Description of problem: Receive MP-BIOS bug: 8254 timer not connected to IO-APIC Not syncing: IO-APIC + timer does not work Then system hangs with Panic Motherboard is a Gigabyte: GA-M59SLI-S5 running latest BIOS Version F7 Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): Running FC7 - Test 3 How reproducible: Boot from install DVD Steps to Reproduce: 1. Boot from installation DVD Actual results: Receive above message, followed by kernel panic Expected results: Normal boot Additional info: Am able to boot using NOAPIC option
Fedora 7 test bugs should be filed against "devel", not against test1/2/3. This isn't obvious, I know. Moving this report so it isn't lost. This is a bulk message -- I apologize if this was actually meant to be targeted against a different release. If so, please fix or let me know. Thanks.
This sounds similar to 175784, which has been reported in RHRel4 and Fedora 5. The boot args mentioned there may be worth a try.
Thanks. I tried the boot args, the only one which works is "noapic".
Changing to F7.
I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't quite understand how to try the noapic bootarg workaround. Do you have time to explain what you did? Thanks.
Found a reference to option "pci=noacpi" tried and it appears to work much better than using the "noapic" option. The "noapic" option was causing problems with my soundcard and tvtuner card. I've only been running this way for six hours but so far so good. Your mileage may vary. It appears the problem with the motherboard is related to "acpi" and NOT "apic". To make the change either go into root mode or use sudo, then edit /boot/grub/grub.conf go to the line which begins with "kernel", and add "pci=noacpi" (without quotes). My entries now appear as follows: title Fedora (2.6.21-1.3228.fc7) root (hd0,0) kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.21-1.3228.fc7 ro root=LABEL=/ pci=noacpi rhgb quiet initrd /initrd-2.6.21-1.3228.fc7.img title Fedora (2.6.21-1.3194.fc7) root (hd0,0) kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.21-1.3194.fc7 ro root=LABEL=/ pci=noacpi rhgb quiet initrd /initrd-2.6.21-1.3194.fc7.img
I've have the same bug, 8254 timer not connected to IO-APIC, Kernel panic - not syncing. I'm completely new to Linux, so if someone could spell out to me what exactly is going on with this I would really appreciate it. I'm running an ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe, nVidia nForce 4 chipset, AMD64, 1 GB RAM, nVidia 6800. I'm going to try making the change that Gerald Cox suggested in the bottom post; I'll see how it goes. Even if this works, I'd still like to know if any has a good idea as to why this happened.
I made the change above by adding "pci=noacpi" and now I get all kinds of other errors. Booting the kernel. powernow-k8: MP systems not supported by PSB BIOS structure powernow-k8: MP systems not supported by PSB BIOS structure Red Hat nash version 6.0.9 starting ohci_hcd 0000:00:02.0: Found HC with no IRQ. Check BIOS/PCI 0000:00:02.0 setup! ohci_hcd 0000:00:02.0: init 0000:00:02.0 fail, -19 ehci_hcd 0000:00:02.1: Found HC with no IRQ. Check BIOS/PCI 0000:00:02.1 setup! ehci_hcd 0000:00:02.1: init 0000:00:02.1 fail, -19 ata2.00: failed to set xfermode (err_mask=0x40) ata2.00: failed to set xfermode (err_mask=0x40) ata2.00: failed to set xfermode (err_mask=0x40) sata_nv 0000:00:08.0: irq 27 request failed: -38 Reading all physical volumes. This may take a while... No volume groups found Volume group "VolGroup00" not found Unable to access resume device (/dev/VolGroup00/LogVol01) mount: could not find filesystem '/dev/root' setuproot: moving /dev failed: No such file or directory setuproot: error mounting /proc: No such file or directory setuproot: error mounting /sys: No such file or directory switchroot: mount failed: No such file or directory Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init! I'm wicked new at all this, but it looks to me like (1) it doens't like my hardware for some reason (it doesn't like my BIOS settings?) and (2) it is not finding my hard drive after (or while) it loads the kernel. Any suggestions?
Unfortuately this bug report is specific to the GA-M59SLI-S5 which has the NVIDIA NFORCE 590 SLI chipset. Also, these types of issues can be BIOS specific. I am kind of surprised your having so many problems since my thought was the NFORCE 4 was fairly stable with Linux. You've probably already done this, but be sure to verify that you are running the latest recommended version of the BIOS obtained from the Vendors website. If you've done that, try booting using the NOAPIC option. If that doesn't work, I would create a bug report specific to your motherboard and BIOS level.
Thanks. I have updated the BIOS; I'll give the NOAPIC option a try and see if that works. Another strange thing is that I was runninng Ubuntu linux 6.x LTS the other day and had no problems with it. I just tried to install Ubuntu 7.04 on my other hard drive and recieved the same "timer not connected to IO-APIC" error. Anyways, I'll try that NOAPIC option and if that doesn't work, I'll submit a bug report. Thanks for the help.
The noapic option worked. Thank you. What have I disabled? Will it decrease functionality? Should I still list this as a new bug with my hardware?
