Kernel Panic!!!

[lfever]

Ugh..I've been pulling my hair out. I have been plagued with kernel panics on this system. The system will freeze up with  blinking Caps and Scroll Lock Lights.  I have to do a hard shut down as mouse and keyboard will do nothing.

My system is dual boot; Windoze 7/PCLinuxOS

I originally had PCLinuxOS-LXDE on this system with kernel panics. I could find no logged information as to what might be causing the problem (I am not experienced enough to decipher log info even if there was any) I tried different kernel still had panics. When  64 bit KDE-RC1 Desktop came out I installed that and it is the current version installed with 3.2.18-pclos2.bfs kernel.

Now there is information displayed on the screen when the panic happens. I am unable to take a screenshot but did take a picture of the screen with my camera:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lu71lwy40w3s65f/crash_pclinuxos_kde.jpg

My system will run for hours smooth as silk then suddenly a panic. I have to do a hard shut down. Then during startup sometimes another panic before the login screen. It seems like the panic can be made to occur while viewing flash videos in Chromium-Browser but still happens when using Firefox to view the videos. So I'm wondering if this is a problem with Nvidia graphics card and flash-player.

Here is lspci output:

@pclinuxosluver ~]$ lspci
00:00.0 Memory controller: NVIDIA Corporation CK804 Memory Controller (rev a3)
00:01.0 ISA bridge: NVIDIA Corporation CK804 ISA Bridge (rev a3)
00:01.1 SMBus: NVIDIA Corporation CK804 SMBus (rev a2)
00:02.0 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation CK804 USB Controller (rev a2)
00:02.1 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation CK804 USB Controller (rev a3)
00:04.0 Multimedia audio controller: NVIDIA Corporation CK804 AC'97 Audio Controller (rev a2)
00:06.0 IDE interface: NVIDIA Corporation CK804 IDE (rev f2)
00:07.0 IDE interface: NVIDIA Corporation CK804 Serial ATA Controller (rev f3)
00:08.0 IDE interface: NVIDIA Corporation CK804 Serial ATA Controller (rev f3)
00:09.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation CK804 PCI Bridge (rev a2)
00:0a.0 Bridge: NVIDIA Corporation CK804 Ethernet Controller (rev a3)
00:0b.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
00:0c.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
00:0d.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
00:0e.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
01:0a.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB82AA2 IEEE-1394b Link Layer Controller (rev 01)
05:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation G73 [GeForce 7600 GT] (rev a1)

I've run Memtest86+ for hours with no errors. Changed graphics card (same make and model card) out of a properly working Linux box still have panics.

One thing I did notice is the under PCC it shows NVIDIA GeForce 6100 to 7950 driver installed but in xorg.conf it shows the nouveau driver installed. 

Please help, I want my PCLinuxOS !!! 

Thanks

[TerryN]

One thing I did notice is the under PCC it shows NVIDIA GeForce 6100 to 7950 driver installed but in xorg.conf it shows the nouveau driver installed. 

When you go into PCC and select "NVIDIA GeForce 6100 to 7950" you should be asked if you want to use the proprietary (NVIDIA) drivers.  If you answer "yes" the system will be configured with the proprietary nvidia304 driver.  If you answer "no" it will be configured with the nouveau driver.

It would be worth trying to use the proprietary nvidia304 to see if it solves this problem.

Terry.

[lfever]

Hi TerryN

I tried doing as you suggested. However I am given no option to select a proprietary driver. If I select one of the other Nvidia drivers listed I am given such an option. Does this mean something that should be installed is not?

Thanks

[TerryN]

I tried doing as you suggested. However I am given no option to select a proprietary driver. If I select one of the other Nvidia drivers listed I am given such an option. Does this mean something that should be installed is not?

That would suggest that the nvidia304 packages are not installed.
Check for:
dkms-nvidia304
x11-driver-video-nvidia304

Terry.

[lfever]

That would suggest that the nvidia304 packages are not installed.
Check for:
dkms-nvidia304
x11-driver-video-nvidia304

I can't find those packages in synaptic.

Would this driver be in these packages? :
dkms-nvidia96xx
x11-driver-video-nvidia96xx

Thanks
lfever

[zorlac]

Never mind, just noticed it's a laptop.   

[lfever]

If video drivers do nothing it sounds like it could possibly be power supply related.

I thought of that but Windoze has never given me any problems 

[DeBaas]

Possible solutions:
BIOS ram settings from extreme to turbo or normal (probs on that mobo gone).
or
Install the older kernel-2.6.38.8-pclos1 (lappy plays nice again).
or
Install the new kernel-3.4.25-pclos1 from testing (just a thought).
or
Start up from the LiveCD and do a filecheck/repair (fsck) on your HDD's.

[7272andy]

Further to the above, what is the temperature of the machine like?
Is there any chance you're simply over heating?

[lfever]

Further to the above, what is the temperature of the machine like?
Is there any chance you're simply over heating?

Machine is dust free all fans running up to speed, cpu temp is 67C

[sling-shot]

That would suggest that the nvidia304 packages are not installed.
Check for:
dkms-nvidia304
x11-driver-video-nvidia304

I can't find those packages in synaptic.

Would this driver be in these packages? :
dkms-nvidia96xx
x11-driver-video-nvidia96xx

Thanks
lfever

TerryN is the one who packages these drivers and if he says it is there, it should be there unless there is some other problem in your system.

How did you look for those packages in Synaptic? Just now I did a search on my 64 bit Synaptic for "nvidia304" and both of them show up.

Have you done a Reload before searching? Please do a Reload and then search. If it still is missing probably you may need to look at your repository/mirror list.

Considering your situation, I suppose you should clear this first before looking any further.

[7272andy]

looks like top end normal for that machine, probably not the issue.

[7272andy]

The nvidia304 packages are still in testing, I can't see them in the other sections

[lfever]

TerryN is the one who packages these drivers and if he says it is there, it should be there unless there is some other problem in your system.

How did you look for those packages in Synaptic? Just now I did a search on my 64 bit Synaptic for "nvidia304" and both of them show up.

I opened Synaptic clicked on search entered package name.

[sling-shot]

Which repository/mirror are you using?

Open Synaptic > Settings > Repositories. Look under the Enabled column. Try the http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/pclinuxos/pclinuxos/apt/ mirror by putting a selection mark in front of it and removing any other selections.
Do a full Reload and search again. I have got that driver installed on my laptop here.