clock stops on test9
Hi,
I have upgraded a dual Itanium Workstation SDV from A3-stepping/BIOS 50 to B1-stepping/BIOS 60. After getting the upgraded box up and running stable (had to decrease the FSB speed or move memory as pointed out by Intel), I had some hard time trying to get linux up and run. RedHat developer distro 0825 did not install. When taking out one cpu I could get some further in the installation from the CD, but not finish it successfully.
To install a newer kernel, I had to swap the disk to my UP Itanium Workstation SDV A2-stepping/BIOS 50 which has been running stable, more or less, on the 0829 kernel update from RedHat. Then compile a new kernel
and swap disks again.
I am now running the test9 kernel on the dual B1-stepping Itanium and it seems to run stable, more or less. I have also installed modutils-2.3.17, which was pointed out on this list.
However, there are some problems with the system clock. The BIOS clock seems to run OK, but in linux the clock seems to stop after some random time. When using "date", time stands still after some random time! This gives me some trouble using other utilities e.g. ping and even shutdown. This shows only on the dual B1-stepping box and not the UP A2-stepping box. It can run OK for a few minutes or for some hours. Anyone got a clue?
Which configuration settings should I use regarding the A-stepping / A1-stepping / B-stepping / B1-stepping settings in menuconfig for my two Itanium boxes (see below)?
What about the settings if I change back to Dual A3-stepping / BIOS 50 ? (So far I have been looking at H.J.Lu's settings which was posted on Sep
08)
Workstation SDV #1:
- UP A2-stepping
- Bios 50
- 1GB memory
- QLA1280 scsi-adapter
- SCSI-disk
- LS-120 floppy drive
- IDE CD-ROM
- ATI Rage128 PCI graphics adapter
- linux-2.4.0-test9 UP configuration
Workstation SDV #2:
- Dual B1-stepping
- BIOS 60
- 1GB memory
- QLA1280 scsi-adapter
- SCSI-disk
- LS-120 floppy drive
- IDE CD-ROM
- ATI Rage128 PCI graphics adapter
- linux-2.4.0-test9 SMP configuration
BTW, when talking about BigSurs and Lions how can I tell them apart? It would be nice to know when something on this list applies to my Itanium boxes.
Thanks,
Einar
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| Einar Saltnes | Scali AS | | mailto:[email protected] | http://www.scali.com | | Phone:+47 22 62 89 50 | Scalable Linux Systems | | Fax :+47 22 62 89 51 | and Technology |
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Quoted 1 line · Einar Saltnes
Einar> However, there are some problems with the system clock. The Einar> BIOS clock seems to run OK, but in linux the clock seems to Einar> stop after some random time. When using "date", time stands Einar> still after some random time! This gives me some trouble Einar> using other utilities e.g. ping and even shutdown. This Einar> shows only on the dual B1-stepping box and not the UP Einar> A2-stepping box. It can run OK for a few minutes or for some Einar> hours. Anyone got a clue?
Doesn't sound familiar. It's very unlikely to be a hardware problem because the kernel's timer tick runs off the CPU cycle counter. Where did you get the test9 kernel from and what version of the toolchain was used to compile it?
Einar> Which configuration settings should I use regarding the Einar> A-stepping / A1-stepping / B-stepping / B1-stepping settings Einar> in menuconfig for my two Itanium boxes (see below)? What Einar> about the settings if I change back to Dual A3-stepping / Einar> BIOS 50 ? (So far I have been looking at H.J.Lu's settings Einar> which was posted on Sep 08)
For A2, turn on the A-step workarounds and nothing else. For B1, turn on the B-step workarounds and nothing else.
Einar> BTW, when talking about BigSurs and Lions how can I tell them Einar> apart? It would be nice to know when something on this list Einar> applies to my Itanium boxes.
That's real easy: if it's rackmounted, it's a Lion, if it's in a deskside case, it's a Big Sur.
--david
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Quoted 2 lines · Einar Saltnes
Einar> However, there are some problems with the system clock. The Einar> BIOS clock seems to run OK, but in linux the clock seems to Einar> stop after some random time. When using "date", time stands Einar> still after some random time! This gives me some trouble Einar> using other utilities e.g. ping and even shutdown. This Einar> shows only on the dual B1-stepping box and not the UP Einar> A2-stepping box. It can run OK for a few minutes or for some Einar> hours. Anyone got a clue?
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Doesn't sound familiar. It's very unlikely to be a hardware problem because the kernel's timer tick runs off the CPU cycle counter. Where did you get the test9 kernel from and what version of the toolchain was used to compile it?
Source tarball was downloaded from ftp.kernel.org. The ia64 patch was downloaded from the same site. Kernel was compiled in the RedHat Developers Distribution of 0825 environment with a test9 kernel. Toolchain version is
: eisa@scali9-12:eisa; rpm -qi gnupro
Name : gnupro Relocations: /usr
Version : 0501 Vendor: Red Hat, Inc.
Release : 2 Build Date: Thu 01 Jun 2000
12:45:11 AM MEST
Install date: Tue 17 Oct 2000 02:10:41 PM MEST Build Host:
boris.devel.redhat.com
Group : Development/Tools Source RPM:
gnupro-0501-2.src.rpm
: eisa@scali9-12:eisa; gcc -v
Reading specs from /usr/lib/gcc-lib/ia64-redhat-linux/2.9-ia64-000216-final/specs gcc version 2.9-ia64-000216-final
: eisa@scali9-12:eisa; rpm -qi glibc
Name : glibc Relocations: (not
relocateable)
Version : 2.1.3 Vendor: Red Hat, Inc.
