# a7n8x lockup

## arcterex

Hi there.  I just got my A7N8X (dx) up and going under my gentoo install (formerly a k7-900).  The only bad thing that I've seen so far is a couple of random hard lock ups (numlock key not working).  At the time I was downloading from usenet and watching video.  The first time it locked up as I started watching a video with mplayer while downloading, then again a bit later when I came back in and told pan to "resume" and as it started downloading again it locked up right then.

I'm using the 3c59x driver for the first NIC on the board.  I'm not sure that it's either mplayer or the video, but I was playing ut2003 earlier for a while with no problems (at high settings) so I don't think it's a matter of the system being taxed too much.  

Using the 2.4.21-ac (whatever the latest in stable is), with the i8xx sound drives (not nvaudio), and the nvnet drivers are installed but not loaded.  The nvidia glx/kernel drivers are loaded.  I haven't had a chance to see if there is a way to properly duplicate this yet, as I'm in the middle of doing the hardware shuffle....  :Smile: 

System specs:

xp2500+

gforce4 ti4200

ide drives

1G DDR333 ram

Dual monitor

I know it's not much to go on, but any thoughts or similar experiences would be appreciated.

*edit*

Well, it seems to be stable now.  Not sure what was up, but I did some of the same things (lots of network traffic, playing videos) and had no problems...

----------

## shira

I too am having some random lockups with this board

I tried the 2.5.70 kernel and that locked up quite frequently even with acpi off, now I'm on xfs-sources 2.4.20-r3 and I still get a lockup or two

I'm compiling preemptible kernel out right now to see if that helps

if anyone has had stabiliy probs with the a7n8x and know how they fixed them I would appreciate it if you could post what you did  :Smile: 

----------

## jagerman

When using the onboard 3com network card, I kept getting "eth0: transmit timeout" errors in dmesg, and my network craps out.  I popped in a PCI version of the card, and it works perfectly.  I haven't tried the nvidia network card, but my friend did with this same board and got some other weird errors.

He was getting a lot of errors with the board when he first bought it - network errors, hard crashes all over the place, and then finally hard drive corruption - and so he RMA'd it.  The replacement had the same problem with the network cards (transmit timeouts) so he gave up nForce and bought a KT400 board instead.  I grabbed it, and aside from the network problem, haven't had any trouble.

That said, I'm not very impressed with this board - I can't overclock the FSB, for instance.  With my old EPoX 8K3A I used to be able to overclock to a 175 or more MHz FSB, with my memory set to CAS2.  With this one, with the exact same memory, I can't make the memory go any faster than about 138, CAS2.5.  Additionally, the board has a wretchedly horrible BIOS save bug, where about 1 time in 10, changing the front side bus and saving your BIOS settings will crash the BIOS and leave you with a fux0red BIOS.  The only way to fix it was to buy another nForce2 board, and perform a hot BIOS chip swap  :Twisted Evil:  (I had to buy a BIOS extractor), and reflash the BIOS in a different board (in this case, a ASUS A7N8X non-deluxe)  :Shocked: .  It had to be another nForce2 board - for some reason, it refused to flash on any other motherboard.

----------

## eziril

I'm having a bit of stability trouble, but mine seems to stem from the serial ata drives i'm using. gss-sources here.

----------

## shira

I seem to have solved the stability probs now with xfs-sources with acpi and preempt off

----------

## jiriki

i have also lockup problems with this board, using gaming-sources. I'll also try out to turn off preemptive kernel tonight and report if it's working. But what about ACPI? I still want my system to power down automatically if i "poweroff" - any other possibility to do this?

----------

## sweede

I have that board, an XP 2500 gig-o-ram and have no issues with any feature of the board (except SATA, gentoo-sources does not have driver for it)

i dont have acpi (linux has horrible support for it), i do have preempt.  i use gentoo-sources and use the supported audio driver (i810? or something) and nforce-net network driver.

dont use the 3com nic on the asus board, the nvidia nic is far better/faster. 

