kernel panic when booting live gnome or dvd install

lgoster · July 4, 2011, 2:08pm

Dear everybody,

I’ve currently have opensuse 11.3 installed on my system and I would like to do
a new fresh install of opensuse 11.4. I therefore downloaded the DVD 11.4 x64
install. However, when booting the kernel from the DVD (that leads to the installation
procedure) I obtain the following error message “unable to handle kernel paging request”. The
system then stops and I need to perform a hard reset to restart again.

The same happens if I try do boot from the live gnome CD. Thus, I’m unable to
install opensuse 11.4 at all due to this problem.

A possible solution would be to perform a hot update (i.e. changing repositories in
my 11.3 and perform a zypper refresh and zypper dup). But I’m a bit scared of
doing this since this will install the problematic kernel.

Any proposal on how to circumvent this problem ? Is there any updated version
of the live CD ?

I’ve been able to install opensuse 11.4 x64 without problems at home. Now I’m
trying to install it at work. The current kernel (at work) is:

$ uname -a
Linux baldufa 2.6.34.8-0.2-desktop #1 SMP PREEMPT 2011-04-06 18:11:26 +0200 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

This is the outout of lspci

$ sudo /sbin/lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 12)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor PCI Express x16 Root Port (rev 12)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 06)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio (rev 06)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 06)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev 06)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev 06)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev 06)
00:1c.6 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 7 (rev 06)
00:1c.7 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 8 (rev 06)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 06)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev a6)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series Chipset LPC Interface Controller (rev 06)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset 4 port SATA IDE Controller (rev 06)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset SMBus Controller (rev 06)
00:1f.5 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset 2 port SATA IDE Controller (rev 06)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GT215 [GeForce GT 240] (rev a2)
01:00.1 Audio device: nVidia Corporation High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 03)
03:00.0 SATA controller: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB361 AHCI/IDE (rev 02)
03:00.1 IDE interface: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB361 AHCI/IDE (rev 02)
04:00.0 USB Controller: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 03)
05:00.0 SATA controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88SE9123 PCIe SATA 6.0 Gb/s controller (rev 10)
05:00.1 IDE interface: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88SE9123 PCIe SATA 6.0 Gb/s controller (rev 10)

Thanks,

Luis

caf4926 · July 4, 2011, 2:24pm

Have you been able to do this:
http://www.su2root.ukfsn.org/files/11.4_DVD_Install/1_mediacheck.jpg
Or can’t you get that far?

Have you tried the Live CD as an option?
Or tried the options here:
http://www.su2root.ukfsn.org/files/11.4_DVD_Install/4.F5_for_kernel_options.jpg

lgoster · July 4, 2011, 2:54pm

Hi,

I can’t get farther than the screenshots you show me.

I’ve checked that the md5sum of the ISO file coincides with the one published
in the web.
I’ve tried to boot the DVD install with “No ACPI”. Just after loading the kernel,
it stops with “kernel panic - not syncing: attempted to kill init”
I’ve tried to check the installation media. However, this loads the kernel and
the kernel performs a kernel panic as before.
I’ve also tried to use the live GNOME cd, but I have the same problem.
For the DVD, I’ve tried from both DVD support and USB support (by
using the isohybrid command for the latter).

Is there a way to get the output of “dmesg” so that I can post it here ?

Best,

Luis

caf4926 · July 4, 2011, 4:35pm

If 11.3 is working well for you - it might be best sticking with that?

vodoo · July 4, 2011, 4:52pm

I’ve tried to check the installation media. However, this loads the kernel and the kernel performs a kernel panic as before.

You can check the installation media from 11.3 without actually booting the DVD. Do

#!/bin/bash
# Media check for openSUSE-11.4-DVD-i586.iso DVD
BSIZE=2048
SSIZE=4541382656 # Size of ISO file as given by ls -l
BLOCKS=$(($SSIZE / $BSIZE))
dd if=/dev/sr0 bs=$BSIZE count=$BLOCKS conv=notrunc,noerror 2>/dev/null \
   | md5sum - | sed -e "s/ .*//"
echo "5f6d6d67c3e256b2513311f4ed650515  <== original ISO file MD5 sum"
exit 0

Please note: The above is for the i586 ISO file. You will have to change at least two things (marked in blue) in this bash script:

Adapt the value for SSIZE. It must match the byte count of your x86_64 ISO.
Put in the correct MD5 sum for your x86_64 ISO for comparison.

Eventually your DVD is not /dev/sr0. Change that as well.

lgoster · July 4, 2011, 4:52pm

Sure, at the moment I will stick with 11.3. However, 11.4 at home works much smoother (e.g. inkscape). And I
usually use unison (i.e. file synchronizer) to synchronize my data between my data at work and at home. The
main “problem” I currently have is to synchronize my evolution data. The version of 11.3 and 11.4 use different folders
to store mail data and other. So, I currently cannot use evolution at work in order to avoid mess mail up.

Is there any web where I may find an explanation on how to change the kernel for the live cd ? Is this too hard to do ?
Thus I would do something like copying the kernel (from computer at home) directly to the ISO file and try…

Thanks for your help. I’ll tell you my progress (if any).

