Which kernel fixes the VM issues?

Which kernel fixes the VM issues?

[Jim Olsen]

Hi... I have a question or two that would help me clear up a bit of the fuzz 
I have relating to the VM: do_try_to_free_pages issue.  

I currently have a server with:

o) 1 GB RAM
o) Dual PIII 700 Processors
o) Dual EtherExpress Pro NIC's
o) RedHat 6.2 w/ 2.2.17 (No patches applied)
o) High load (HTTP, DNS, SMTP, etc)

About once a week I get the 'VM: do_try_to_free_pages ...' error and 
eventually get a complete system lockup. And just this morning it locked up 
again, although this time with a 'VFS: LRU block list corrupted' message in 
the logs, which i'm assuming is related to the VM issue as well. 

When this server started having these lockups related to the VM I researched 
it, and found some messages poing to a 2.2.18pre* patch available to fix this 
issue, and also later down the road that the patch was accepted into the 
2.2.18 final.  

In following this mailing list, though, I have seen that certain people are 
still having problems with the VM while running 2.2.18, although it seems to 
be relegated only to those people who might be running ReiserFS.  The fix, it 
seems, for people with 2.2.18+ReiserFS is to get latest 2.2.19pre*.

My question is, exactly which kernel should I use in order to rid my server 
of this VM issue?  I'm uncomfortable (and always have been) with running pre* 
kernels on production machines, so i'd like to stick with 2.2.18, but I would 
like to know if it truly does fix the problem(s) with the VM.  If I need to, 
though, I will (hesitantly) put a 2.2.19pre* kernel on the box.  

Also, I would like to know if the VM problems with 2.2.18+ReiserFS are 
strictly a ReiserFS issue (code or whatnot) or is it an issue in how ReiserFS 
uses the memory? If it is an issue in how the memory is used, then is it 
possible for servers that have a heavy load with lots of dynamic content (and 
therefore lots of memory usage) to also still have this issue with 2.2.18 
regardless of whether they have ReiserFS or not?

I'll be applying 2.2.18 soon, so the question is sort of moot as I will find 
out eventually. Nonetheless, I would appreciate an absolute resolution to 
this issue that has been on my mind, not to mention the fact that it would 
more than likely give me a break from hearing the pager go off in the 
wee-morning hours, eh?

Jim Olsen
Linux Systems Administrator
-- 
Bus error -- please leave by the rear door.
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RE: Which kernel fixes the VM issues?

[Andre Tomt]

> Hi... I have a question or two that would help me clear up a bit
> of the fuzz
> I have relating to the VM: do_try_to_free_pages issue.

<snip>

> About once a week I get the 'VM: do_try_to_free_pages ...' error and
> eventually get a complete system lockup. And just this morning it
> locked up
> again, although this time with a 'VFS: LRU block list corrupted'
> message in
> the logs, which i'm assuming is related to the VM issue as well.

This issue is fixed in 2.2.18 AFAIK (never seen it since).

<snip>

> My question is, exactly which kernel should I use in order to rid
> my server
> of this VM issue?  I'm uncomfortable (and always have been) with
> running pre*
> kernels on production machines, so i'd like to stick with 2.2.18,
> but I would
> like to know if it truly does fix the problem(s) with the VM.  If
> I need to,
> though, I will (hesitantly) put a 2.2.19pre* kernel on the box.

Latest 2.2.19-pre has merged in Andrea's VM-global patch, which in my
experience makes life much easier on loaded servers. This patch is also
available as a 2.2.18-patch at
ftp://ftp.<countrycode>.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/andrea/patches/2.
2.18/VM-global-2.2.18pre25-7.bz2

(some mirrors lack this, so skipping the countrycode could be wise)

The latest 2.2.18 pre-version of this patch applied cleanly on my 2.2.18
final, and I've had no problems with it to date (as it's essentially the
same kernel, with just the version number bumped).

<snip>

--
Andre. Alfred?

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Re: Which kernel fixes the VM issues?

