From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: graeme.russ@gmail.com (Graeme Russ) Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:12:11 +1100 Subject: Best way to debug an Intel Core i5 hang - likely graphics (possibly power) related In-Reply-To: References: <4F1A8C32.3050907@gmail.com> Message-ID: <4F1D408B.4020705@gmail.com> To: kernelnewbies@lists.kernelnewbies.org List-Id: kernelnewbies.lists.kernelnewbies.org Back again ;) On 01/22/2012 04:40 AM, Mulyadi Santosa wrote: > Hi again :) > > On Sat, Jan 21, 2012 at 16:58, Graeme Russ wrote: >> Tell me about it :( - I've been here before, just not with the Linux kernel > > > At least I can tell you will get hiccup less :) Anyway, you do have > data backup, right? Just in case it causes corrupt and you lose some > of your data. Better safe than sorry... I have /home and a separate HDD :) >> I got netconsole working and it took a while to crash, but it finally did >> and guess what - No oops :( > > Ok, no luck....how about serial console? same result? (I am not sure > which one will be helpful in your case). Haven't tried serial console - not convinced it will help (see below) > Just crossing my mind, is this bug also happen if you work strictly in > text console i.e no X Window at all? > >> I've added more (see attached config) > >>>From what I can see at a glance, you already enabled enough debugging > features....so just keep it that way at least for now. > >> Also, I am using a very recent tip of linus' branch (commit >> ccb19d263fd1c9e34948e2158c53eacbff369344) > > I think this is the way it will go, you would likely doing bisecting. > Thing is, you first need to find kernel version that works well. You > said you have trouble with 3.1.9-fc...how about 3.1.8 or below? > >> Hmmm, any way to test this theory? > > Let's say, switching cpu governor? What do you use now? ondemand? then > try to switch to conservative. Or just lock the cpu frequency into > certain number. I managed to make the system more unstable as I trimmed the kernel and added debugging info. The symptoms were slightly different (graphic freezes rather than flashing screen) To isolate i915, I've installed a nVidia 8600GT from my old machine. Even though I blacklisted i915, it still loads, so I've done an 'rmmod i915' to force it out. So far it all seems pretty stable - I'll leave it powered on for a few days to make sure. I'm then going to buy an ATI 5450 (cheap and passively cooled) and see how that goes. After a week of uptime, I'll switch back to the i915 driver and see what happens. If I get a hang, I'll get the i915 maintainer on board with my problem I think the lack of any kernel messages is due to a hardware conflict which hard-locks the machine. Even the reset button does not respond. Regards, Graeme