Re: [Xen-devel] Re: xen 2.0.7 on VIA C3 (EPIA)

[Helmut Wollmersdorfer <helmut.wollmersdorfer@gmx.at>]

Chris Brookes wrote:
>>No. But I compiled Kernel 2.6.12.4 yesterday with 'CONFIG_M386=y', got
>>some warnings from the compiler related to '486 and higher instruction
>>set', and will try this kernel today on my EPIAs ME6000.

> Let us know how you get on. 

Seems fine. See the graphs at 
http://212.186.65.206/munin/nack.at/via2.nack.at.html (reboot at 17:00).
Just for avoidance of confusing: This is a stock Debian Kernel 2.6.12.4 
plus patches vserver 2.0 and vt1211.

> I have a ME6000 board in another system,

I assume it in the XEN source, if other kernels are running (2.4.24, 
2.6.8 and now 2.6.12.4 work fine).

> so if you have any success I'll have to swap them out. I think it has
> the exact same CPU (aside from speed) though :-/

Yes:
via2:~# cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor       : 0
vendor_id       : CentaurHauls
cpu family      : 6
model           : 7
model name      : VIA Samuel 2
stepping        : 3
cpu MHz         : 599.993
cache size      : 64 KB
fdiv_bug        : no
hlt_bug         : no
f00f_bug        : no
coma_bug        : no
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 1
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu de tsc msr cx8 mtrr pge mmx 3dnow
bogomips        : 1187.84

Maybe your chipset is a little bit different. Here is mine:
via2:~# lspci
0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8623 [Apollo CLE266]
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8633 [Apollo Pro266 AGP]
0000:00:0d.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): VIA Technologies, Inc. IEEE 1394 Host 
Controller (rev 80)
0000:00:10.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 
1.1 Controller (rev 80)
0000:00:10.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 
1.1 Controller (rev 80)
0000:00:10.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 
1.1 Controller (rev 80)
0000:00:10.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 82)
0000:00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8235 ISA Bridge
0000:00:11.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. 
VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06)
0000:00:11.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. 
VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller (rev 50)
0000:00:12.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 
[Rhine-II] (rev74)
0000:00:14.0 Ethernet controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] 79c970 
[PCnet32 LANCE] (rev 36)
0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8623 
[Apollo CLE266] integrated CastleRock graphics (rev 03)

> The freeze 

These low power EPIAs are "cool" - no wonder, that they freeze;-)

> is occurring in the actual xen kernel, rather than in the
> domain 0 linux/netbsd kernel that gets loaded.

To be serious EPIAs are known to freeze often, which can have several 
reasons:
- weak power supply
- round "air flow" IDE/DMA cables
- buggy kernel (all before 2.4.23)
- the DMA bug
- the longhaul driver bug
- weak memory
- to warm
- to cold

I have two with exactly same hardware, firmware and software, one 
running since 2 years (only interrupted at power outage or kernel 
change), the other freezing sometimes. A few weeks ago I changed the 
mainboard (had a blown condensator), but after 2 weeks it again freezed. 
Today I will change memory as a last trial.
As a result I have now parts for a third EPIA, which can be expected to 
run some days - good enough for testing XEN kernels;-)

Maybe you know the lock-up thread at 
http://forums.viaarena.com/messageview.aspx?catid=28&threadid=60131&enterthread=y 
with funny esoteric solutions.

Helmut Wollmersdorfer