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HOWTO debug hard lockups
by Andy Stewart June 28, 2005

June 28, 2005

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 HI gang, My dual Opteron machine is not happy. I cannot get more than 7 straight days of uptime without getting a hard lock, requiring a reboot. (My definition of hard lock is: machine responds neither to keyboard input, mouse input, nor network pings). I can stimulate hard locks by running OpenOffice 1.1.3 (I had 3 tonight, and 3-4 on a previous occasion while running OpenOffice). It makes no sense to me that an application run as a normal user could lockup a machine. I've tried setting "nmi_watchdog=1" to see if I could get an "oops" when it hard locks - no dice. Do you know any other tricks I could try to see if it is the kernel which is locking up? I'm running SuSE's version of 2.6.8. It may also be the hardware itself which is locking up. I have suspected that I might have "warm" hardware and have taken steps to better cool the machine. One CPU runs at a high of 63 degrees C, while the other one runs at 58 degrees C both while running Seti@Home (which heats the CPUs a significant 5-10 degrees C versus idle). The cooler CPU has a Zalman 7000 series copper heatsink/fan combo, while the warmer CPU has an undersized block of metal and a small fan (thanks to the MB manufacturer MSI). AMD quotes a max operating temperature of 70 degress C, so although quite hot, I think I'm still within spec, but I'm uncomfortably close. The temperature on the surface of the SCSI hard drive is 95 degrees F. The room temperature is a balmy 85 degrees (hey, its New England in the summer time!). The machine has passed memtest many times. If it is a heat problem, I'm royally screwed when the real summer weather arrives. I want to install a better heat sink on CPU 2 (hence my previous email about a heat sink retaining bracket). Physical tolerances on this MB are really tough to satisfy (MSI K8T Master2 FAR). The heat sink tooling on the MB is for socket 478 even though the MB uses AMD opteron 244s (yes, this is quite bizarre, er, non-standard). If anybody has any ideas which might help, I'm all ears (as it were). Thanks! Andy - -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA, USA http://www.wlug.org -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.5 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFCo7ZhHl0iXDssISsRAoGWAJ4ttqZS2SSgdlGwdnSp6LNbzUmLaQCfbktB KWUM+7EQAu3jIIKbmdnDkZk= =aI/l -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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[Fwd: LUG Leaders -- your most recent book shipment from AW/PHPTR]
by Andy Stewart June 24, 2005

June 24, 2005

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hi Everybody, Please note that the books which I've been raffling at WLUG meetings for the last few months have come from Addison-Wesley publishing. Here is more information from the publisher, including the URL where you can submit your review of any of these books, and information on how to receive a LUG discount on future purchases. I did receive two of their "SPRING INTO" series books, and they will be raffled at a future WLUG meeting. Many thanks to this publisher for supplying us with books to review! Happy Reading, Andy - -------- Original Message -------- Subject: LUG Leaders -- your most recent book shipment from AW/PHPTR Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2005 19:30:09 -0500 From: Heather.Fox(a)pearsoned.com To: andystewart(a)COMCAST.NET Hello Linux User Group Leaders: Please be advised that you will soon receive a June, 2005, book shipment from Publisher Addison-Wesley Professional http://www.awprofessional.com containing review copies of two flagship books from our newest book series, titled the SPRING INTO Series. Also, read below for details on how you and your UG members can receive a 35% discount off list price [inc. FREE shipping via UPS Ground when shipping within the U.S.] for any Addison-Wesley or Prentice Hall PTR book. The review copy titles you will receive are: 1)"Spring Into Linux" by Janet Valade: http://www.awprofessional.com/title/0131853546; 2) "Spring Into Technical Writing" by Barry Rosenberg: http://www.awprofessional.com/title/0131498630. These titles are from the new Addison-Wesley SPRING INTO Series: http://www.awprofessional.com/springinto. ************************************************************ PLEASE ASK YOUR MEMBERS TO SUBMIT REVIEWS FOR THESE BOOKS DIRECTLY ONLINE! Introducing the new Addison-Wesley REVIEWS LINK. Now you can ask your LUG members to easily and directly submit reviews of the books, which they borrow and/or "win" at your User Group meetings. Simply click the link below, and REVIEW AWAY! http://www.awprofessional.com/reviews ************************************************************ SPECIAL DISCOUNT COUPON FOR LUG MEMBERS FOR ANY BOOK FROM ADDISON-WESLEY/ PRENTICE HALL PTR: Step 1: visit http://www.awprofessional.com or http://www.phptr.com and add desired books to "shopping cart" Step 2: Proceed to checkout Step 3: Enter billing and shipping address [if different from billing address] Step 4: Choose a shipping method [UPS Ground is *FREE* within the U.S.!] Step 5: TO OBTAIN YOUR 35% DISCOUNT, enter the coupon code: LUG [case-sensitive], during "Checkout". Step 6: Coupon expires August 1, 2005. ************************************************************ If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. Happy Reading! Sincerely, User Group Liaison Heather Fox - -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA, USA http://www.wlug.org -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.5 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFCvGp+Hl0iXDssISsRAgGoAJ9TMEv417KQE9oZkDNrO9X5Rb6r2ACgiJkl 6P/NYq5sD/4ZTmKbHShWlIc= =I9cI -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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[Fwd: An Invitation for a Free Webcast: Rocks Cluster and Object Storag e]
by Andy Stewart June 24, 2005

