From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1030194AbWFJCiL (ORCPT ); Fri, 9 Jun 2006 22:38:11 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1030216AbWFJCiL (ORCPT ); Fri, 9 Jun 2006 22:38:11 -0400 Received: from sccrmhc14.comcast.net ([204.127.200.84]:44426 "EHLO sccrmhc14.comcast.net") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1030194AbWFJCiK (ORCPT ); Fri, 9 Jun 2006 22:38:10 -0400 Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2006 21:37:19 -0500 From: Hui Zhou To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: Frustrating Random Reboots, seeking suggestions Message-ID: <20060610023719.GA10857@smtp.comcast.net> References: <20060609145757.GB1640@smtp.comcast.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.9i Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org On Fri, Jun 09, 2006 at 11:01:22AM -0500, Chase Venters wrote: >On Fri, 9 Jun 2006, Hui Zhou wrote: >>I am running a linux machine with a self programmed pvr running on it. All >>is well until I reinstalled the linux system a few weeks ago. Now I am >>suffering from random reboots. The reboots does not leave any debug >>messages or clues. After some isolation, I finally narrowed it down to a >>blankscene marking program -- bkmark. Running bkmark against any recording >>randomly reboots the computer. By random, I mean it may complete >>sucessfully once, but repeating it for a few times, the reboots will >>happen. On average, it reboots every 2 - 3 runs. >Try to knock out any hardware problems first (run memtest86, check for >high heat / crappy power). > >If you're still having trouble, purchase a serial cable. Plug it into >another computer with a terminal program. Enable serial console support in >your kernel (and on your kernel command line). When the kernel boots, use >SysRq on the serial console to turn the console messaging level up to >maximum. If you're lucky, you'll catch some sort of diagnostics message on >the serial console before this happens. > Thanks. memtest86 passes 6 times without errors. Serial console didn't show up anything (it just reboots). Anyway, I finally suspect the debian libmpeg binary is at fault. I manually build it from src and statically linked to the `bkmark' program. It seems cured the random reboots problem. It runs successfully for 4 times. However, the fifth time it ended up in a `D' state. The only system call it uses is libc file IO and some signal passing. Any comment on the cause? -- Hui Zhou