1) you can overclock the board to 250mhz before bios 1004, 233 mhz with bios 1004. you just have to make sure the settings are on user-defined. if you cannot overclock, i suggest you read the manual again as there is instructions on where/how to do this. I have safely overclocked to 200mhz @11.5 fsb 

2) your bios crashing issue? that can be easily fixed  if you have another (preferably duron) proc lying around (they're 20$ or so). just pop that in and it will reset the bios to default. another trick is to change the FSB jumper from 333/266 to 200mhz, power up the board, then power off and switch it back. I would also suggest you update to the latest BIOS revision as it seems to no longer have this problem.

If you have a revision 2.0 board,  http://www.asus.com.tw/support/download/selectftp.aspx?l1_id=1&l2_id=10&l3_id=23&m_id=1&f_name=an8d1004.zip

If you have a revision 1.03, 1.04, and 1.06 only. http://www.asus.com.tw/support/download/selectftp.aspx?l1_id=1&l2_id=10&l3_id=23&m_id=1&f_name=an8d1004.zip

----------

## taskara

I haven't had any hard lockups, but I am using vanilla sources.. nothing else seems to run properly for me...

btw I overclocking my barton 2500+ (1.8ghz) to 2.4Ghz @ 200fsb (cas 3-2-2-2-T1)

----------

## jagerman

 *sweede wrote:*   

> your bios crashing issue? that can be easily fixed  if you have another (preferably duron) proc lying around (they're 20$ or so). just pop that in and it will reset the bios to default. another trick is to change the FSB jumper from 333/266 to 200mhz, power up the board, then power off and switch it back. I would also suggest you update to the latest BIOS revision as it seems to no longer have this problem.

 

I've tried both of those.  I've also tried replacing the CMOS battery, resetting the bios with the jumper, I have the bus jumper set to 200, and I've used another processor.  None of these help - the only way I can get the BIOS working again is to reflash it.  Thankfully it hasn't happened much lately - it seems if I go to "Save settings without exiting", _then_ "Save and Exit", I seem to get away without a BIOS crash.

I'm still annoyed about the overclocking, however.  I _can_ get the FSB up, as long as I put the memory on "auto" (where it runs it from about 120 - 150) - what annoys me is that my Epox board could run the memory at 175, while this board can't go beyond about 140 or so.

----------

## sweede

change System Performance to 'User Defined'  that will allow you to change the FSB setting.

Change CPU Freq Multiple Setting to user defined and you change change the CPU Multiplier.

be sure to update your BIOS.

taskara, what kind(brand, etc) of memory and Cooling do you have ?

----------

## taskara

 *sweede wrote:*   

> taskara, what kind(brand, etc) of memory and Cooling do you have ?

 

memory is 2x512mb corsair pc3500 (234Mhz) XMS, running in 3-2-2-2 (cas 2)

cpu is barton 2500+, cooling is just a volcano 7+ on the lowest setting (so it's nice and "quiet"), and the cpu doesn't go over 50 degrees celcius.

I can get my fsb up to 230mhz on stock cooling, but has a few issues. I may get some slow case fans just to help push a little air through without lots of noise  :Smile: 

----------

## jagerman

 *sweede wrote:*   

> change System Performance to 'User Defined'  that will allow you to change the FSB setting.

 

 :Rolling Eyes:  I don't remember anyone asking or complaining about being unable to change the FSB.  Did you read the posts here, or just answer secure in the knowledge that you know everything?  I suspect the latter.  Go back to Redhat  :Twisted Evil: 

----------

## jagerman

 *taskara wrote:*   

> memory is 2x512mb corsair pc3500 (234Mhz) XMS, running in 3-2-2-2 (cas 2)
> 
> cpu is barton 2500+, cooling is just a volcano 7+ on the lowest setting (so it's nice and "quiet"), and the cpu doesn't go over 50 degrees celcius.
> 
> I can get my fsb up to 230mhz on stock cooling, but has a few issues. I may get some slow case fans just to help push a little air through without lots of noise 

 

You can always go the watercooling route.  Maybe I should get better memory - my 2x512 PC2100 works great at up to about CAS2 175 on an EpoX board, but doesn't work past 140 on this one.  :Sad: 

BTW - I hear the new KT600 single channel edges out the dual channel nvidia board.  The only problem is that by the time it's available, the Athlon64's will probably be showing up as well.  :Sad:   I have to say, given my great experiences with VIA, and my wretched experiences with NVIDIA's closed-source, buggy binary drivers, I'd be much happier with the VIA one.  But, then again, I made a bet with my co-worker that I wouldn't buy any new hardware for the rest of the year, so maybe I shouldn't even think about it  :Wink: 

----------

## jiriki

i disables preemptive kernel and acpi. My system is still unstable.  :Sad: 

Any more suggestion what i could do now?

