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Random Freezing?


Lord Kenneth
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neutro, theres no need to reboot to change drivers.

If you changee nvidia to nv in the XF86config then restart X (CTRL+ALT+BKSPC) that is sufficient.

 

lsmod should confirm this, you should see nv not nvidia

 

 

 

But you need to do it before it locks up of course!!!

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No the ONLY kernel I got it working with is the one the RPM's are compiled for!

Erm, when you comiled did you remember to edit the makefile by hand ?

 

If not you end up with it called 2.4.21-0.27mdk-custom but the drivers try and install into 2.4.21-0.27mdk (unless you edit the makefile for the drivers)

 

As far as I can tell Mandrake kernel sources ARE NOT their sources.

That is they must patch and/or do something else to them before theymake the binary kernels. (I guess this is a big secret !!)

Mandrake kernels are pretty fast - all considered. I guess they do some tweaking they don't want to share with the rest of us!

Kinda annoying if they do, more so because they aim to deceive us more than anything!

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That is interesting. This is the first time I built a kernel (yes newb here).

I got the source package for 2.4.21-0.27mdk and edited the .config file. Admittedly the kernel would not boot if I chose "Ahtlon" as for my processor (I kept 586). The only things I changed in .config was, if I remember correctly, ext3 support in the kernel instead of as a module, turning off ISA and ISA PnP support and disabling ACPI.

 

All the modules were built all right, and the nvidia driver too, without editing the makefiles. The kernel by default is called 2.4.21-0.27mdkcustom and since this is the output of uname -r, the nvidia driver was installed there....

 

Maybe you're talking about something else?

 

Well as I said I'm a newb with respect to kernel compilation, I just wanted to try it for the first time. In my update urpmi source, I only saw the source package, not the binary kernel, so I decided "what the hell" and compiled it.

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neutro

Being a noob has its advantages!

For a start you probably read-up a lot more than me.

 

My athalon kernel booted fine.... but wouldn't load the damned nvnet !!

Just keeps coming back with symbols not found!!!!

 

I honestly don't understand UNLESS this was a one off with the one kernel i wanted to be EXACTLY the same (except support 4GB HIMEM)

 

What I found is the nvnet module (not the graphics module nvidia) seems to do something screwy with the uname -r .... wheras the nvidia....run file worked fine with the recompile.

 

I ended up with EITHER <1GB of memory OR working sound and network.

When I got BOTH working, this is when the lockups started.

 

I really don't know what the enterprise kernel is!!! Not exactly.... I know it supports 4GB but (I think) its also SMP. What I wanted was a clean vanilla kernel, optimised for K7 with 4GB mem. (sounds similar to your requirements except for the 4GB thing).

 

I don't know what else is done to the enterprise kernel, i.e. is it less tuned for speed and more for stability ?? than the vanilla one ?

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No real solution yet? I already posted my specs in my first post in the thread. I also said it is a total lockup; mouse or keyboard does not respond.

 

I now know that the freezing has nothing to do with Firebird, it freezes randomly no matter what I am doing. It has effectively prevented me from using the OS I purchased. I have no use for an OS that crashes more frequently than WinME.

I am not sure if the freeze happens while using something other than KDE, I just do not feel like waiting around until it crashes. How pathetic is that?

 

Thanks anyway... a shame there's no fix.

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No real solution yet?  I already posted my specs in my first post in the thread.  I also said it is a total lockup; mouse or keyboard does not respond.

 

I now know that the freezing has nothing to do with Firebird, it freezes randomly no matter what I am doing.  It has effectively prevented me from using the OS I purchased.  I have no use for an OS that crashes more frequently than WinME.

I am not sure if the freeze happens while using something other than KDE, I just do not feel like waiting around until it crashes.  How pathetic is that?

 

Thanks anyway... a shame there's no fix.

Erm,

Thats hardly posting the specs.

Remember this is an unofficial site so people should try and put a but more info on the chipsets.

I just checked on google and it appears it is a nforce2 chipset.

 

Its difficult to say who is to blame really... Mandrake, nvidia ???

I know this works with Debian based distros so its NOT impossible BUT its also not the job of Mandrake to write drivers.

 

The bottom line is that the nvidia nforce driver is not open source .... so the buck stops at Nvidia.

That is with a bit of work Mandrake might get it working BUT since nvidia dont release an opensource driver why should they

 

Even if it was opensource certain incompatibilities can happen... same goes for Windows.

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Yeah, strike me out of that thread, I found my problem ;)

I've been to a friend's with my computer, and swapping our vidcard did the trick.

It was a hardware problem all this time.

 

Curious since he didn't have the problem with my card.

Now I'm looking for a cheap vidcard replacement...

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Fine fine, I'll use Win2k then.  Problem solved.

 

Before I bought this system I was told it would be ok for Mandrake 9.2... ok for crashing I suppose.  You can see why I'm disappointed.

Yeah, Im dissapointed too.

I reckon the best way to be SURE is the suck it and see method.

But remember this isnt just Mandrake or even linux.

I bought a Pinaccle PCTV card, said it was supported under win98 but it isnt becuase they changed the model without renaming it. The annoying part ofr me is the fact the old one WORKED under linux.

 

Whos fault is it ????

 

In this case it seems easy to blame Pinaccle but the problems with nforce are similarily the problems of NVIDIA. The older nforce chipset worked OK ... (including MDK 9.1 I didnt try 9.2) Im actually using it NOW !!!!! Then nvidia change it BUT dont tell anyone HOW....

 

There is a opensource driver on the horizon, maybee already stable mafde without cooperation from NVIDIA.

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For giggles I decided to reinstall 9.2, it froze up completely Twice during the installation. I guess I was lucky the first time around.

 

I have no other way around it. It's not even stable long enough for me to attempt to fix it.

 

 

Thanks anyway...

Edited by aeroe
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I see two possible problem there:

- hardware incompatibility

- bad media

I never encountered the first but I once installed Mdk with corrupted ISO's and I got more or less the same thing as you: I let the installer run, it took a really long time, but finished. I failed to notice several I/O errors, and the system was highly unstable (due to missing files, etc.). When I tried to reinstall using the same media, it crashed. With another set of CD's, everything was fine.

 

So if you feel like trying again, check your ISO's md5 sum and burn them on media you can trust. Maybe it will go better.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've just read through this entire thread, and I wish I had found it a week ago. I'm running an Athlon XP 2600, but with an ATI Radeon 9000 card (with no fan). I had it overclocked, but turned it back down because I thought that might be causing the instability. In any event, part of my problem may have been having the resolution too high. I had it running 24-bit, but turned it down to 16-bit since DVDs play better there anyway. It's been fairly stable now for about a week, but i don't leave it on over night. Another system I'm trying to get running has the same problem, but it does have the Nvidia GeForce3 card. I get multiple errors trying to install anything over Mandrake 8.2. I can run Knoppix or Mandrake Move on it, so it's not memory or other hardware like that. Multiple errors reading discs, which wouldn't have anything to do with the Nvidia card. And the discs are good, since this system is running fine.

 

I canned my version of XP, so I have no choice but to use Mandrake and learn to make it work. Really, that's what I need to do anyway. I'm not good at the command line, but I'm learning.

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I have found the solution to the problem!

 

It's ACPI. It's screwed up. Also, it seems that selecting "noapic" and "acpi=no" doesn't seem to have any effect (in the bootloader, of course).

 

You need to compile a kernel without ACPI support. Problem fixed. Computer now stable.

 

In fact, this should be put in the FAQ, because the problem is so criitical.

 

:headbang:

Edited by Lord Kenneth
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