# [Solved] Kernel general protection fault [faulty memory]

## jormartr

Hi, I am having system problems, kernels on my computer crash a lot. It usually happens when there are kvm virtual machines running on the computer, but I can not completely asure it would not happen without any qemu/kvm running.

It happened with 2.6.39-gentoo-r2 also, but I downgraded to 2.6.38-gentoo-r6, just to be in the stable edge.

I don not know what to do from the information the kernel gives. Also, the kernel is tainted by Nvidia driver.

This is from /var/log/messages:

```

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: general protection fault: 0000 [#1] SMP 

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: last sysfs file: /sys/devices/platform/serial8250/tty/ttyS3/uevent

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: CPU 1 

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: Modules linked in: iptable_mangle iptable_nat nf_nat nf_conntrack_ipv4 nf_defrag_ipv4 nfsd iptable_filter ipt_addrtype xt_dscp xt_string xt_multiport xt_hashlimit xt_conntrack xt_DSCP xt_NFQUEUE xt_mark xt_connmark nf_conntrack ip_tables x_tables hwmon_vid coretemp bridge ipv6 stp snd_seq_oss snd_seq_midi_event snd_seq snd_seq_device snd_pcm_oss snd_mixer_oss zram(C) kvm_intel kvm tun acpi_cpufreq freq_table mperf snd_hda_codec_realtek usblp snd_hda_intel nvidia(P) snd_hda_codec snd_hwdep snd_pcm atl1 intel_agp snd_timer i2c_i801 intel_gtt rtc_cmos mii joydev rtc_core snd rtc_lib i2c_core snd_page_alloc processor thermal_sys button libiscsi scsi_transport_iscsi tg3 libphy e1000 fuse xfs exportfs nfs lockd sunrpc jfs zlib_deflate raid10 raid456 async_raid6_recov async_memcpy async_pq async_xor xor async_tx raid6_pq raid1 raid0 dm_snapshot dm_crypt dm_mirror dm_region_hash dm_log dm_mod scsi_wait_scan sl811_hcd usbhid ohci_hcd ssb uhci_hcd usb_storage ehci_hcd usbcore aic94xx libsas lpfc qla2xxx megaraid_sas megaraid_mbox megaraid_mm megaraid aacraid sx8 DAC960 cciss 3w_9xxx 3w_xxxx mptsas scsi_transport_sas mptfc scsi_transport_fc scsi_tgt mptspi mptscsih mptbase atp870u dc395x qla1280 imm parport dmx3191d sym53c8xx gdth advansys initio BusLogic arcmsr aic7xxx aic79xx scsi_transport_spi sg pdc_adma sata_inic162x sata_mv ata_piix ahci libahci sata_qstor sata_vsc sata_uli sata_sis sata_sx4 sata_nv sata_via sata_svw sata_sil24 sata_sil sata_promise pata_sl82c105 pata_cs5530 pata_cs5520 pata_via pata_jmicron pata_marvell pata_sis pata_netcell pata_sc1200 pata_pdc202xx_old pata_triflex pata_atiixp pata_opti pata_amd pata_ali pata_it8213 pata_pcmcia pcmcia firmware_class pcmcia_core pata_ns87415 pata_ns87410 pata_serverworks pata_platform pata_artop pata_it821x pata_optidma pata_hpt3x2n pata_hpt3x3 pata_hpt37x pata_hpt366 pata_cmd64x pata_efar pata_rz1000 pata_sil680 pata_radisys pata_pdc2027x pata_mpiix libata [last unloaded: pcspkr]

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: 

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: Pid: 6660, comm: bash Tainted: P        WC  2.6.38-gentoo-r6 #1 System manufacturer P5K/P5K

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: RIP: 0010:[<ffffffff810cfcac>]  [<ffffffff810cfcac>] 0xffffffff810cfcac

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: RSP: 0018:ffff8801659edeb8  EFLAGS: 00010217

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: RAX: 00008801237e8440 RBX: 00008801237e8440 RCX: 00007fffa4b07b2c

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: RDX: 0000000000005410 RSI: 0000000000005410 RDI: 00000000000000ff

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: RBP: ffff8801659edf28 R08: 0000000000000040 R09: 00007fc4ce819ed0

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: R10: 0000000000000008 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00000000000000ff

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: R13: 00007fffa4b07b2c R14: 00007fffa4b07b2c R15: 00000000fffffff7

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: FS:  00007fc4cee54700(0000) GS:ffff8800cfc80000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: CR2: 0000000000714638 CR3: 0000000197e4f000 CR4: 00000000000026e0

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: DR0: 0000000000000003 DR1: 00000000000000b0 DR2: 0000000000000001

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000ffff0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: Process bash (pid: 6660, threadinfo ffff8801659ec000, task ffff8801513972c0)

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: Stack:

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: ffff8801659edec8 ffffffff810da089 ffff8801659edf18 ffffffff810c3b0a

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: 0000000000712cb5 ffff88022de2ca80 ffff8801659edef8 ffffffff81332d6d

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: ffff8801659edf28 00008801237e8440 00000000000000ff 0000000000005410

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: Call Trace:

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: [<ffffffff810da089>] ? 0xffffffff810da089

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: [<ffffffff810c3b0a>] ? 0xffffffff810c3b0a

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: [<ffffffff81332d6d>] ? 0xffffffff81332d6d

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: [<ffffffff810d00bc>] 0xffffffff810d00bc

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: [<ffffffff8100a952>] 0xffffffff8100a952

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: Code: 00 81 fa 60 54 00 00 0f 84 d5 00 00 00 81 fa 77 58 04 c0 0f 84 24 01 00 00 81 fa 78 58 04 c0 0f 84 58 01 00 00 81 fa 0b 66 20 c0 <4c> 8b 43 18 0f 85 ac 02 00 00 e9 6e 01 00 00 be 01 00 00 00 eb 

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: RIP  [<ffffffff810cfcac>] 0xffffffff810cfcac

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: RSP <ffff8801659edeb8>

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: ---[ end trace a1300cc24e321434 ]---

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: general protection fault: 0000 [#2] SMP 