Memory is ok, memtest didn't find any error.

----------

## jagerman

 *jiriki wrote:*   

> i disables preemptive kernel and acpi. My system is still unstable. 
> 
> Any more suggestion what i could do now?
> 
> Memory is ok, memtest didn't find any error.

 

Have you tried running the prime95/mprime "torture test"?

----------

## jiriki

i havn't triet prime yet...but should i test it with windows or linux? Because Linux is already unstable, should i try it in windows? If it also fails there, i REALLY know it can't be the hardware.

----------

## eziril

I solved some of my stability issues, by changing the processor in my kernel to use XP GCC>31. Fixed any issue that caused a hard lockup. Still having problems with opengl and my radeon though.

----------

## arcterex

Wow, completely forgot about the xp gcc >31 setting in the kernel config.  I'm just recompiling now to see if that helps.  I've been ok for a bit using gentoo sources, but a couple of hours ago I had a hard lockup.  Might have been heat related though (my office is about 180 right now  :Sad:  ).

On the ACPI issue, could someone enlighten me as the difference between acpi and apm, and why I would want one vs the other?  I have acpi compiled and acpid running, bu tno idea what to do with them?  Will it automagically shutdown for me if I hit the power button or something (been meaning to try, haven't got around to it)?  I don't really use power management for things like spinning down disks and whatnot, but I'd like to know what acpi (even in it's less than perfect state) will do for me.

Thanks all!

----------

## taskara

 *arcterex wrote:*   

> Wow, completely forgot about the xp gcc >31 setting in the kernel config.  I'm just recompiling now to see if that helps.  I've been ok for a bit using gentoo sources, but a couple of hours ago I had a hard lockup.  Might have been heat related though (my office is about 180 right now  ).
> 
> On the ACPI issue, could someone enlighten me as the difference between acpi and apm, and why I would want one vs the other?  I have acpi compiled and acpid running, bu tno idea what to do with them?  Will it automagically shutdown for me if I hit the power button or something (been meaning to try, haven't got around to it)?  I don't really use power management for things like spinning down disks and whatnot, but I'd like to know what acpi (even in it's less than perfect state) will do for me.
> 
> Thanks all!

 

the only thing acpi has done for me is give me instability  :Sad:  except on the vanilla sources.

tho the new 2.5.70 may help, and also 2.4.21-ac-rc7

apm is old style power managemtn, acpi uses the bios controller to administer power settings I believe..

----------

## shira

 *eziril wrote:*   

> I solved some of my stability issues, by changing the processor in my kernel to use XP GCC>31. Fixed any issue that caused a hard lockup. Still having problems with opengl and my radeon though.

 

where is this option or how does one administer it?

my rig is still randomly locking up completely from time to time :-/

----------

## taskara

it's under "processor type and features", the third or so menu.

[img:26a9cc6dfd]http://www.penguinitis.com/images/cpukernelsetting.jpg[/img:26a9cc6dfd]

----------

## shira

 *taskara wrote:*   

> it's under "processor type and features", the third or so menu.
> 
> [img:e7819b6d1a]http://www.penguinitis.com/images/cpukernelsetting.jpg[/img:e7819b6d1a]

 

so enabling that will help stability?

----------

## taskara

according to eziril  :Smile:  I think it will help  :Smile: 

----------

## xachris

i'm running the xfs-sources 2.4.20-r3 on my A7N8X Deluxe (Rev. 2.00) without problems.

at kernel "Processor types and features" i only use: Machine Check Exception and MTRR support

i had problems with the Preemptile Kernel....  :Crying or Very sad: 

Try to do a BIOS update - this may help. I had several random non definable errors (segentation faults...) with BIOS 1003 - now i use 1005.

