# [nForce2]PC Freeze, possible HD-problems

## Red Nalie

Hello people, 

I had these strange computer freezes lately, they happen without notice, and everything hangs (can't even login with ssh anymore).

After trying a lot of things, I thing I may have found the problem.

After disabling most of my Kernel settings to see where the problem could be, I now see this in my dmesg:

```

hdb: dma_timer_expiry: dma status == 0x61

hdb: DMA timeout error

hdb: dma timeout error: status=0x7f { DriveReady DeviceFault SeekComplete DataRequest CorrectedError Index Error }

hdb: dma timeout error: error=0x7f { DriveStatusError UncorrectableError SectorIdNotFound TrackZeroNotFound AddrMarkNotFound }, LBAsect=260013951, sector=79919015

hda: DMA disabled

hdb: DMA disabled

ide0: reset: success

hdb: dma_timer_expiry: dma status == 0x41

hdb: DMA timeout error

hdb: dma timeout error: status=0xba { Busy }

hdb: DMA disabled

ide0: reset: success

hdb: dma_timer_expiry: dma status == 0x41

hdb: DMA timeout error

hdb: dma timeout error: status=0xba { Busy }

hdb: DMA disabled

ide0: reset: success

hdb: dma_timer_expiry: dma status == 0x41

hdb: DMA timeout error

hdb: dma timeout error: status=0xba { Busy }

hdb: DMA disabled

Hangcheck: hangcheck value past margin!

ide0: reset: success

hdb: task_mulin_intr: status=0x7f { DriveReady DeviceFault SeekComplete DataRequest CorrectedError Index Error }

hdb: task_mulin_intr: error=0x7f { DriveStatusError UncorrectableError SectorIdNotFound TrackZeroNotFound AddrMarkNotFound }, LBAsect=260013951, sector=49147711

ide0: reset: success

```

I have a Asus A7N8X-deluxe nForce2 motherboard, and I can't find any information at all to fix this problem.

It used to run smooth on 2.6-test9 kernel, but even that doesn't work anymore.

By the way, I now run 2.6-gentoo-dev kernel, and I'd like to stay with 2.6 if it is possible.

Is there anyone who has any ideas (or kernel-settings) what I can do?

----------

## Wedge_

Try turning off APIC, either in your kernel config or on the kernel command line. nForce2 boards can lockup frequently if APIC is enabled. The latest version of love-sources includes a patch which appears to fix this (I've been running it for ~2 days with no crashing, same mobo as you), if you want to try that.

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## Red Nalie

Sounds good to me, good thing to try  :Smile: 

I actually already turned off ACPI in my attempts to fix it, with little success.

But I'll just go and try that Love-sources thing, I thoughts they were still at 2.4 so I never tried em  :Smile: 

----------

## Red Nalie

Small add-on, would Love-sources also fix my down-spinning HD?

My 2nd HD just spins down, for no reason at all, and I can't check my dmesg anymore due to the fscking up of those nvidia drivers....

----------

## Wedge_

No idea, sorry  :Sad: 