Luis

rcraioveanu · July 4, 2011, 8:32pm

Hi everyone,

I was going to post my own thread about this, but given that I saw this on the front page of the forums I will tack it on here.

I’m also having this weird issue where the kernel panics when I try to load the livecd. Image here!
I tried first in a virtual machine (hence the screenshot), but it has the same behaviour when I boot the actual machine from the disc. The livecd does load when I select Safe Settings for the kernel, and I was even able to install the OS to the virtual machine – however the OS itself panics in the same way. If I start it in Failsafe mode, it does eventually bring me to a terminal login, and I can log in, but startx fails for some reason (maybe I’m doing it wrong).

I’ve also tried the LXDE livecd, and while I don’t get the kernel panic message there, it just seems to hang when I try to load it. Using safe settings makes it work once again.

Anyone have any ideas how I could go about diagnosing this?

Thanks in advance.

DenverD · July 4, 2011, 8:53pm

On 07/04/2011 08:36 PM, rcraioveanu wrote:
>
> Anyone have any ideas how I could go about diagnosing this?

i start the work by posting your own thread…
and be sure and tell about your hardware…and, what operating system
you are trying to install…and, which iso you downloaded to do
that…and, if you md5sum checked it prior to burning your install disk
as slow as possible…and, if you did this http://tinyurl.com/2ebcf27,
and since you have a kernel panic, and since bad RAM is an often the
cause of a kernel panic tell us you also ran the “Memory Test” (bottom
of that same image) for at least 12 hours…

any faults in either of those test, let us know…no faults then explain
the details of the symptoms of your problem…

–
DD
-Caveat-Hardware-Software-

lgoster · July 5, 2011, 10:17am

Hi everybody,

I tried yesterday the burned DVD at home (rather than at work where I do have
the problems) and I did not have any problems to begin the installation procedure.
Thus I assume that the DVD is correct.

I currently have OpenSuse 11.3 installed on my computer at work, so I assume also
that the problems I have are not due to a memory problem since OpenSuse 11.3
works correctly. In any case, I will run the memory test to check.

Best,

Luis

vodoo · July 5, 2011, 10:26am

Thus I assume that the DVD is correct.

My flight instructor used to tell me: never ass u me

Run the media check (see post #5) to be absolutely sure that the DVD is ok.

djh-novell · July 5, 2011, 11:23am

lgoster wrote:
> I tried yesterday the burned DVD at home (rather than at work where I
> do have
> the problems) and I did not have any problems to begin the installation
> procedure.
> Thus I assume that the DVD is correct.
>
> I currently have OpenSuse 11.3 installed on my computer at work, so I
> assume also
> that the problems I have are not due to a memory problem since
> OpenSuse 11.3
> works correctly. In any case, I will run the memory test to check.

It seems likely to me to be some hardware specific quirk (either
hardware design or fault). memtest is definitely worth running; it can
expose problems even though other code works.

You gave an lspci in your first post. It may also be helpful to post an
‘English’ description of your hardware that casual readers may find
easier to understand.

Have you googled with your hardware details for similar problems? (cpu,
chipset, nic details especially)

You might also try booting knoppix, since it probably has about the most
recent kernel and good hardware detection. If that works, then it’s even
more likely your problem is some hardware support issue in the
intervening kernels.

lgoster · July 8, 2011, 9:58am

Hi everybody,

Just a few lines to comment on my progress:

The memory test has been performed for more than 66 hours. No problem has been found.
I’ve checked the DVD media (by computing the md5sum) and the number the script outputs coincides with the one at the web page.
I’ve tested OpenSuse 12.1 Milestone 2 and I have no problems to boot.
I do not have any problems to boot with OpenSuse 11.3.
Here’s my hardware configuration:

x64 based architecture
Intel Core i5 650 @ 3.20 GHZ
2 Gb RAM
Nvidia GT 240
RTL8111/8168B Ethernet

all these devices work without problems in OpenSuse 11.3.

Currently I will keep with OpenSuse 11.3.

Best,

Luis

DenverD · July 8, 2011, 10:28am

On 07/08/2011 10:06 AM, lgoster wrote:
>
> - I’ve tested OpenSuse 12.1 Milestone 2 and I have no problems to
> boot.
> Currently I will keep with OpenSuse 11.3.

use what works (11.3) and hope 12.1 continues to work as it progresses
through the milestones…

what else is there to do? (i can’t see why 11.4 is not working for you!)

–
DD
-Caveat-Hardware-Software-

lgoster · July 8, 2011, 3:49pm

Hi everybody again,

I’ve found this webpage

https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=693382

Indeed I get

BUG: unable to handle kernel paging request at ffffc90000349118

and just a few lines afterwards the

Oops: 0000 #1] PREEMPT SMP

This is what I obtain when I boot from the DVD or USB installation disc.

The problem seems to be solved and therefore I would like to perform the next
experiment: since OpenSuse 11.4 is working fine at home, I would like to create
an installation disc at home using the Kiwi package. Do you know which kiwi template
should I use to obtain an installation disc ? Any advices ?