[Ville Herva]

On Sun, Jan 07, 2001 at 12:50:07PM +0100, you [Andre Tomt] claimed:
> > of the fuzz
> > I have relating to the VM: do_try_to_free_pages issue.
> 
> <snip>
> 
> > About once a week I get the 'VM: do_try_to_free_pages ...' error and
> > eventually get a complete system lockup. And just this morning it
> > locked up
> > again, although this time with a 'VFS: LRU block list corrupted'
> > message in
> > the logs, which i'm assuming is related to the VM issue as well.
> 
> This issue is fixed in 2.2.18 AFAIK (never seen it since).
> 
> <snip>

Nope.

It's fixed 2.2.19pre2 (which includes the Andrea Arcangeli's vm-global-7
patch that (among other things) fixes this.)

You can also apply the vm-global-patch to 2.2.18 if you like.


-- v --

v@iki.fi
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RE: Which kernel fixes the VM issues?

[Andre Tomt]

> > This issue is fixed in 2.2.18 AFAIK (never seen it since).
>
> Nope.
>
> It's fixed 2.2.19pre2 (which includes the Andrea Arcangeli's vm-global-7
> patch that (among other things) fixes this.)

I stand corrected. Still, with almost-vanilla 2.2.18 (+ ow patches) on a
highly loaded webserver has not shown any "LRU block list corruption"
crashes in over 6 weeks, even when it usually died after a week on 2.2.17
with the same error (if memory serves me right). Could be the system tuning
that has "fixed" this by making the usual load not - err - load the server
as much as before.

> You can also apply the vm-global-patch to 2.2.18 if you like.

Yep, as stated in my previous mail :-)

Ah well, time to go pack for military service (1 year, bleh).

Thanks.

--
Andre? Alfred.

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Re: Which kernel fixes the VM issues?

[Ville Herva]

On Sun, Jan 07, 2001 at 01:47:39PM +0100, you [Andre Tomt] claimed:
> > > This issue is fixed in 2.2.18 AFAIK (never seen it since).
> >
> > Nope.
> >
> > It's fixed 2.2.19pre2 (which includes the Andrea Arcangeli's vm-global-7
> > patch that (among other things) fixes this.)
> 
> I stand corrected. Still, with almost-vanilla 2.2.18 (+ ow patches) on a
> highly loaded webserver has not shown any "LRU block list corruption"
> crashes in over 6 weeks, even when it usually died after a week on 2.2.17
> with the same error (if memory serves me right). Could be the system tuning
> that has "fixed" this by making the usual load not - err - load the server
> as much as before.

I'm not sure about the "LRU block list" thing (it may be another issue),
but AFAIK it's vm-global that fixes the try_to_free_pages thing. It's also
my experience, that the try_to_free_pages is completely gone after
applying vm-global to otherwise identical 18pre.
 
> > You can also apply the vm-global-patch to 2.2.18 if you like.
> 
> Yep, as stated in my previous mail :-)


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Re: Which kernel fixes the VM issues?

[Alan Cox]

> About once a week I get the 'VM: do_try_to_free_pages ...' error and 
> eventually get a complete system lockup. And just this morning it locked up 

Fixed in 2.2.19pre2

> again, although this time with a 'VFS: LRU block list corrupted' message in 
> the logs, which i'm assuming is related to the VM issue as well. 

Unrelated but believed fixed in 2.2.18


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Re: Which kernel fixes the VM issues?

[Rik van Riel]

On Sun, 7 Jan 2001, Jim Olsen wrote:

> Hi... I have a question or two that would help me clear up a bit of the fuzz 
> I have relating to the VM: do_try_to_free_pages issue.  

> My question is, exactly which kernel should I use in order to
> rid my server of this VM issue?

2.2:  2.2.19pre2 and later
2.4:  2.4.0  (and later ;))

regards,

Rik
--
Virtual memory is like a game you can't win;
However, without VM there's truly nothing to loose...

		http://www.surriel.com/
http://www.conectiva.com/	http://distro.conectiva.com.br/

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