Issues with 2.6.33.X.bfs kernel - system hangs...

[humdinger70]

I'm not sure what is actually causing the problem, but I'm having issues with the latest kernel (2.6.33.2 with BFS scheduler).

I downloaded it and booted the system using the newest kernel (2.6.33.2) that had the BFS extensions. Twice now, after a while, the system has just hung, can't run anything and the clock is frozen. The only thing I can do is to force quit the VM and restart it. Can't do a guest shutdown, no messages.

Since this has happened, I've gone back to the default kernel that came with PCLinuxOS 2010 (2.6.32.11 with BFS scheduler). I don't have any issues with it hanging on me.

What should I be looking for in the logs? And which log - PCLinuxOS one or VirtualBox one? Also, with the kernel upgrade, should I have rerun the Guest Additions?

Host - late 2009 iMac Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 500 GB hard drive, Mac OS X 10.6.3, VirtualBox 3.1.6.
Guest - PCLinuxOS 2010 KDE, 2 CPUs allocated, 1.5 GB RAM, 40 GB drive space, 64 MB video, 3D acceleration enabled, APIC on, VT-x enabled.

[Old-Polack]

I'm not sure what is actually causing the problem, but I'm having issues with the latest kernel (2.6.33.2 with BFS scheduler).

I downloaded it and booted the system using the newest kernel (2.6.33.2) that had the BFS extensions. Twice now, after a while, the system has just hung, can't run anything and the clock is frozen. The only thing I can do is to force quit the VM and restart it. Can't do a guest shutdown, no messages.

Since this has happened, I've gone back to the default kernel that came with PCLinuxOS 2010 (2.6.32.11 with BFS scheduler). I don't have any issues with it hanging on me.

What should I be looking for in the logs? And which log - PCLinuxOS one or VirtualBox one? Also, with the kernel upgrade, should I have rerun the Guest Additions?

Host - late 2009 iMac Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 500 GB hard drive, Mac OS X 10.6.3, VirtualBox 3.1.6.
Guest - PCLinuxOS 2010 KDE, 2 CPUs allocated, 1.5 GB RAM, 40 GB drive space, 64 MB video, 3D acceleration enabled, APIC on, VT-x enabled.

To answer the question in blue above, yes. The biggest question is why you are trying to run the .33. kernel at all? If there are no problems with the installed kernel, what's the point?

[exploder]

I agree with old-polack. If there are no issues with the 2.6.32 kernel, why mess with it? If all of your hardware is working there is nothing to gain by running the 2.6.33 kernel.

[humdinger70]

I agree with old-polack. If there are no issues with the 2.6.32 kernel, why mess with it? If all of your hardware is working there is nothing to gain by running the 2.6.33 kernel.

I wanted to see what a later kernel would do for me. Obviously, I missed something with my NOT rerunning the Guest Additions. When you have a dedicated box to run Linux, that isn't something you normally think about, but my inexperience with the VM environment really bit me.

Moral: do a kernel upgrade, rerun Guest Additions.

[humdinger70]

I have since removed the 2.6.33.2-bfs kernel from my system (and updated the boot system in PCC to match).

[humdinger70]

Just to experiment, I've now installed the latest 2.6.33 kernel (2.6.33.4.bfs) and done all the appropriate housekeeping. Wish me luck.

[humdinger70]

Just to experiment, I've now installed the latest 2.6.33 kernel (2.6.33.4.bfs) and done all the appropriate housekeeping. Wish me luck.

Looks like I can't run 2.6.33 series. Always seems to hang, even if I go away and just let it sit there for a couple of hours. FYI, upgrading VirtualBox to the latest version (3.2.0) made things worse.

So it's back to what works - kernel 2.6.32.12.bfs and VBox 3.1.8.

If I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all. I thought it was at least, worth trying (no damage done - after all, it's a virtual machine.