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## dalek

I have a Nforce chipset and had the exact same problem.  Go back to your kernel config and make sure it looks like this.

```
┌──────────────────────────────────────── ATA/ATAPI/MFM/RLL support ─────────────────────────────────────────┐

  │  Arrow keys navigate the menu.  <Enter> selects submenus --->.  Highlighted letters are hotkeys.  Pressing │

  │  <Y> includes, <N> excludes, <M> modularizes features.  Press <Esc><Esc> to exit, <?> for Help.  Legend:   │

  │  [*] built-in  [ ] excluded  <M> module  < > module capable                                                │

  │                                                                                                            │

  │ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │

  │ │              <*> ATA/ATAPI/MFM/RLL support                                                             │ │

  │ │              <*>   Enhanced IDE/MFM/RLL disk/cdrom/tape/floppy support                                 │ │

  │ │              ---     Please see Documentation/ide.txt for help/info on IDE drives                      │ │

  │ │              [ ]     Use old disk-only driver on primary interface                                     │ │

  │ │              <*>     Include IDE/ATA-2 DISK support                                                    │ │

  │ │              [*]       Use multi-mode by default                                                       │ │

  │ │              [ ]       Auto-Geometry Resizing support                                                  │ │

  │ │              <*>     Include IDE/ATAPI CDROM support                                                   │ │

  │ │              < >     Include IDE/ATAPI TAPE support (EXPERIMENTAL)                                     │ │

  │ │              < >     Include IDE/ATAPI FLOPPY support                                                  │ │

  │ │              <*>     SCSI emulation support                                                            │ │

  │ │              [ ]     IDE Taskfile Access                                                               │ │

  │ │              [ ]     IDE Taskfile IO (EXPERIMENTAL)                                                    │ │

  │ │              ---     IDE chipset support/bugfixes                                                      │ │

  │ │              [ ]     CMD640 chipset bugfix/support                                                     │ │

  │ │              [ ]     PNP EIDE support                                                                  │ │

  │ │              [*]     PCI IDE chipset support                                                           │ │

  │ │              [*]       Sharing PCI IDE interrupts support                                              │ │

  │ │              [ ]       Boot off-board chipsets first support                                           │ │

  │ │              [ ]       Generic PCI IDE Chipset Support                                                 │ │

  │ │              < >       OPTi 82C621 chipset enhanced support (EXPERIMENTAL)                             │ │

  │ │              <*>       RZ1000 chipset bugfix/support                                                   │ │

  │ │              [*]       Generic PCI bus-master DMA support                                              │ │

  │ │              [ ]         Force enable legacy 2.0.X HOSTS to use DMA                                    │ │

  │ │              [*]         Use PCI DMA by default when available                                         │ │

  │ │              [ ]           Enable DMA only for disks                                                   │ │

  │ │              [ ]         ATA Work(s) In Progress (EXPERIMENTAL)                                        │ │

  │ │              < >         AEC62XX chipset support                                                       │ │

  │ │              < >         ALI M15x3 chipset support                                                     │ │

  │ │              <*>         AMD and nVidia IDE support                                                    │ │

  │ │              < >         CMD64{3|6|8|9} chipset support                                                │ │

  │ │              < >         Compaq Triflex IDE support                                                    │ │

  │ │              < >         CY82C693 chipset support                                                      │ │

  │ │              < >         Cyrix CS5510/20 MediaGX chipset support (VERY EXPERIMENTAL)                   │ │

  │ │              < >         Cyrix/National Semiconductor CS5530 MediaGX chipset support                   │ │

  │ │              < >         HPT34X chipset support                                                        │ │

  │ │              < >         HPT36X/37X chipset support                                                    │ │

  │ │              < >         National SCx200 chipset support                                               │ │

  │ │              < >         Intel PIIXn chipsets support                                                  │ │

  │ │              < >         NS87415 chipset support                                                       │ │

  │ │              < >         PROMISE PDC202{46|62|65|67} support                                           │ │

  │ │              < >         PROMISE PDC202{68|69|70|71|75|76|77} support                                  │ │

  │ └──────────────v(+)──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │

  ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤

  │                                      <Select>    < Exit >    < Help >                                      │

  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

```

I have not had any more trouble since I changed to this setup.  It was set to Intel or something and this is the important part "AMD and nVidia IDE support".  This is in the path:  Device Drivers then ATA/ATAPI/MFM/RLL Support.

Hope that helps.  I learned that one the hard way.  Oh, it will continue to get worse.  I chroot(ed) in to compile.  Wouldn't run long enough to do inside Gentoo.

Later

 :Very Happy:   :Very Happy:   :Very Happy:   :Very Happy: 

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## Red Nalie

I actually already had it configured that way, I know my thing about kernels, but I can't seem to tackle this problem....

