[Haifux] Kernel oops, so what?

[Kohn Emil Dan]

Hi,

IIRC in Linux an OOPS will not necessarily freeze the system (though this 
can be configured via some /proc entry or at compilation time). If an OOPS 
occurs in the context of a process, that process will be killed with a 
SEGFAULT, and the system will attempt to continue to work.

Obviously for mission-critical systems this is a very bad idea as the 
kernel might be corrupted, but in other cases it works.

 							Emil


On Fri, 15 Jan 2010, Eli Billauer wrote:

> 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
>
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