[sf-lug] Pointers for how to track down source of system hang

[Tom Haddon]

On Thu, 2008-01-31 at 11:29 -0800, Mark K. Zanfardino wrote:
> I'm looking for pointers on how I can go about discovering what is
> causing my system to hang periodically.  Let me first define hang in
> these terms: the GUI freezes and is unresponsive to either a reload via
> ctrl-alt-backspace now does the system respond to the magic sysrq keys. 
> I typically attempt the "Raising Elephants Is So Utterly Boring"
> sequence without any results.  I inevitably have to resort to a hard-boot.

Mark, you seem to have done pretty extensive debugging. Have you filed a
bug on Launchpad?

https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+filebug

This is probably the best way to track it down. Although I'm biased, as
I administer Launchpad :)

Cheers, Tom

> 
> Let me start by laying out the system:
> Distro:
> Kubuntu Gutsy Gibon
> uname -a:
> Linux mycroft-lx 2.6.22-14-generic #1 SMP Tue Dec 18 08:02:57 UTC 2007
> i686 GNU/Linux
> lspci:
> 00:00.0 Host bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 Host Bridge (rev 10)
> 00:02.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 PCI-X Root Port
> 00:07.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 PCI Bridge
> 00:12.0 SATA controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 Non-Raid-5 SATA
> 00:13.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI0)
> 00:13.1 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI1)
> 00:13.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI2)
> 00:13.3 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI3)
> 00:13.4 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI4)
> 00:13.5 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB Controller (EHCI)
> 00:14.0 SMBus: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 SMBus Controller (rev 13)
> 00:14.1 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 IDE
> 00:14.2 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 Azalia
> 00:14.3 ISA bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 PCI to LPC Bridge
> 00:14.4 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge
> 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
> 02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation G70 [GeForce 7600
> GS] (rev a1)
> 3f:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5755
> Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express (rev 02)
> 
> NOTE: As you can see from the hardware, it's running on an ATI chipset
> with the exception of the video card which is a e-GeForce 7600 GS via
> the PCI-E bus and the NIC which is integrated.
> 
> Desktop:
> I use KDE (as it's kubuntu) with Compiz.
> 
>  - What I've checked already and what I've tested -
> I've looked at the following files after each hang:
> /var/log/syslog and syslog.0
> /var/log/message and message.0
> /var/log/kern.log and kern.log.0
> /var/log/dmesg and dmesg.0
> 
> I've tried to identify any anomaly (as far as I can ascertain) in these
> files around the time of the hang.  The only thing I've ever found that
> stands out is a reference to my audio driver (snd-hda-intel).  In an
> attempt to resolve whether or not it the audio driver causing the
> problem I've removed the file snd-hda-intel.ko from
> /lib/modules/2.6.22-14-generic/ubuntu/media/snd-hda-intel (I've kept a
> copy) and rebooted.
> 
> I've also disabled Compiz (which is actually the first thing I did) and
> run it without Compiz.
> 
> Bottom line: even with the sound driver removed and Compiz turned off
> the system still periodically hangs.
> 
> I'm not sure where else I ought to be looking and would like some
> suggestions for where I might turn next.
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> Mark
> 
> 
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