[olug] kernel panics

[Vincent]

You may want to modify syslog to also log to a remote system so you can get a copy of the error messages.  If you can do that and
post the information, it should be a simple matter.  Getting a dump of the kernel would most likely be overkill, unless you suspect
a kernel bug and kmow enough to pipoint it.

Read this as well:  /usr/src/linux/Documentation/sysrq.txt

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ryan O'Rourke" <ryano at ch-gifts.com>
To: "Omaha Linux User Group" <olug at olug.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2003 10:00 AM
Subject: Re: [olug] kernel panics


> On Tue, 2003-06-03 at 09:50, Vincent wrote:
> > That isn't much info to go on, but here are a couple standard things to try if you still have trouble after replacing the disk:
> >
> > First, make sure it reboots after a panic.  Add this to /etc/sysctl.conf:
> > kernel.panic = 3    # System will reboot 3 seconds after a kernel panic
> > To enable this now:
> > echo "3" > /proc/sys/kernel/panic
> >
> > Next, try booting with each of these lilo (or grub) boot options and see if either helps:
> >
> > Disable machine checking.  This tells the kernel not to check the cpu's data structures.  The BIOS is probably already doing
this
> > anyway and two simultaneous checks can cause problems.
> > append="root=LABEL=/ nomce"
> >
> > Disable apic.  This disables the use of IRQs above 15 (SMP or not).  Some hardware has trouble with APIC (Advanced Programmable
> > Interrupt Control/ler)
> > append="root=LABEL=/ noapic"
> >
> > Run a memory tester:  http://www.memtest86.com/
>
>
> Thanks, Vincent. That's pretty much what I was looking for - some advice
> on what to do when a panic happens and what to keep an eye out for to
> solve the problem.
> This one seemed particularly scary to me because of the numerous panics
> at different times during boot, fsck, and uptime.
>
> I did find this little gem on O'Reilly's ONLamp.com about preparing a
> FreeBSB machine to do a backtrace after a kernel panic to effectively
> debug the problem.
> Is there some way to do this in RedHat?
> http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2002/03/21/Big_Scary_Daemons.html?page=1
>
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