From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id ; Wed, 27 Jun 2001 20:34:12 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id ; Wed, 27 Jun 2001 20:33:52 -0400 Received: from [64.21.52.68] ([64.21.52.68]:48136 "HELO lithium.nac.net") by vger.kernel.org with SMTP id ; Wed, 27 Jun 2001 20:33:45 -0400 Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2001 20:33:32 -0400 To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Freezing bug in all kernels greater than 2.4.5-ac13 *AND* 2.4.6-pre2 Message-ID: <20010627203331.B1615@debian> In-Reply-To: <20010623222954.A9031@debian> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20010623222954.A9031@debian> User-Agent: Mutt/1.3.18i From: Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org I decided, for the hell of it, to test the pre series as I've been nudged by many people to try it in favor of the ac kernel series that I've been having problems with. Well, it turns out I have ran into exactly the same problem I had with the ac kernel series, which quite frankly is surprising the hell out of me. To make the kernel freeze/slow down to a crawl with affected kernels on my machine I do this test: Load X (This fills up my ram and causes me to swap a bit) run a rxvt and su to root (proboably unnecessary) du / Now, somewhere in this test I start swapping a little bit, nothing big... then BAM. hard disk, mouse, keyboard, all completely and utterly stop. Video continues to work, but my cpu's load goes absolutely INSANE. (If it recovers, gkrellm generally says I've gotten a loadavg somewhere between 3-20, depending on how long it was stuck) This can last for seconds (usually) minutes (once) or it can simply get worse and hang the machine (many, many many times) When it recovers from this, I generally see a MASSIVE write to swap, (I'm using gkrellm to monitor it) and the system continues on as if nothing happened - until, of course, this happens again. A kernel compile can cause it. a rm -R of a large directory can cause it. Loading a large application can cause it. On some kernels this is more noticable than others - ac15 does it the worst, although pre3 rivals it, and the symptoms are different on ac17/18 - it'll simply freeze randomly and with no recovery instead of sometimes freezing or sometimes slowing down to a crawl and recovering or freezing. (Which is worse? You decide.) Now, as before, I tested this with swap and without swap. With swap, I get the hangs/freezes in all the affected kernels. Without swap, I don't. Nada. Now, the big question of the day folks: What changed between 2.4.6-pre2 and 2.4.6-pre3 that ALSO changed between 2.4.5-ac13 and 2.4.5-ac14 - and now, what part of those patches were the VM? Anyone? I don't see in 2.4.6-pre3 what changed that was part of the VM... So I am trying to narrow it down a bit :) This bug is driving me slightly nuts, so I want it dead. Anyone got a exterminator handy? =) Refer to my previous post with this subject for my original description of this problem. It's still there in ac18, though I've not tested 19 (Some have said it's not likely to have been fixed, and I've been regress testing 2.4.6pre's today.) Subject: Possible freezing bug located after ac13 Let me know if I can provide any additional information that will help nail this bug to the wall. (I want to torture it. =) Tim