[Haifux] Kernel oops, so what?

[Eli Billauer]

Hello,


Maybe this is a "boker-tov-eliyahu" thing, but still. I've installed 
Fedora 12, just to find out that it warns me about kernel oopses. In my 
remote memories, I recall that a kernel oops usually meant that my 
hardware was cooking (in those days when Linux was rock solid and 
hardware wasn't) and the computer froze completely.


Now I get an oops warning every now and then, but nothing really 
happens. And I wonder what is going on? Has the dreaded oops become 
something one can live with? And then there's this site which collects 
oops reports (http://www.kerneloops.org/) which, judging by its sluggish 
response, is a pretty busy project. Oopses keep flooding in.


So, should I just take it cool and wait for a new kernel with this 
fixed, ignoring these messages?


Just for the heck of it, the relevant part from /var/log/messages 
follows. I am running on a new Gigabyte motherboard. I don't expect 
anyone to dissect this. I mean, a report has been submitted.


   Eli


----- log follows, for the fun -----


Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: WARNING: at arch/x86/kernel/hpet.c:390 
hpet_next_event+0x5c/0x81() (Not tainted)

Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: Hardware name: P55-UD3R
Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: Modules linked in:
Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: Pid: 0, comm: swapper Not tainted 
2.6.31.5-127.fc12.x86_64 #1
Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: Call Trace:
Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: [<ffffffff81051694>] 
warn_slowpath_common+0x84/0x9c
Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: [<ffffffff810516c0>] 
warn_slowpath_null+0x14/0x16
Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: [<ffffffff8102d040>] hpet_next_event+0x5c/0x81
Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: [<ffffffff8102d08b>] 
hpet_legacy_next_event+0x10/0x12
Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: [<ffffffff81071953>] 
clockevents_program_event+0x7a/0x83
Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: [<ffffffff81072a9d>] 
tick_dev_program_event+0x3c/0xaa
Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: [<ffffffff8107249d>] 
tick_broadcast_oneshot_control+0xa4/0x100
Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: [<ffffffff81071dc7>] tick_notify+0x222/0x379
Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: [<ffffffff8141d02b>] 
notifier_call_chain+0x32/0x5e
Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: [<ffffffff8106b70c>] 
raw_notifier_call_chain+0x14/0x16
Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: [<ffffffff810717a0>] 
clockevents_notify+0x39/0x76
Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: [<ffffffff812671b1>] 
lapic_timer_state_broadcast+0x46/0x48
Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: [<ffffffff8126772e>] 
acpi_idle_enter_bm+0x18a/0x2b5
Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: [<ffffffff813538a3>] 
cpuidle_idle_call+0x8d/0xc2
Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: [<ffffffff81010c60>] cpu_idle+0xa6/0xe9
Jan 15 14:45:17 test kernel: [<ffffffff814145be>] 
start_secondary+0x1f3/0x234

-- 
Web: http://www.billauer.co.il