Thanks,

Luis

lgoster · July 21, 2011, 8:16am

Dear everybody,

I explain here my advances in the problem I have trying to install OpenSuse 11.4.
Just a short summary of the previous posts: I currently have installed OpenSuse 11.4
at home but I’m not able to boot the live CD at the PC at work. I would like to
install OpenSuse 11.4 since I synchronize data from one PC to the other. And it seems
that some applications (e.g. evolution) have changed the folder where they store
the data.

I’ve performed a memory test and it has ran without problems for more than 68 hours.
I’ve performed an md5sum check on the CD and it is correct.
I’ve managed to create an installation ISO at home using the newest kernel,
2.6.37.6-0.5-desktop. The ISO boots correctly at home (md5sum check is correct),
but I have the same problem when booting at work (see attached URL with screenshot).
For information on how I created the ISO please see end of this post.

https://picasaweb.google.com/115094802901186472389/ScreenshotPCAtWork?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKqoocPst93CYg&feat=directlink

Here are the data of my machine (more detailed than in the previous posts):

Motherboard Asus P7P55D-E LX
CPU Intel(R) Core™ i5 CPU 650 @ 3.20GHz
Memory 2 GB
nVidia GeForce GT 240
Realtek RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller

I tried to search around to see if anyone had the same problem than me, but I did
not find anything that may solve the problem.

Does anyone have the same problem than me ? Has anyone been able to solve it ?

Best,

Luis

Information on how I created the installation ISO.

1 - You need to install the KIWI package. These are the packages
I have installed:

kiwi-desc-usbboot-4.80-1.2.1.noarch
kiwi-desc-vmxboot-4.80-1.2.1.noarch
kiwi-desc-isoboot-4.80-1.2.1.noarch
kiwi-config-openSUSE-11.4-6.6.3.x86_64
kiwi-tools-4.80-1.2.1.x86_64
kiwi-desc-oemboot-4.80-1.2.1.noarch
kiwi-4.80-1.2.1.x86_64
kiwi-doc-4.80-1.2.1.noarch
kiwi-templates-4.80-1.2.1.noarch

2 - Execute

$ mkdir /tmp/template
$ cp -r /usr/share/doc/packages/kiwi/examples/suse-11.4/suse-live-iso /tmp/mytemplate/

3 - Edit config.xml inside /tmp/template and perform the next modifications.
In the “preferences” section,

&lt;type image="iso" primary="true" boot="isoboot/suse-11.4" hybrid="true" flags="clic" bootkernel="desktop"/&gt;

In the packages section,

&lt;packages type="image" patternType="plusRecommended"&gt;
	&lt;package name="bootsplash-branding-openSUSE" bootinclude="true" bootdelete="true"/&gt;
	&lt;package name="gfxboot-branding-openSUSE" bootinclude="true" bootdelete="true"/&gt;
	&lt;package name="kernel-desktop"/&gt;   ### modified
	&lt;package name="ifplugd"/&gt;
	&lt;package name="vim"/&gt;
            &lt;package name="yast2-live-installer"/&gt;  ### added
	&lt;opensusePattern name="default"/&gt;
	&lt;opensusePattern name="gnome"/&gt;     ### modified
&lt;/packages&gt;

4 - Create the ISO as follows

$ kiwi --prepare /tmp/template/suse-live-iso --root /tmp/myiso
$ kiwi --create /tmp/myiso --type iso -d /tmp/myiso-result

5 - Inside the folder /tmp/myiso-result you’ll find an ISO that can written on an USB memory.

6 - Reboot with the USB memory

lgoster · July 21, 2011, 11:21am

Hi,

Regarding the instructions for creating the ISO, I forgot to include this in step 3 (modifications
of config.xml):

<repository type=“yast2”>
<source path=“opensuse://11.4/repo/oss/”/>
</repository>
<repository type=“rpm-md”> ### added
<source path=“http://download.opensuse.org/update/11.4/”/> ### added
</repository> #### added

This ensures that the “update” repository is included and thus the latest kernel is
installed in the ISO.

Best,

Luis

robin_listas · July 21, 2011, 12:50pm

On 2011-07-08 16:06, lgoster wrote:

> should I use to obtain an installation disc ? Any advices ?

IMO, I would instead try a zypper dup upgrade. If the update repo is
active, you will get the updated kernel, not the original. And, just in
case, I would also create a full backup, perhaps a dd image. If things go
bad, you can reconstruct your 11.3 system instantly.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)

lgoster · July 21, 2011, 2:27pm

Thanks,

As already pointed out in post #15, I’ve managed to build an installation disc using
the latest kernel, 2.6.37.6-0.5-desktop. And it panics when booting from it.

Best,

Luis

robin_listas · July 21, 2011, 10:33pm

On 2011-07-21 19:10, lgoster wrote:
>
> Thanks,
>
> As already pointed out in post #15, I’ve managed to build an
> installation disc using
> the latest kernel, 2.6.37.6-0.5-desktop. And it panics when booting
> from it.

That’s unfortunate.

Then you have to make sure that the next version (current factory) works on
your machine. Test it, and if it fails, report in bugzilla.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)