----------

## xachris

sorry i forgot

at kernel "Processor types and features" i only use: Machine Check Exception and MTRR support 

i also enabled "Symmetric multiprocessor support" - but i only have a single machine. if i uncheck this i get no bzImage   :Crying or Very sad: 

----------

## shira

I've had my kernel set to Athlon/Duron/K7 since I did the install but I still get random hard lockups from time to time

I've got the exception check, MTRR and APIC checked in that section

do you think taking out APIC would help

I have the 1005 bios on a 2.0 board

----------

## taskara

oh definately remove acpi at this stage, but hmmm... lockups are generally hardware faults..

have u tested your memory, how hot if your cpu getting? and how strong is your power supply?

----------

## shira

I've had APCI off the whole time it's APIC that I took out (from the processor menu not the power management option)

the hardware should be good, the crashes happen at random times most of which have been at times of low load

the mem is fine too

the system runs fine under 2k when I switch over to play various games

I've compiled APIC out and haven't had a crash *yet*, it's been up for ~30 mins so I'll see how it goes

----------

## taskara

just in case you want it, here is my 2.4.21-ac1 config file, u can compare it to your if you like  *Quote:*   

> #
> 
> # Automatically generated by make menuconfig: don't edit
> 
> #
> ...

 

----------

## JL

thanks taskara.  the config seems to work fine so far. just having issues with my nvidia video card when unsing the nvidia driver. X displays weird characters now and locks. Its ok with the nv driver. so more troubleshooting. But the hard locks seem to have disappeared with the ac-1 series .

----------

## taskara

no worries mate

I had the same problem with the weird characters.. I think it was caused by ACPI... have you got it DISabled ?

----------

## JL

will doublecheck when i get home.  :Smile: 

thanks again.

----------

## JL

yep.. ACPI is DIS abled.

also tried disabling AGP 8x mode too. still no help. the troubleshooting continues.....

Taskara... which version of the nvidia drivers are you using. I am thinking about downgrading one version.

----------

## taskara

[ebuild   R  ] media-video/nvidia-kernel-1.0.4349-r2

hmm... try this version.. if it still doesn't work... something's wrong.

I thought it was acpi that stuffed it up for me.. but maybe I was wrong  :Wink: 

----------

## taskara

oh yeah, btw... I can't seem to get X to start properly if I try and use agpgart (which SHOULD be the nforce2 driver that I compiled into my kernel)

kdm starts, but freezes the machine.

so I'm using nvagpgart atm

if anyone gets the nvidia agp driver working, I'd be very interested  :Smile: 

I added 

```
Option   NvAGP   "2"
```

 to XF86Config "1" is nvagp, while "2" is agpgart and "0" is disabled "3" is try agpgart, if it fails, use nvagp.

cheers!

----------

## jbuberel

It was all kernel configuration. I made all of these changes in one kernel build, so I don't yet know exactly which change made the difference:

```
Processor Type and Features:

    Turned off HighMem IO

    Turned off Preemtpible Kernel

    Turned off Local APIC support

General Setup:

    Turned off ACPI
```

My machine has been vastly more stable ever since.

----------

## DooBeDooBeDo

Both Local APIC and ACPI cause mine to lock - I don't have any problems with either Highmem or pre-emption.

I've left them compiled in but use the command line to disable them ("acpi=off noapic nolapic")

I have the kernel agpgart as a module along with the nforce2 driver and it runs really well on 2.6-test9-mm5

Specs:

ASUS A7N8X - Deluxe GD

Athlon XP 2800+

NVidia GE Force 4 Ti4800 SE

1GB mem

80GB WD HD 8MB cache

Lite-on CDRW

No-name DVDR

----------

## Kalin

APIC is the culprit, it is very instable with SATA driver it seems. I was getting a lock wvery several hours (at random) before I disabled it. 

And it was written something like "it doesn't hurt to turn it on" in the kernel config. Not for nForce MBs!

Have a A7N8X Deluxe (BIOS 1007) with S-ATA WD360GD (10k rpm, 36GB) working stable for the last 15+6+4 days (rebooted to add a DVD+RW etc) with 2.4.22 vanilla, no ACPI.

Now trying to get 2.4.23 with ACPI on.

----------

