System slowdown/freeze

zeno · External Since: Jun 08, 2007 Posts: 18

Running Ubuntu 6.0.1 on an IBM ThinkCentre desktop machine.

PROBLEM: The display will frequently, (about once every other day)
freeze up; it seems to be on a random basis. I can invoke the
consoles (ALT 1 -7) but they take forever to respond...though I can't
see anything in TOP that indicates why this is. I end up doing: "~#
shutdown -r now". However, even if I do 'the Bad Thing' and turn off
the box, Ubu is very forgiving and doesn't force the user to read how
they are morons for not shutting down correctly.

The following is 'dmesg tail' after re-booting machine after it
froze. It doesnt have any pattern that I (an amateur) can discern
other than the relevance to ACPI. I disabled both, I thought, in the
BIOS. Could it be that Ubu is, unwittingly activating it? Could it
be? Or what?

gf@zeno:~$
[17179590.236000] sd 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi removable disk sdb
[17179590.236000] sd 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[17179590.236000] usb-storage: device scan complete
[17179596.428000] CSLIP: code copyright 1989 Regents of the University
of Califo rnia
[17179596.436000] PPP generic driver version 2.4.2
[17179596.476000] NET: Registered protocol family 10
[17179596.476000] lo: Disabled Privacy Extensions
[17179596.476000] IPv6 over IPv4 tunneling driver
[17179596.608000] NET: Registered protocol family 24
[17179598.396000] ACPI: Power Button (FF) [PWRF]
[17179598.396000] ACPI: Power Button (CM) [PWRB]
[17179598.492000] ibm_acpi: ec object not found
[17179598.524000] pcc_acpi: loading...
[17179599.704000] ip_tables: (C) 2000-2002 Netfilter core team
[17179600.000000] Netfilter messages via NETLINK v0.30.
[17179600.488000] ip_conntrack version 2.4 (8059 buckets, 64472 max) -
232 bytes per conntrack
[17179604.392000] [drm] Initialized drm 1.0.1 20051102
[17179604.396000] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:02.0[A] -> GSI 16
(level, low) -> IRQ 185
[17179604.396000] [drm] Initialized i915 1.4.0 20060119 on minor 0
[17179606.728000] ppdev: user-space parallel port driver
[17179607.136000] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
[17179716.768000] Inbound IN=ppp0 OUT= MAC= SRC=222.161.2.52
DST=216.237.108.22 LEN=921 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=42 ID=0 DF PROTO=UDP
SPT=44635 DPT=1027 LEN=901
gf@zeno:~$

TIA Zeno

Ulrich.Teichert · External Since: Apr 06, 2004 Posts: 24

In <1185642338.872101.252760 DeleteThis @r34g2000hsd.googlegroups.com> zeno <geoffrey.froner DeleteThis @gmail.com> writes:

>Running Ubuntu 6.0.1 on an IBM ThinkCentre desktop machine.

>PROBLEM: The display will frequently, (about once every other day)
>freeze up; it seems to be on a random basis. I can invoke the
>consoles (ALT 1 -7) but they take forever to respond...though I can't
>see anything in TOP that indicates why this is.
[del]

This sounds to me like disk thrashing. Do you see high memory usage
(check with free or top) while in this state?

HTH,
Uli
--
Dipl. Inf. Ulrich Teichert|e-mail: Ulrich.Teichert DeleteThis @gmx.de
Stormweg 24 |listening to: Channel 13 Is Haunted (Hex Dispensers)
24539 Neumuenster, Germany|Adrenalin (Supabond), Ne Me Touch Pas (Opération S)

Darren Salt · External Since: Oct 15, 2004 Posts: 352

I demand that zeno may or may not have written...

> Running Ubuntu 6.0.1 on an IBM ThinkCentre desktop machine.

> PROBLEM: The display will frequently, (about once every other day) freeze
> up; it seems to be on a random basis. I can invoke the consoles (ALT 1 -7)
> but they take forever to respond...though I can't see anything in TOP that
> indicates why this is. I end up doing: "~# shutdown -r now".

Something in the kernel, probably...