Release : 0.0622.3 Build Date: Sat 19 Aug 2000
11:55:26 PM MEST
Install date: Tue 03 Oct 2000 05:51:18 PM MEST Build Host:
boris.devel.redhat.com
Group : System Environment/Libraries Source RPM:
glibc-ia64-2.1.3-0.0622.3.src.rpm
I see in my config file that I have enabled both the BSTEP_- and the B0STEP_SPECIFIC settings. As you point out only BSTEP_ should be enabled.
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OK, I have compiled a new kernel with only BSTEP_ enabled. Same story. Using "date" I observe that time stops approx 20 minutes after boot of the new kernel.
However, "cat /proc/efirtc" seems to show correct numbers. BTW, is this the output of the HWclock? Is this the same source as "date" gets its numbers from?
Thanks!
Einar
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| Einar Saltnes | Scali AS | | mailto:[email protected] | http://www.scali.com | | Phone:+47 22 62 89 50 | Scalable Linux Systems | | Fax :+47 22 62 89 51 | and Technology |
Quoted 9 lines · Christopher J
Einar,
Are you building your test9 kernel with A1-specific fixes enabled? A1-specific fixes deal with interrupt handling and have historically caused problems like the one you're seeing on non-A1 stepping Itaniums. Thanks,
Chris
Hi,
on my Dual B1-stepping Itanium I have now only enabled the BSTEP_SPECIFIC setting. But the clock will still stop after some time.
On my UP A2-stepping Itanium, however, I have enabled both the ASTEP_- and the A1_SPECIFIC setting. On this machine it doesn't seem to be a problem with the clock. Uptime today is four days.
As David M. pointed out, I will compile a new kernel enabling only the ASTEP_SPECIFIC setting for the A2-stepping BigSur as this will be the correct configuration for the actual processor.
I will also make some tests on a Dual A3-stepping BigSur with BIOS 60 which just came in my door...
Thanks!
Einar
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| Einar Saltnes | Scali AS | | mailto:[email protected] | http://www.scali.com | | Phone:+47 22 62 89 50 | Scalable Linux Systems | | Fax :+47 22 62 89 51 | and Technology |
Hi all,
From: Einar Saltnes <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Linux-ia64] clock stops on test9
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Einar> However, there are some problems with the system clock. The Einar> BIOS clock seems to run OK, but in linux the clock seems to Einar> stop after some random time. When using "date", time stands Einar> still after some random time! This gives me some trouble Einar> using other utilities e.g. ping and even shutdown. This Einar> shows only on the dual B1-stepping box and not the UP Einar> A2-stepping box. It can run OK for a few minutes or for some Einar> hours. Anyone got a clue?
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Doesn't sound familiar. It's very unlikely to be a hardware problem because the kernel's timer tick runs off the CPU cycle counter. Where did you get the test9 kernel from and what version of the toolchain was used to compile it?
We have seen the same problem as yours. We have upgraded our BigSur with an upgrade kit from Intel. It had originally only one processor, but we replaced it with two B0 processors.
While running 2.4.0-test9 kernel, we noticed that timer interrupt of CPU0 would stop at some time after boot.
Below is a /proc/stat of that problem.
luna:~% cat /proc/stat
cpu 932275 0 52697 18446744073709470016
cpu0 372675 0 23555 55456
cpu1 559600 0 29142 18446744073709414560
page 3907 771
swap 1 0
intr 1158056 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1363 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9299 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 642 1 2 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1067645 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 79080 0disk_io: (8,0):(1329,601,31038,728,6168)
ctxt 24320
btime 971772286
processes 541
Once timer interrupt stops, jiffies will not be incremented. That causes idle time to be negative.
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OK, I have compiled a new kernel with only
BSTEP_enabled. Same story. Using "date" I observe that time stops approx 20 minutes after boot of the new kernel.
However, "cat/proc/efirtc" seems to show correct numbers. BTW, is this the output of the HWclock? Is this the same source as "date" gets its numbers from?
"date" output is calculated from times of timer interrupt. If CPU0's timer interrupt stops, then counting jiffies (timer interrupt counter) will also stop. Then "date" indicates the same time.
We'are investigating why the timer interrupt stops.
---
Takayoshi Kouchi, NEC solutions
Hi again,
Quoted 9 lines · Takayoshi Kouchi
Hi all,
We have seen the same problem as yours. We have upgraded our BigSur with an upgrade kit from Intel. It had originally only one processor, but we replaced it with two B0 processors.
While running 2.4.0-test9 kernel, we noticed that timer interrupt of CPU0 would stop at some time after boot.
I can see that cpu0 is the one stopping after some time looking at /proc/stat. Very interesting!
And to David M.:
I am positive that I have remembered to do "make clean" and "make dep" before making new kernel. I have observed the same behaviour on three different kernels, built using only minor differences in the configuration.
Thank you!
Einar Saltnes
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| Einar Saltnes | Scali AS | | mailto:[email protected] | http://www.scali.com | | Phone:+47 22 62 89 50 | Scalable Linux Systems | | Fax :+47 22 62 89 51 | and Technology |