There are some other kernel options for the timer setup: acpi_skip_timer_override acpi_use_timer_override enable_timer_pin_1 disable_timer_pin_1
I also use the noapic option to get my Gigabyte AM2 board working. What does noapic do? Will this cause other problems?
Hello Jack, I'm reviewing this bug as part of the kernel bug triage project. http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/KernelBugTriage (In reply to comment #11) > The noapic option worked. Thank you. What have I disabled? You have disabled an controller which routes interrupts in a potentially more efficient manner. Some implementations are defective and currently yours does not seem to be working. > Will it decrease functionality? Yes but keep trying with successive kernels and fixes often find their way in. Sometimes however it is simply a case of bad hardware. Do not be concerned - the decrease is negligible IMO. > Should I still list this as a new bug with my hardware? Yes, although I am unsure where the best place is to put this. Probably to leave this bug open until you can boot without the noapic switch. Cheers Chris
This seems to be a well known problem which affects AM2 based motherboards. Here is a link to an article which describes: http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/1000074 As mentioned above, when I used the: "noapic" parameter, I was able to boot, however that parameter caused all sorts of collateral issues (I put them bugzilla, do a search on GA-M59SLI-S5 to find). I found that for the GA-M59SLI-S5 at the F7 BIOS Level, the "pci=noacpi" works much better and for me, the best workaround. Since this problem is occurring with different motherboard manufacturers, I would suspect it to be something related to the kernel and AM2/NVIDIA rather than a particular implementation being the cause.
(In reply to comment #15) > This seems to be a well known problem which affects AM2 based motherboards. > Here is a link to an article which describes: > > http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/1000074 > > As mentioned above, when I used the: "noapic" parameter, I was able to boot, > however that parameter caused all sorts of collateral issues (I put them > bugzilla, do a search on GA-M59SLI-S5 to find). I found that for the > GA-M59SLI-S5 at the F7 BIOS Level, the "pci=noacpi" works much better and for > me, the best workaround. > > Since this problem is occurring with different motherboard manufacturers, I > would suspect it to be something related to the kernel and AM2/NVIDIA rather > than a particular implementation being the cause. Sometimes "nolapic" works better, too.
Thanks for that info... I tried the nolapic and found it also worked. I did some additional searches and found that "acpi_use_timer_override" also fixes the problem and apparently for this particular motherboard is the workaround of choice and the only option needed. Looks like the problem is because HPET (high precision event timer) support isn't correctly implemented in the BIOS. I also found where there is some work going on in to enable HPET support for motherboards with a broken bios: http://lkml.org/lkml/2007/4/20/374 Why so many different manufacturers have the same problem is curious - and looks like it might point back to NVIDIA. In the meantime, in addition to changing to the above option, I've opened a bug report with Gigabyte asking them to enable HPET support. Looks like they have already fixed on the GA-M57SLI-S4 BIOS.
Gigabyte has provided a test BIOS "m59slis5.f8g" which appears to have fixed the problem. They should be posting on their website; or you can request it directly from them via their website. I am now able to boot without using the "acpi_user_timer_override" parameter.
Okay, thanks for the info Gerald. I'm closing as it appears to be fixed for you but please re-open if you feel this still merits some attention. Cheers Chris
Gerald, I don't see this up on their website anywhere - can you give me a link to the page? The official page just shows F7. Is it still testing? Flashing the bios with a testing bios scares me a bit...
Jack, Yes, it is a test BIOS and according to Gigabyte, still in Beta. I could send to you but probably better that everyone who needs it send them a question through their website and request - that way it may speed them up a bit to get the final version posted. Just ask for it by name, they are fairly quick and you should receive the next business day. The motherboard has a backup BIOS, so before you flash just make sure the backup has the current version - that way, you should be fine. The BIOS comes with HPET enabled so you shouldn't need to make any BIOS configuration changes, just flash and go... ;-) I've been running for several days now, with no problem whatsoever... but remember, YMMV.
Gerald the Gigabyte page here: http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_Model.aspx?ProductID=2302 shows a new bios F8H - have you tried this yet? Does the fact that H comes after G in the alphabet mean this is a stable bios with the fix?
The F8H BIOS does not show up on the USA site, but I was curious, so gave it a try. IT DOES NOT WORK. You need to contact support and request the F8G BIOS. The HPET options will then show under POWER MANAGEMENT, after pressing CTRL + F1. HPET options are not available under the F8H BIOS.
Hey Gerald, I got the f8g bios from gigabyte. How do I flash my bios without a floppy drive??? I actually bought a cheap floppy drive, but can't get it to work for the life of me... Can I do this with a cdrom?? Sorry for the basic question.
Not to my knowledge. You either use the onboard flashing function which requires a floppy or you flash from within the Microsoft Windows OS using the Gigabyte utility. You might ask Gigabyte on their support page if they have any other suggestions.
Ok, I figured out how to flash from a thumb drive. It seems to be working. I got rid of the noapic option and it seems to be all good. Thanks for all your efforts!