[SNIPPED]
>
> I would suggest that you try compiling that kernel again, on perhaps
> another machine. Check your hardware a bit. Also, could it possibly be
> that you have a MCA machine like the PS2/55sx? I don't have much
> experience with the 55sx (since Chris Beauguard says it should work fine
> with normal kernels), but I hear that MCA, if you don't compile with MCA
> kernel support, will crash the computer with irq0 stuck asserted (makes
> sense, in a true level-triggered interrupt system.)
I did compile on another machine. That's the only way I was able to
upgrade it.
The machine is not a Micro channel machine! What would MCA support do?
I'll try it, but I don't have a clue what it should do.
The machine ran fine for 3-4 years (daily). It was used for Internet
stuff by one of our executives. It was slow and had only 330 megabytes.
I tared his stuff to a tape, built an entirely new root-file system
with all the new tools, etc. I used his same Adaptec SCSI Controller
AHA1542, and Ethernet card. The only thing that has changed is the
operating system. The hardware worked for many years.
However, somewhere around Version 1.0++, it became necessary to share
interrupts. To do this, the kernel programmed the controller for
level, rather than edge triggering. This is my guess about what
"broke" the machine because the timer IRQ shows evidence of not being
handled after a few minutes of operation.
The Operating System, with the new disk and his Adaptec controller and
Ethernet card work fine on my Pentium, where I built the kernel. I
built it as a '386 with math emulation of course. I have done this
at least 10 times to upgrade other machines, but I never used a new
kernel on anything less than a '486 before.
The machine boots (takes forever), then lets me log in. I can even
ping it on the network. However, If I do anything using the file-system
the machine just stops.
If I don't do anything, just wait at the login prompt, the machine
will eventually stop working.
If I reduce interrupt activity, but disconnecting the network line,
the machine will "instantly" hang. It seems to need a lot of interrupt
activity to keep it alive.
Cheers,
DJ
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Richard B. Johnson
Analogic Corporation
Email : rjohnson@analogic.com, johnson@analogic.com
Penguin : Linux version 2.1.42 on an i586 machine (66.15 BogoMips).
Warning : It's hard to stay on the trailing edge of technology.
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