[snip; using Ubuntu]
> The following is 'dmesg tail' after re-booting machine after it froze.
[snip]

Quite possibly irrelevant.

dmesg output while it's in this "slow" state is more important; you might
also want to do Alt-SysRq-T to get some extra task info for bug reporting
purposes (booting with "log_buf_len=128k" may be helpful - "dmesg -s131072"
will grab the whole of the log buffer - though with any luck it'll all be in
/var/log/kern.log).

If you're using a proprietary graphics module, try again with an open-source
one (don't forget to reboot to get rid of the taint); if it stops happening,
it's almost certainly a problem with the taintware - forget trying to get
help from people here - you should talk to ATI or nVidia (as appropriate). If
it still happens anyway, well, you've just ruled out the taintware and can
proceed with trying to get help via Ubuntu's BTS, here, the kernel mailing
list... but Ubuntu's BTS should be your first port of call. (I'm assuming
that you're using an Ubuntu-supplied stock kernel.)

--
| Darren Salt | linux or ds at | nr. Ashington, | Toon
| RISC OS, Linux | youmustbejoking,demon,co,uk | Northumberland | Army
| + Output *more* particulate pollutants. BUFFER AGAINST GLOBAL WARMING.

a MERGE error, 0:1

Bill Marcum · External Since: Dec 18, 2006 Posts: 286

On Sat, 28 Jul 2007 17:05:38 -0000, zeno
<geoffrey.froner RemoveThis @gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Running Ubuntu 6.0.1 on an IBM ThinkCentre desktop machine.
>
I think you mean 6.10. Ubuntu version numbers are year.month, with two
releases per year. In 2006 they released 6.06 (Dapper Drake) and 6.10
(Edgy Eft).

--
Kleeneness is next to Godelness.

zeno · External Since: Jun 08, 2007 Posts: 18

On Jul 28, 2:31 pm, Ulrich.Teich....TakeThisOut@gmx.de wrote:
> In <1185642338.872101.252....TakeThisOut@r34g2000hsd.googlegroups.com> zeno <geoffrey..fro....TakeThisOut@gmail.com> writes:
>
> >Running Ubuntu 6.0.1 on an IBM ThinkCentre desktop machine.
> >PROBLEM: The display will frequently, (about once every other day)
> >freeze up; it seems to be on a random basis. I can invoke the
> >consoles (ALT 1 -7) but they take forever to respond...though I can't
> >see anything in TOP that indicates why this is.
>
> [del]
>
> This sounds to me like disk thrashing. Do you see high memory usage
> (check with free or top) while in this state?
>
> HTH,
> Uli
> --
> Dipl. Inf. Ulrich Teichert|e-mail: Ulrich.Teich....TakeThisOut@gmx.de
> Stormweg 24 |listening to: Channel 13 Is Haunted (Hex Dispensers)
> 24539 Neumuenster, Germany|Adrenalin (Supabond), Ne Me Touch Pas (Opération S)

One of the odd things about this is that when looking at TOP or PS it
doesnt seem that much memory at all is being used; something like half
a gig where there is one gb of RAM available.
And yes, I am running Ubu 6.10 (DD).

Zeno

Ulrich.Teichert · External Since: Apr 06, 2004 Posts: 24

In <1185762420.360060.199880.DeleteThis@b79g2000hse.googlegroups.com> zeno <geoffrey.froner.DeleteThis@gmail.com> writes:

[del]
>One of the odd things about this is that when looking at TOP or PS it
>doesnt seem that much memory at all is being used; something like half
>a gig where there is one gb of RAM available.

Check with `free` how much swap is in use as well.

>And yes, I am running Ubu 6.10 (DD).

And their stock kernel? Have you checked for kernel updates? What version
are they based on, actually (`uname -a` should tell you this)?

Perhaps it would be best to compile your own kernel without any patches
and see if it's still the same behaviour.

HTH,
Uli
--
Dipl. Inf. Ulrich Teichert|e-mail: Ulrich.Teichert.DeleteThis@gmx.de
Stormweg 24 |listening to: Channel 13 Is Haunted (Hex Dispensers)
24539 Neumuenster, Germany|Is It Good Or Is It Bad? (Opération S)

Ottavio Caruso · External Since: Jun 11, 2007 Posts: 18

zeno wrote:
> Running Ubuntu 6.0.1 on an IBM ThinkCentre desktop machine.

