDSPACE] comment = Public Stuff path = /path/to/shared write list = uralmasha, theotheruseronXP create mask = 0750 guest ok = Yes #I set up only one printer from all configurations installed [Std_IMG] comment = 600dpi_Colour_70%__Duplex.1 path = /var/spool/samba write list = uralmasha, @adm, root printer admin = uralmasha, root read only = No create mask = 0700 guest ok = Yes printable = Yes printer name = Std_IMG use client driver = Yes share modes = No

Hi, bigjohn! I (stupid, too :) ) have been struggling with a similar problem in Mandriva 2006 (x86_64). It just wouldn't print from an XP laptop. I only managed to make it print by using SWAT configure utility (address http://localhost:901, swat should be installed and enabled in MCC-> System -> Services). A few remarks that may be usefull for you to resolve the problem: 1) You have put 'valid users = john' in your [global] section. This affect every other section, such as [printer$]. It in fact excludes Clares from any access to samba under her own login, only one user john (and guest and root perhaps) can access your Mandriva box via samba! 2) You don't have option 'hosts allow = <allowed ip >'. I guess it is needed, as the default (if any) may not be very welcoming. If you want a range of IPs, use notation: 192.168.2. or 127. (note the last dot). 3) At one point I found that one samba user in /etc/samba/smbpasswd file had wrong userID (leftover from previous incarnation). Wrong uid <=> no samba access. 4) MCC's wizard could never solve my problem of printer setup! 5) You may want to run testparm -v /etc/samba/smb.conf to verify your samba settings. Look at the warnings it produces, it may spot some contradictions in the setting that you overlook! 6) Have a look at your firewall settings. On my system /etc/shorewall/rules gets overwritten with a default version whenever I run in MCC "Alter miscellaneous network settings". The default shorewall setup does not let samba through! 7) Look at the samba log files, perhaps some clues there?

You may try Avidemux. It has an option of shrinking files to a given size, and can even do it very fast. Alongside it can shift the audio, too.

This is the second time it happens, so I decided to seek advice here. For an unknown reason, my Mandriva-2006 suddenly swaps eth0 and eth1 interfaces. I have only one network chip which was originally eth0. eth1 is (originally) a IEE1394 device, which I never use anyway. After mandriva changes their names as seen in MCC and modprobe.conf, I have to reconfigure the network (via MCC) to make eth1 the connecting interface. This brings the network up. This is from the old modprobe.conf And this is what I have at the moment: I am puzzled because I had not played with network settings apart from using SWAT for samba, and editing the modprobe.conf does not help. Anyone with similar experience, tips, ideas?

Well I read the further discussion on that list. Linus Torvalds does give a ton of constructive criticism down the thread. In the light of that whole discussion (printing dialogues in Gnome), L.T. is darn right.

Hi, lakelover! I have(had) some of your printer problems, on same Mandriva 2006 + printerdrake + turpboprint. I quess that's a bug printerdrake. Printdrake just sets the settings to the most economic mode (-50%) and mirror output, every time you open its window! The only solution I found so far is not to touch printerdrake :-( Use tpsetup and tpconfig from Turboprint to setup your printer(s) properly . You may want to check "advanced" settings in the color tab to get the vivid colours back. If you open printerdrake after that, you'll get your settings reset to "mirror page make it pale", again! Update: Before I had printerdrake, I found that the printer model that Mandriva detects, is more or less arbitrary. I had to print out test page for every BJC in the list, to get the right print.

The first thing that comes on my mind is to make the directories under question belong to group grouponly4thatuser and then grant the necessary access rights, smth like r--rw---- . The user "admin" should be member of grouponly4thatuser , too.

Two very simple things that I have not been able to achieve :-( I. How to make kmail remember folder view settings: I want it to show certain folders a) threaded b)filtered on a certain phrase ("Search") c) show unread messages ("Status"). I can only make sure about the threaded view, but not the other two. II. A similar problem in ksysguard. I crafted my own view of system parameters, but every now and then ksysguard reverts to its original useless 2x2 worksheet. I have to manually load the separately saved worksheet of mine. Where is the default place for a worksheet? Anyione any experience with that?

the proper way to revert to the previous behaviour (documents in ~) is to add empty file named .mdk-no-desktop-launch to your home dir. I think I saw it in the release notes :)

Hi, bvc I was wonering whether running a KDE application in Gnome (or vice versa) would inflict some (unnecessary) overhead, as I noticed KDE has its own ways to communicate? So, to run a KDE app in Gnome you have to load part of KDE that dubbs certain Gnome functions, don't you?

Hi, VeeDubb The 2006 powerpack DVD is ~4.4G in size. If I read you right, your download manager showed only 2Gigs, ergo it looks like a known problem for some browsers that doesn't expect files larger than 2 Gigs (i learned this the hard way about Opera, and you - about Mozilla). If you use wget, it will give you the file integer. If I remember correctly, wget supports resume as well (-c switch, see the man pages), so the first thing I'd try is to make a go and get those 400Megs in addition to the 4 Gigs you already have. After all, that's a 10% insuarance you don't have to download the whole thing again. Cheers, uralmasha