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: last sysfs file: /sys/devices/platform/serial8250/tty/ttyS3/uevent

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: CPU 1 

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: Modules linked in: iptable_mangle iptable_nat nf_nat nf_conntrack_ipv4 nf_defrag_ipv4 nfsd iptable_filter ipt_addrtype xt_dscp xt_string xt_multiport xt_hashlimit xt_conntrack xt_DSCP xt_NFQUEUE xt_mark xt_connmark nf_conntrack ip_tables x_tables hwmon_vid coretemp bridge ipv6 stp snd_seq_oss snd_seq_midi_event snd_seq snd_seq_device snd_pcm_oss snd_mixer_oss zram(C) kvm_intel kvm tun acpi_cpufreq freq_table mperf snd_hda_codec_realtek usblp snd_hda_intel nvidia(P) snd_hda_codec snd_hwdep snd_pcm atl1 intel_agp snd_timer i2c_i801 intel_gtt rtc_cmos mii joydev rtc_core snd rtc_lib i2c_core snd_page_alloc processor thermal_sys button libiscsi scsi_transport_iscsi tg3 libphy e1000 fuse xfs exportfs nfs lockd sunrpc jfs zlib_deflate raid10 raid456 async_raid6_recov async_memcpy async_pq async_xor xor async_tx raid6_pq raid1 raid0 dm_snapshot dm_crypt dm_mirror dm_region_hash dm_log dm_mod scsi_wait_scan sl811_hcd usbhid ohci_hcd ssb uhci_hcd usb_storage ehci_hcd usbcore aic94xx libsas lpfc qla2xxx megaraid_sas megaraid_mbox megaraid_mm megaraid aacraid sx8 DAC960 cciss 3w_9xxx 3w_xxxx mptsas scsi_transport_sas mptfc scsi_transport_fc scsi_tgt mptspi mptscsih mptbase atp870u dc395x qla1280 imm parport dmx3191d sym53c8xx gdth advansys initio BusLogic arcmsr aic7xxx aic79xx scsi_transport_spi sg pdc_adma sata_inic162x sata_mv ata_piix ahci libahci sata_qstor sata_vsc sata_uli sata_sis sata_sx4 sata_nv sata_via sata_svw sata_sil24 sata_sil sata_promise pata_sl82c105 pata_cs5530 pata_cs5520 pata_via pata_jmicron pata_marvell pata_sis pata_netcell pata_sc1200 pata_pdc202xx_old pata_triflex pata_atiixp pata_opti pata_amd pata_ali pata_it8213 pata_pcmcia pcmcia firmware_class pcmcia_core pata_ns87415 pata_ns87410 pata_serverworks pata_platform pata_artop pata_it821x pata_optidma pata_hpt3x2n pata_hpt3x3 pata_hpt37x pata_hpt366 pata_cmd64x pata_efar pata_rz1000 pata_sil680 pata_radisys pata_pdc2027x pata_mpiix libata [last unloaded: pcspkr]

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: 

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: Pid: 6660, comm: bash Tainted: P      D WC  2.6.38-gentoo-r6 #1 System manufacturer P5K/P5K

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: RIP: 0010:[<ffffffff810c0ef7>]  [<ffffffff810c0ef7>] 0xffffffff810c0ef7

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: RSP: 0018:ffff8801659edc58  EFLAGS: 00010282

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: RAX: ffff88010c1407f8 RBX: 00008801237e8440 RCX: ffff880200000000

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: RDX: ffff880123e19c40 RSI: ffff88022ff7ee40 RDI: 00008801237e8440

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: RBP: ffff8801659edc78 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: R10: 0000000000000010 R11: 0000000000000002 R12: ffff88022ff7ee40

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: R13: 0000000000000003 R14: ffff880224358500 R15: 00000000000000ff

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8800cfc80000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: CR2: 0000000000714638 CR3: 0000000001441000 CR4: 00000000000026e0

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: DR0: 0000000000000003 DR1: 00000000000000b0 DR2: 0000000000000001

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000ffff0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: Process bash (pid: 6660, threadinfo ffff8801659ec000, task ffff8801513972c0)

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: Stack:

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: ffff8801659edc98 ffff880200000000 ffff88022ff7ee40 0000000000000001

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: ffff8801659edcb8 ffffffff8103f3cd ffff8801659edc98 ffff88022ff7ee40

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: ffff880151397764 ffff8801513972c0 ffff88022fe4cc00 0000000000000001

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: Call Trace:

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: [<ffffffff8103f3cd>] 0xffffffff8103f3cd

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: [<ffffffff8103f463>] 0xffffffff8103f463

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: [<ffffffff81040c01>] 0xffffffff81040c01

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: [<ffffffff8100e620>] 0xffffffff8100e620

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: [<ffffffff8100e7e7>] 0xffffffff8100e7e7

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: [<ffffffff8100c643>] 0xffffffff8100c643

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: [<ffffffff81333465>] 0xffffffff81333465

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: [<ffffffff810cfcac>] ? 0xffffffff810cfcac

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: [<ffffffff810da089>] ? 0xffffffff810da089

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: [<ffffffff810c3b0a>] ? 0xffffffff810c3b0a

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: [<ffffffff81332d6d>] ? 0xffffffff81332d6d

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: [<ffffffff810d00bc>] 0xffffffff810d00bc

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: [<ffffffff8100a952>] 0xffffffff8100a952

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: Code: 44 89 a3 84 00 00 00 48 8d bb 80 00 00 00 e8 25 70 f6 ff 66 90 5b 41 5c c9 c3 55 48 89 e5 41 54 49 89 f4 53 48 89 fb 48 83 ec 10 <48> 8b 47 30 48 85 c0 75 10 48 c7 c7 4e 6b 39 81 e8 a9 f6 26 00 

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: RIP  [<ffffffff810c0ef7>] 0xffffffff810c0ef7

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: RSP <ffff8801659edc58>

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: ---[ end trace a1300cc24e321435 ]---

Jul 11 22:03:10 localhost kernel: Fixing recursive fault but reboot is needed!