Have you tried anything a bit more serious, like Slackware or Debian?
Ubuntu is just broken Debian,
and Debian is broken already

>
> [17179596.476000] IPv6 over IPv4 tunneling driver

You most likely don't need IPv6 driver, try removing it.

> [17179607.136000] eth0: no IPv6 routers present

As above.

Ottavio
http://www.pledgebank.com/boycottvista

zeno · External Since: Jun 08, 2007 Posts: 18

On Jul 31, 12:56 pm, Ottavio Caruso <pr0f3ss0r1....DeleteThis@yahoo.com> wrote:
> zeno wrote:
> > Running Ubuntu 6.0.1 on an IBM ThinkCentre desktop machine.
>
> Have you tried anything a bit more serious, like Slackware or Debian?
> Ubuntu is just broken Debian,
> and Debian is broken already
>
>
>
> > [17179596.476000] IPv6 over IPv4 tunneling driver
>
> You most likely don't need IPv6 driver, try removing it.
>
> > [17179607.136000] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
>
> As above.
>
> Ottaviohttp://www.pledgebank.com/boycottvista

Yup...about mo serious than Ubu, RH4. But that was 15 years ago and
I wanted graphic interface; things change including memory and I
thought it might be simple to start again with Ubu rather than
directly to SUSE or Slackware. Lots of good comments re Slackware.
Do you have any comment about LFS? Doesnt sound like you can get more
basic.

I'm trying to rule out problems with this lovely little IBM deck, and/
or repair what needs to be repaired.

At the end of your message you mentioned removing unneeded IPv6
driver. How?? Thanks.

zeno · External Since: Jun 08, 2007 Posts: 18

On Jul 30, 1:08 pm, Ulrich.Teich....RemoveThis@gmx.de wrote:
> In <1185762420.360060.199....RemoveThis@b79g2000hse.googlegroups.com> zeno <geoffrey..fro....RemoveThis@gmail.com> writes:
>
> [del]
>
> >One of the odd things about this is that when looking at TOP or PS it
> >doesnt seem that much memory at all is being used; something like half
> >a gig where there is one gb of RAM available.
>
> Check with `free` how much swap is in use as well.
>
> >And yes, I am running Ubu 6.10 (DD).
>
> And their stock kernel? Have you checked for kernel updates? What version
> are they based on, actually (`uname -a` should tell you this)?
>
> Perhaps it would be best to compile your own kernel without any patches
> and see if it's still the same behaviour.
>
> HTH,
> Uli
> --
> Dipl. Inf. Ulrich Teichert|e-mail: Ulrich.Teich....RemoveThis@gmx.de
> Stormweg 24 |listening to: Channel 13 Is Haunted (Hex Dispensers)
> 24539 Neumuenster, Germany|Is It Good Or Is It Bad? (Opération S)

Okay...clarification: Running Dapper Drake which is v6.06; more
importantly, the kernel version is: 2.6.15-28-386. Which leads me to
ask: If I upgrade to a Ubu kernel, should it only be one or two
increments and what should they be? If I am finally tired of the Ubu
Attitude do I just back up all date in a tar gzip file gently remove
Ubuntu, set up some partitions, and install, for example, Slackware
Late V?
Or to do some kind of cleaning up (this a term??) of the Ubu-installed
kernel?

If you have the time to help me with these questions, know it is
greatly appreciated and, for what its worth, it goes around to other
new-to-Linux.

Zeno

zeno · External Since: Jun 08, 2007 Posts: 18

On Jul 31, 12:56 pm, Ottavio Caruso <pr0f3ss0r1....RemoveThis@yahoo.com> wrote:
> zeno wrote:
> > Running Ubuntu 6.0.1 on an IBM ThinkCentre desktop machine.
>
> Have you tried anything a bit more serious, like Slackware or Debian?
> Ubuntu is just broken Debian,
> and Debian is broken already
>
>
>
> > [17179596.476000] IPv6 over IPv4 tunneling driver
>
> You most likely don't need IPv6 driver, try removing it.
>
> > [17179607.136000] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
>
> As above.
>
> Ottaviohttp://www.pledgebank.com/boycottvista

Hi and thanks for your reccomendations,

But could you tell me (a partial newbie) How I go about removing the
IPv6 driver you mention. It may be that the network might be somehow
involved.

Zeno