[pkg-nvidia-devel] Bug#443674: same problem here

[Craig Sanders]

another data point re: nvidia 100.14.11 and 100.14.19 drivers


i'm not sure if this is an nvidia-glx bug, an nvidia-kernel-* bug, or a
kernel bug. it certainly shouldn't be classed as a browser bug because
applications shouldn't be able to lock the system solid.

my very strong suspicion is that it's actually the nvidia-kernel-*
driver which is at fault. see below for why.

i also had the same problem with version 100.14.11

like Hans, my entire system locks up after moderate use of the web
browser (either mozilla or iceweasel - haven't tried others). scrolling
a page back and forth, for example, will trigger it very quickly.



here's why i think it's the kernel driver:

i have been running kernel 2.6.20.14 with nvidia-kernel 100.14.09 for 2+
months without problems, without rebooting.

about a week ago, i had a power failure and took the opportunity to
reboot into a new 2.6.22.6 kernel. i compiled nvidia-kernel 100.14.11 to
go with it, and upgraded nvidia-glx at the same time.

the machine locked solid while using iceweasel within an hour of
booting. rebooted again. it locked again while using iceweasel, also in
less than an hour.

i rebooted again and selected the old kernel (2.6.20.14) from the
grub menu. the machine ran fine until today (when a hard disk problem
required me to reboot).

thinking the problem might have been with the 2.6.22.x kernel, i tried
compiling 2.6.20.20 and nvidia-kernel driver 100.14.19, and again
upgraded nvidia-glx to suit. again, the machine locked while using a
browser (iceape, this time).

i rebooted back to 2.6.20.14 and the machine has been running fine
since...nearly 5 hours now.

note: reverting to the old nvidia-kernel driver (100.14.09) while
keeping the newer nvidia-glx package causes warnings about mismatched
version to appear in /var/log/kern.log but everything works fine. that
was how i ran it for the last week until today, and it's how i've been
running it for the last 5 hours.

Oct  3 18:48:42 ganesh kernel: [  200.629000] NVRM: API mismatch: the client has the version 100.14.19, but
Oct  3 18:48:42 ganesh kernel: [  200.629000] NVRM: this kernel module has the version 100.14.09.  Please
Oct  3 18:48:42 ganesh kernel: [  200.629000] NVRM: make sure that this kernel module and all NVIDIA driver
Oct  3 18:48:42 ganesh kernel: [  200.629000] NVRM: components have the same version.



fortunately, the latest nvidia-glx package's dependancy on the matching
nvidia-kernel package version only requires that nvidia-kernel-* package
to be installed - it doesn't force you to use that nvidia.ko kernel
module.


so, Hans, there's another workaround for you. use an older kernel and
the 100.14.09 nvidia-kernel driver, with the new nvidia-glx package.
works fine.




note: in all cases, i used stock linux kernel source from kernel.org and
NOT the debianised kernel sources. i don't and won't use them.

craig

ps: my video hardware is also a 7300GS, and my system is an athlon64 am2
X2 (amd64 CPU but running 32-bit i386 debian as this machine has been
upgraded for years and there isn't an upgrade path to 64-bit debian)
with 4GB RAM.


# lspci -v -s 02:00.0
02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce 7300 GS (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA])
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Unknown device 81f3
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
	Memory at fa000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
	Memory at e0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
	Memory at fb000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
	[virtual] Expansion ROM at fcfe0000 [disabled] [size=128K]
	Capabilities: [60] Power Management version 2
	Capabilities: [68] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable-
	Capabilities: [78] Express Endpoint IRQ 0
	Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel
	Capabilities: [128] Power Budgeting

# uname -a
Linux ganesh.taz.net.au 2.6.20.14 #1 SMP PREEMPT Sun Jul 1 10:09:39 EST 2007 i686 GNU/Linux

# cat /proc/version 
Linux version 2.6.20.14 (root at ganesh.taz.net.au) (gcc version 4.1.3 20070601 (prerelease) (Debian 4.1.2-12)) #1 SMP PREEMPT Sun Jul 1 10:09:39 EST 2007


-- 
craig sanders <cas at taz.net.au>

BOFH excuse #177:

sticktion