June 24, 2005

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 - -------- Original Message -------- Subject: An Invitation for a Free Webcast: Rocks Cluster and Object Storag e Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2005 17:00:02 -0700 From: Ortiz, Monica <mortiz(a)panasas.com> To: 'andystewart(a)comcast.net' <andystewart(a)comcast.net> June 23, 2005 Dear Mr. Stewart: Panasas invites you and Worcester LUG members to attend a complimentary, online seminar that describes how Stanford University's Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering (ICME) achieved exceptional performance and maximum utilization with its Linux cluster. In particular, the seminar will provide details on how the Institute combined Rocks software with an object-based storage system to increase the productivity of its cluster. Rocks Clusters and Object Storage Wednesday, June 29, 2005, 11:00 AM PDT http://panasasevents.webex.com Researchers at ICME use HPC as part of a comprehensive research program. These systems are used to better predict flutter and limit cycle oscillations for modern aircraft, to better understand the impact of turbulent flow on jet engines, and to develop computational methodologies that can facilitate the design of naval systems with lower signature levels. This research can lead to improvements in the performance and safety of aircraft, reduction of engine noise, which will improve the quality of life for people living near airports, and new underwater navigation systems. To accomplish this, ICME needed a cluster to tackle large-scale simulations of flow/structure interaction, aeroacoustic, and elasto-acoustic scattering problems. Join us in discussing how ICME utilized the 164-node Nivation Linux cluster and object-based storage to create a system that is scalable, easy to integrate and manage, and delivers extremely high bandwidth and random I/O. Register for this informative online seminar to: * Hear the challenges ICME faced in building a cluster capable of handling complex mathematical simulations * Learn how object storage systems, like those of Panasas, break I/O bottlenecks hindering cluster performance * Hear Steve Jones' personal experience in managing large-scale Rock clusters and the integration of the Panasas ActiveScale Storage Cluster Highlighted Speakers Steve Jones, Technology Operations Manager, Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering, Stanford University Larry Jones, Vice President of Product Marketing, Panasas Register Online Today! There are no fees for this event. To register, just point your browser to: http://panasasevents.webex.com Please let me know if you have any questions or trouble registering for this event. Monica Ortiz Events Coordinator Panasas, Inc. - -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA, USA http://www.wlug.org -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.5 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFCvGlzHl0iXDssISsRAjpEAJ9Vox3a4mALakBkB5lJB3cOR8fsVACfWnnF wKIi2NjUxHELanh2dfT4z84= =wP7M -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Yellow Dog Linux
by Stephen Ketcham June 21, 2005

June 21, 2005

I've just set up my Mac G4 Powerbook to boot Yellow Dog Linux 4.0.1. (It dual boots, so it also runs Mac OS X.) is there anybody else on the list running Yellow Dog? Thanks, Steve

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Need Homes: 2U+,custom cases/psupp/fans
by Doug Mildram June 21, 2005