Could be my power-supply though (the annoying spinning harddisk), but it IS a Chieftec, so it should be of some quality....

----------

## dalek

Try some different cables maybe.  I have been known to change power connections too.

I'll keep thinking on this one.

Later

 :Very Happy:   :Very Happy:   :Very Happy:   :Very Happy: 

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## Red Nalie

Alright people, this problem still aint solved, I now have the following problems.

During the transfer of large files (wether it be from NET -> LOCAL of LOCAL -> USB-DISK) the transfer stops, my CPU idles @ 99%, I can still move my mouse etc. but I can't do anything else and my HD light keeps on burning.

My HD seems to "try" to stop spinning at those times as well, you can hear the famous "click" it makes when shutting-down, it makes that clicks several times.

2nd, my 2nd HD keeps on spinning down, like said earlier.

I tried to downgrade kernel, and the whole shebang, but I can't find a answer for my problem.

Please, who knows something.....

----------

## firaX

for me it was the LOCAL APIC ON UNIPROCESSOR option that caused my A7n8x dlx to freeze after a view hours of working with my computer! I disabled the option and am running absolutely stable now...

----------

## jasonou

I assume you guys all have nforce2 boards...are you guys having any problems with a usb keyboard (if you have one)?

i have an nforce2 board with a usb keyboard and tried all the 2.6.1 kernels....then only problem I have is that my usb keyboard is really choppy ... ie. when i press a key, there's a lag before it gets on the screen and sometimes it doesn't even appear on the screen. My usb mouse works fine though. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

----------

## m2

 *Red Nalie wrote:*   

> Alright people, this problem still aint solved, I now have the following problems.
> 
> During the transfer of large files (wether it be from NET -> LOCAL of LOCAL -> USB-DISK) the transfer stops, my CPU idles @ 99%, I can still move my mouse etc. but I can't do anything else and my HD light keeps on burning.
> 
> My HD seems to "try" to stop spinning at those times as well, you can hear the famous "click" it makes when shutting-down, it makes that clicks several times.
> ...

 

my problem is similar,

hard lockup on nforce2 board, hdd light constant on, when using ide hard like compiling.. sometimes doesn't do it, so generally i get uptimes of a day or so

trying firaX's solution  :Smile: 

----------

## kryonik

I'm having the exact same problem on two seperate nforce mobo's.  My kernel has the nforce support built in as well and locks up durring random times.  The one is a shuttle MN31N and the other is an albatron kx18d with a promise IDE controller.  The albatron never locks up unless im doing something with the cdr/dvdr which are the only two devices on the native nforce IDE controllers.  Theres definately a bug in the nvidia drivers that someome needs to fix.  My arts on on the shuttle also randomly hangs the system, puts the cpu up to about 60 percent for 30-60 seconds at random also.  Im starting to think either the nforce hardware is crap or its too new for stable drivers.

----------

## hinken

Im having the same problem here!

Shuttle - nforce2 - amdxp - tested with all 2.6.3+ kernels in portage

The system Freezes(no mouse,no nothing).

It is usually when watching (large)movies or copying large files(~600mb).

(several times from my external firewire-disk)

I tried acpi apic both off but the system still Freezes(maybe 3-4 times a week)

I get a strange dmesg-error something bout "nvidia acessing memory directly and kernel in a spinlock/sleep - xfree bug" (Will post the exact error later when home) but I dunno if thats the problem.

I even bought a new gfx-card nvidia5900 instead of the internal gfmx4, with no luck.

The hang-up´s have destroyd my reiserfs file-system twice, so Im very interested if bying a new computer is the only way to go here.

(I have gentoo on my laptop and 2 servers(non nforce2) and its working VERY well.)

Please post if any progress.

