# More 2.6 hard-lockups

## Wolface

please help..

for the record I'm using an asus A7N8X motherboard with the nforce2 chipset. I've read the other posts on the forum about ACPI issues with nforce chipsets but I think this is different. 

As you already know I'm having lockups, hard-lockups,  I have to reset or shutdown the pc to get out of it. I can reproduce the problem just by simply copying a certain amount of MB (>300 more or less)  from anywhere to anyplace.

I have 2 hdd. Tried copying from hda to hda , from hda to hdb, from hdb to hdb and it doesn't matter. It always freezes. Tried to use most of the mm-sources, gentoo-dev-sources, development-sources  (all 2.6). Haven't tried the love sources though.

I also tried to load a kenel (2.6)  in a safe-mode-like, no network, no nvidia driver,no X, no sound, etc just to see what happens and nothing.

something worked though: I underclocked the FSB to 175-180 and the system runs stable. 

I'm using  a 3200+ cpu with PC3200 ram and the motherboard is designed for 400FSB.

Moreover, the systems runs stable as hell on windows. I can even overclock the fsb to run at 210 (meaning 420 cuz its ddr) and the system runs perfectly with great temperatures (35-40 C`).

what else can I do? 

 :Sad: 

ps: sorry for the long post. Wanted to explain everything.

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## _Nomad_

I have the same mobo as you and haven't had a problem in months... First, make sure that you disable apic(note, NOT acpi) in kernel. Then also select everything in kernel that says anything about nvidia and you should be set.

Some ppl have also been succesful disabling acpi in grub.conf/lilo.conf but I have never had any problems either way

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## c0ma2k

AFAIK current gentoo-dev-sources include a patch that was reported to solve some issues on nforce2 chipsets. You can enable it by appending 

```
idle=C1halt
```

 to the kernel boot parameters. Don't know if it helps, but I guess it's worth a try.

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## ian!

Moved from 'OTG' to 'Kernel & Hardware'.

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## Wolface

I's working !!!  :Very Happy: 

and the solution was............................

```

[ ] Local APIC support on uniprocessors

[ ]   IO-APIC support on uniprocessors

```

Im using a 2.6.3 branch kernel.

it doesn't matter if ACPI or APIC is enabled or disabled on the bios as long as the kernel is not using it (I think). I'm on a copyfest right now to see if something goes wrong but everything looks great so far.

Anyway, thank you everyone 

hardware that was having conflicts:

Asus A7N8X with nForce 2 chipset

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## ktech

Hi WolfAce,

I'm compiling a new kernel right now with your recomendation. Please post if all goes well (or wrong).

Thanks a lot!

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## momerath

I have the same m/b and have run many different 2.6 kernels in the last several months.  I'm not sure why I want local/io-apic, but I keep re-enabling it with every new kernel and (except for a couple love-sources kernels around 2.6.1) my machine inevitably hangs after a few minutes to an hour.  Right now I'm running 2.6.5-mm1 with the same situation: crashes with io-apic enabled and stable without.

Could someone please explain:

1) what the feature is (I have a vague idea- irq juggling stuff eh?)

2) why I might want to continue trying to enable it

3) whether the cause of the problem is known

4) why it hasnt yet been fixed

5) whether crash data provided by me would be any help

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## dsd

 *momerath wrote:*   

> 1) what the feature is (I have a vague idea- irq juggling stuff eh?)
> 
> 

 

It's something like this: The kernel programs the APIC chip on bootup, with common interrupt paths. Some interrupts now go through the APIC chip rather than directly through the kernel (this is much faster).

 *Quote:*   

> 2) why I might want to continue trying to enable it

 

some hardware depends on it, and if you did lots of speed measurements i guess you might notice a small performance increase.

 *Quote:*   

> 3) whether the cause of the problem is known

 

its a bug in nforce2 chipsets, a hard lockup is encountered if the CPU recieves an interrupt too soon after coming out of a C1 disconnect.

 *Quote:*   

> 4) why it hasnt yet been fixed

 

its a hardware bug, AMD and Nvidia have been mostly unresponsive.

in some cases it has been fixed - e.g. shuttle have released a bios update for their boards which appears to solve the problem

 *Quote:*   

> 5) whether crash data provided by me would be any help

 

i doubt it - the most useful thing you could do is bug AMD, nvidia, and Asus about it.

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## Wolface

 *ktech wrote:*   

> Hi WolfAce,
> 
> I'm compiling a new kernel right now with your recomendation. Please post if all goes well (or wrong).
> 
> Thanks a lot!

 

I've been using it for about 4 days now. Managing very large files, dvd burning and stuff, and so far I have had no problems. The machine is even overclocked right now and is most stable.

Tell me if you still have problems since I've found many solutions, which didn't work for me, that may work for you. 

hey dsd I don't understand. If its a hardware bug, AMD and Nvidia have been mostly unresponsive. Why Windows XP runs without problems?

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## momerath

DSD: Thanks!  

I'll stop worrying about it, as all my hardware is working.  I am all for even slight speedups, but not at the costs I've already incurred.  I hoped it might drastically improve some hardware performance or make impossible some of the audio skipping I sometimes have under heavy load.

Just out of curiosity, though, what hardware requires it?

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## ktech

I'm actually compiled and I'm running 2.6.5-love3 with your recommendations:

- No apic support in the kernel.

And I have disabled apic support in the bios.

No problems by the way. I'm overclocking too  :Razz: 

Thanks and cheers!

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## dsd

 *Wolface wrote:*   

> hey dsd I don't understand. If its a hardware bug, AMD and Nvidia have been mostly unresponsive. Why Windows XP runs without problems?

 

I'm not 100% sure on this, but this is my take:

Windows uses APIC very minimally, and mainly relies on the older XT-PIC interrupt paths. This is slower, so the chances that the bug gets hit are low..

either that, or its quite possible that windows interrupt handling isnt as fast as linux, so again, the chances of the bug are low.

 *Quote:*   

> Just out of curiosity, though, what hardware requires it?

 

I'm not talking your average video card / NIC here, I am refering to big/complex/expensive hardware which will need more interrupts than XT-PIC can handle

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## WebSel

Yep leave the APIC out of the kernel. I've been working with a LAN-party mobo also with an nForce2 chip on it. It is just screwed with Apic.

Wessel de Rodoe

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