June 21, 2005

Yet another Westboro,MA giveaway: (Anyone teaching EE or Hobbies909?) Free and basically new: empty/nonstandard cases w/powersupp+fans. A dead project has left homeless ~15 cases, 19" wide, 24" deep, (19" wide == standard 18.5" distance between frontpanel mounting holes) 4.5" high == including .5" high rubber feet. (2U == 3.5", these are taller), semi-empty inside (a 13"x14"x3.5" area inside plus a 6"x8"x3.5" along psupply) 19" rackmountable , BUT, ***** NOT ***** set up for PC-based motherboard: does NOT include disk/floppy/usb brackets or any of THAT pc-ready stuff. http://webpages.charter.net/mquinty/case_top.JPG Each case has a 400W standard 12v/5v power supply, and (4) 3.5" fans already mounted (side exhaust) inside; a removable suitcase-strap-panel on the front as shown; (see picture case_front.JPG URL below..but it hides the switches below) also on front panel: 1 power switch; 2 LEDs, "Fan Fail" and "Power". http://webpages.charter.net/mquinty/case_front.JPG Even MORE Gory detail: Each case has a custom (now useless) NONstandard screw-post arrangement which you'd need to re-do (re-drill new holes as needed, may need shorter posts). So it's good if you have something REALLY CUSTOM you want mounted+powered. If you ask for just the power supplies, you're missing my mantra: these babies (CASES) need an inventive home or homes. -- doug mildram

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udev device removal not removing file
by Karl Hiramoto June 16, 2005

June 16, 2005

I have some USB serial port devices that show up in /dev/tts/USB0 and /dev/tts/USB1 for example.. I have 4 gentoo boxes, and on one of them when I remove the device file does not disappear, on the other boxes the file disappear. What could be causing this? Adding a device is no problem, only the removal does not remove the device file /dev/tts/USB1 for example dmesg shows the device addition and removal just fine. I copied /etc/udev/* from a working machine where removal happens fine the one with problems with device removal and there was no change. They are all running the same kernel, hotplugg, baselayout.. This is an issue for me as i have a program of my own that looks for /dev/tts/USB* Any ideas out there? Thanks.

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AMD64 and 32-bit apps
by Carlton C. Stedman II June 15, 2005

June 15, 2005

Recently I've begun considering migrating over to the amd64 platform (my motherboard just died on my athlon xp system, much to my chagrin) and figure this is a good place to ask for users experiences. I'm not worried about my video card drivers, since NVIDIA has great amd64 support, at least, so I'm told. My main concern is that I need to install some 32-bit emulation libraries and kernel modules, so I've read, to compile 32-bit apps, and that some compiled 32-bit apps will only work under a 32-bit environment, requiring me to setup a seperate environment to chroot into. I'm running gentoo and I'm up to the task, just wondering if anyone has any experience in this specifically and anything I should be concerned about or not to worry too much about. Thanks. -- Carlton C. Stedman II, sageman(a)wpi.edu "To iterate is human, to recurse, divine." -- L. Peter Deutch

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Reminder: WLUG Meeting, Wed June 15, 7:00 PM
by Andy Stewart June 14, 2005

June 14, 2005

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 HI everybody, This is a reminder about the WLUG meeting to be held on Wednesday, June 15, 2005 at 7:00 PM in the Access Grid room on the WPI Campus in Worcester, MA USA. This meeting is open to anyone who is interested in Linux. Tim Keller will be our guest speaker, and he'll be talking about Logical Volume Management (LVM). More details can be found on the WLUG home page. I will have two books for the no cost raffle: Succeeding with Open Source by Bernard Golden Published by Addison-Wesley 2005 PHP5 Power Programming by Gutmans, Bakken, and Rethans Published by Prentice Hall 2005 The raffle winner is requested to write a review of the book and to post it somewhere on the Internet, and to copy the publisher. We had discussed the possibility of a summer barbecue in lieu of the July meeting. I think someone said we could have the party at their place, but I can't remember who said that. If this person was serious, please contact me via email and we can work out the particulars. It'll be a nice way to celebrate WLUG's 8th anniversary (we started July 1997)! After the meeting, we'll go out for pizza/soda at the Tech Pizza restaurant on Highland Street. Its a small place, but the 8-10 of us that go seem to be having a good time, and we've never had to wait for a table. :-) It may be hot in there this time of year...we'll have to scope it out. See you on Wednesday! Andy - -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA, USA http://www.wlug.org -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.5 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFCrj4THl0iXDssISsRAhttAJsG8rEhMLYrtzolhdFWpnwTBYFWFQCgh/xB RA6vaXZaqh7HUbT8Et7x1zM= =he7f -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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RE: [Wlug] HOWTO debug hard lockups
by Keller, Tim June 12, 2005