```

Thank you in advance.Last edited by jormartr on Sun Aug 14, 2011 10:06 am; edited 1 time in total

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## Hu

Can the problem be reproduced with an untainted kernel?

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## jormartr

This night the computer was running while I was sleeping. I went to sleep at 00:xx and the computer crashed at 7 :Mad: x.

There was no qemu virtual machine running.

There was no X running (but nvidia module should be loaded, as I launched X before going to sleep to read some webs).

Should't this be symptom of bad hardware ?

I'll try unloading the nvidia module.

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## jormartr

Ooppsss... computer crashed while writing, and on firefox startup the compose window appeared again, with the same text, so double post! =D

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## Hu

The description "crash" is ambiguous.   How did its behavior differ from a functioning system?

Unloading the nVidia module is not sufficient to untaint the kernel.  Once the kernel has been tainted by a proprietary kernel module, you must reboot to clear the taint.  Further, if your system loads the proprietary kernel module after reboot, it will become tainted again.

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## jormartr

 *Hu wrote:*   

> The description "crash" is ambiguous.   How did its behavior differ from a functioning system?

 

You are right, not very precisse my explanation.

Sometimes with the kernel message, the computer just freezes, and does not respond to sysrq, other times, the system freezes, and respond only to sysrq reboot, but not sync disks, umount read/only ..., other times, after the message, system seems to work for a seconds, but then it freezes.

 *Hu wrote:*   

> Unloading the nVidia module is not sufficient to untaint the kernel.  Once the kernel has been tainted by a proprietary kernel module, you must reboot to clear the taint.  Further, if your system loads the proprietary kernel module after reboot, it will become tainted again.

 

I am trying now that way. Thank you for the explanation.

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## jormartr

Solved now, it was caused by a defective memory chip.

Finally it was the most obvious problem it could be :/

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