/hinken

----------

## reaz82

god! i have the same problem!

the thing hangs soo randomly i dont understand what is going on.. 

i will disable the APIC and see how it performs. I have the nforce2 chipset and it hangs just like you said. HDD lights are constantly on some times and some times not. everything stops working but the lights remain on!

thanx and will update later if i see success

YaY! the good news is that the problem has been solved. Turning off the APIC option in the 2.6 kernel did the trick. 

----------

## rush_ad

i have the same problem on nforce3. also tried suse and ubuntu and have the same problem. lets see if turning off apic helps.

----------

## rush_ad

nop, it didnt.

----------

## loriscortina

One month ago, i have a Via Matherbord ( same series A7V bla bla bla ) no problem with this MB.

Now i have this nForce MB and i have some random frezee.

Expecialy when i trying to move big file or if i try to access the same location starting from different program.

Example, access partition from Azureus and same partition from vmware.

This is my log:

 hdf: dma_timer_expiry: dma status == 0x61

 hdf: DMA timeout error

 hdf: dma timeout error: status=0x51 { DriveReady SeekComplete Error }

 hdf: dma timeout error: error=0x40 { UncorrectableError }, LBAsect=84566058, high=5, low=679978, sector=84566054

 ide: failed opcode was: unknown

end_request: I/O error, dev hdf, sector 84566054

hdf: dma_timer_expiry: dma status == 0x61

I'm running a doctored Suse9.3

I cant modify the kernel proprieties becouse i'm not very expert in kernel hacking and becouse i love the automatic upgrade.....

What is the parameters that i can check?

What is ACPI? And how can modify it?

I see the discussion but i need some more info.

Is possible to fix the problem with another Distro? Like Debian Sange? ( Or better it it more sample to fix the problem ..... )

I realy now that i'm posting a Suse Question in Gentoo forum, any way we are linux user... :) 

Thanks for reading, thanks for reply, thanks to using Linux.

Thanks

----------

## dalek

I get a very similiar if not exact error message when I boot mine up sometimes.  It is when the kernel is cranking up though, not when the init stuff starts.  I usually hit the reset button and reboot.  I personally think it is a mobo issue because I had problems with Mandrake as well.  I sort of got attached to Gentoo.    :Shocked: 

That said, a different distro may help, may not.  If it is a mobo problem, it won't, if it is a distro problem, then it may help.  If it does let me know what distro you are using.  You may want to boot Knoppix and see what it does.  There are some others that run off a CD that can help test too.  Even the Gentoo CD auto detects things so it may help test too.  If the Gentoo CD runs, I have never had a problem getting it to install.  I have put Gentoo on several rigs too, even a emachine.  I actually got the network to work when windoze couldn't.    :Laughing:    It said it was a hardware problem like the card was bad or something.    :Razz: 

Most of the stuff you want to change, ACPI for example, usually requires you to change the kernel.  Compiling a kernel is not that bad though.  If you have the sources installed, just type in:

```
cd /usr/src/linux

make menuconfig

```

Then you use the arrow keys to get around.  If you mess up something, just exit and don't save the config file.  If you really screw up something, I think the make clean command clears out your changes and goes back to default.  You will be starting over on the kernel config though.  Also be careful when using make oldconfig.  It can make the kernel not compile.  I ran into that yesterday.  

If you plan to use Linux, you need to learn how to compile a kernel.  If I knew then, when I was using Mandrake, what I know now I could have fixed what was wrong with some of problems I was having.  I think Mandrake was detecting something wrong.  I like you was worried I may screw up something.

There are howtos for compiling a kernel.  One key thing to remember, make sure you don't erase your old one.  If you have a basic kernel that will let you boot and recompile a new kernel, SAVE IT.  If you make a bad one and it won't boot and you use grub, you can select the old kernel and fix it real easy.  I used to keep a couple dozen kernels around just in case.  Saved my bacon a few times too.    :Embarassed: 

What you think now?

 :Very Happy:   :Very Happy:   :Very Happy:   :Very Happy: 

----------