June 12, 2005

Andy, Your lockup's sound like an SMP issue. I'd try booting a non SMP kernel and then seeing if you can duplicate the lockup... I say this because I was getting practically the same behavior with a duel Xeon machine running FC3. The machine would just up and die in the same way your machine is. Just my $.02. Tim. -----Original Message----- From: wlug-bounces(a)mail.wlug.org [mailto:wlug-bounces@mail.wlug.org] On Behalf Of Andy Stewart Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2005 7:15 PM To: jmoyer(a)redhat.com; Worcester Linux Users Group Subject: Re: [Wlug] HOWTO debug hard lockups -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Jeff Moyer wrote: > ==> Regarding Re: [Wlug] HOWTO debug hard lockups; Andy Stewart <andystewart(a)comcast.net> adds: > > andystewart> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 > > andystewart> Jeff Moyer wrote: >>>==> Regarding [Wlug] HOWTO debug hard lockups; Andy Stewart >>><andystewart(a)comcast.net> adds: >>> > andystewart> HI gang, > andystewart> My dual Opteron machine is not happy. I cannot get more than > andystewart> 7 straight days of uptime without getting a hard lock, > andystewart> requiring a reboot. (My definition of hard lock is: machine > andystewart> responds neither to keyboard input, mouse input, nor network > andystewart> pings). > andystewart> I can stimulate hard locks by running OpenOffice 1.1.3 (I had > andystewart> 3 tonight, and 3-4 on a previous occasion while running > andystewart> OpenOffice). It makes no sense to me that an application run > andystewart> as a normal user could lockup a machine. > andystewart> I've tried setting "nmi_watchdog=1" to see if I could get an > andystewart> "oops" when it hard locks - no dice. Do you know any other > andystewart> tricks I could try to see if it is the kernel which is locking > andystewart> up? I'm running SuSE's version of 2.6.8. >>>Did you verify that NMIs are being delivered? After boot, cat >>>/proc/interrupts and make sure the NMI line is non-zero. Also note >>>that, at least with upstream and Red Hat kernels, the nmi_watchdog >>>defaults to 1 for Opterons (i.e. you shouldn't need to manually set it). > > andystewart> HI Jeff, > > andystewart> Well, this is weird, I'm seeing a ZERO count for NMIs, so that > andystewart> makes me think they are NOT being delivered. How would I go > andystewart> about solving *that* little problem? I did a "cat > > Well, you can try booting with nmi_watchdog=2. This will try to use the > local APIC to deliver nmi's, but I haven't actually seen a dual processor > system that required this (all of them I've seen work with nmi_watchdog=1). > It is worth a try, however. With nmi_watchdog=1, I see the following output from "dmesg | grep -i nmi" with the 2.6.11.11 kernel I very recently installed: Bootdata ok (command line is root=/dev/sda3 vga=0x31a selinux=0 console=tty0 resume=/dev/sda2 desktop elevator=as nmi_watchdog=1 splash=verbose) ACPI: LAPIC_NMI (acpi_id[0x00] high edge lint[0x1]) ACPI: LAPIC_NMI (acpi_id[0x01] high edge lint[0x1]) Kernel command line: root=/dev/sda3 vga=0x31a selinux=0 console=tty0 resume=/dev/sda2 desktop elevator=as nmi_watchdog=1 splash=verbose activating NMI Watchdog ... done. testing NMI watchdog ... CPU#1: NMI appears to be stuck (0)! I'll try nmi_watchdog=2 shortly. Thanks, Andy - -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA, USA http://www.wlug.org -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.5 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFCp3v8Hl0iXDssISsRAoDJAJ0TonNTSEAd+4W0GRPwTW/UoGFssACdEEq9 8IgEFJ7VAL/FVeyPXrEapHg= =jcjE -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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Job opportunity in Natick for experienced Unix admin
by Simoncini, Matthew June 8, 2005

June 8, 2005

List, I work for a large consulting company in Natick, MA. and we're looking for a couple of experienced (mid level) Unix administrators to join our team. Some of the skills that are required include: Unix experience (Sun Solaris 8 or higher) Veritas volume manager Veritas cluster services Storage management experience (preferably EMC Clarion or DMX) Backup management experience (preferably EMC EDM) Team player Desire to learn and grow If you or anyone you know is looking for a position as a Unix Administrator, please contact me off list at matthewsmbox-resumes(a)yahoo.com <mailto:matthewsmbox-resumes@yahoo.com> . Thanks. Matthew

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