Bug 59212 - kernel reports "Assertion failure" n unmap_underlying_metadata() at buffer.c: 1540
Summary: kernel reports "Assertion failure" n unmap_underlying_metadata() at buffer.c:...
Keywords:
Status: CLOSED NOTABUG
Alias: None
Product: Red Hat Linux
Classification: Retired
Component: kernel
Version: 7.2
Hardware: i386
OS: Linux
medium
medium
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Stephen Tweedie
QA Contact: Brian Brock
URL:
Whiteboard:
Depends On:
Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2002-02-02 15:58 UTC by Peter Rye
Modified: 2007-04-18 16:39 UTC (History)
0 users

Fixed In Version:
Doc Type: Bug Fix
Doc Text:
Clone Of:
Environment:
Last Closed: 2002-02-19 12:46:20 UTC
Embargoed:


Attachments (Terms of Use)

Description Peter Rye 2002-02-02 15:58:13 UTC
From Bugzilla Helper:
User-Agent: Mozilla/4.79 [en] (Windows NT 5.0; U)

Description of problem:
When compiling using gcc, kernel runing on my node "server" reports error:
server kernel: Assertion failure in unmap_underlying_metadata() at buffer.c: 1540: "!buffer_jlist_eq(old_bh, 3)".
The errors occurs at random times during th compilation sequence, and appears to occur in association with a cascade of file system faults

Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): 2.4.7-10


How reproducible:
Sometimes

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Run gcc using command like "cc -c -o myprog.o myprog.c". I expect that gcc is not the cause, just a suitable tool to trigger the fault in the kernel.
2. The above message is generated
3. The is also at times a cascade of log messages of form such as 
Feb 2 22:22:58 server kernel: EXT3-fs error (device ide(22,1)): ext3_free_blocks: bit already cleared for block 17844

	

Actual Results:  System hangs with message
(time) server kernel: kernel BUG at buffer.c:1540!
(time) server kernel: invalid operand: 0000
(time) server kernel: CPU: 0
(time) server kernel: EIP: 0010[unmap_underlying_metadata+180/244]
(time) server kernel: EIP: 0010[<c01322f78>]
(time) server kernel: EFLAGS: 00010282

... plus lots more of probably decreasing diagnostic value

Expected Results:  Nothing, I guess

Additional info:

I have tried a new copy of vmlinuz, run a full bad block check ("badblocks -nvs /dev/hda"), and a full run of fsck

Comment 1 Peter Rye 2002-02-03 03:05:10 UTC
I have today noticed a similar bug report at:

http://www.cygnus.co.uk/mailing-lists/ext3-users/msg00978.html

(A reply in corresponding URL http://www.cygnus.co.uk/mailing-lists/ext3-users/msg00981.html did not offer any resolution)


Comment 2 Arjan van de Ven 2002-02-03 10:09:39 UTC
First of all, upgrading to the errata 2.4.9-21 kernel is recommened; there are a
few ext3 corner cases fixed in that.
However you're the first to report THIS failure; do you have anything
not-so-common as your hardware ? Do you have any uncommon modules loaded ?

Comment 3 Peter Rye 2002-02-19 12:46:15 UTC
The problem has now been traced, to a failed fan on the processor chip. Presumably the errors were associated with instructions using the most 
temperature-sensitive pathways on the chip.

It's good to confirm that it takes a severe hardware failure to take out Linux.


Comment 4 Arjan van de Ven 2002-02-19 13:37:01 UTC
Sounds like "NOTABUG" to me.... closing. (well, NOTOURBUG anyway:)
thanks for following up.


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