Bug 72854 – [2.4] usermode-sources 2.4.26 based UML crashes

• Product: Gentoo Linux
• Status: RESOLVED TEST-REQUEST

[Description Yassen Damyanov 2004-11-29 14:08:17 UTC]

A UML box with host kernel vanila 2.6.7, skas-3 patched, crashes unexpectedly during normal operation (even when the system is idle), in agreement with instability report found at http://umlazi.org/2004/06/16/stable-linux-kernels/

Reproducible: Always
Steps to Reproduce:
1. Emerge vanilla 2.6.7, patch it skas-3 and compile a host kernel
2. Emerge usermode-sources 2.4.26-r8 and build a linux executable
3. Let the system work for some time (two-three days)

Actual Results:  
The system crashes unexpectedly if left long enough (1-2 days typical life time)

Expected Results:  
The system should remain stable, even under heavy load.

The 2.4.24 UML sources have been reported stable at http://umlazi.
org/2004/06/16/stable-linux-kernels/
Unfortunately, they have been completely removed from the portage tree! I can 
guess the reason is to shrink down the size of the portage cache, but in this 
case I find the lack of the sources really painful. I suggest bringing 2.4.24 
usermode kernel back to portage as stable and marking 2.4.26 unstable.

[Comment 1 Tim Yamin (RETIRED) 2004-12-22 16:22:10 UTC]

Mind trying out usermode-sources-2.6.8.1?

[Comment 2 Yassen Damyanov 2004-12-22 23:51:58 UTC]

Thanks for the suggestion. I will consider it at a convenient moment.

Since my firts report (2004-11-29) I could find emerged source tree of the usermode-sources 2.4.24-uml1-r9 in an old partition image backup and used it to build the UML kernel for the same host/same kernel where the 2.4.26-uml1-r8 was unstable. The result: since then (more than a month now) no even one crash.

I would repeat my suggestion to anyway bring back the 2.4.24 series as the stable ebuld for the 2.4 usermode sources.

[Comment 3 Yassen Damyanov 2004-12-22 23:55:49 UTC]

Sorry, read "almost a month" instead of "more than a month" in my previous post ;-)

[Comment 4 Daniel Drake (RETIRED) 2005-04-30 04:27:09 UTC]

Any chance you could test the "new" UML tree?
http://www.user-mode-linux.org/~blaisorblade/patches/guest/uml-2.4.28-bs2-pre11/

Note the "2.4 guest patches" section here, looks like you'll need to patch 2.4.28 with the 2.4.27 uml patch before applying the -bs2-pre11 patch:
http://www.user-mode-linux.org/~blaisorblade/patchlist.html#2_4_bs_tree

If that solves it and doesn't cause crashes, we can add it to the portage tree.

[Comment 5 Yassen Damyanov 2005-04-30 04:42:31 UTC]

I'm not sure if I will be able to try this soon... but if I do, I wil surely post a feedback here. Thanks for caring!

[Comment 6 Daniel Drake (RETIRED) 2005-04-30 05:28:23 UTC]

Ok, no worries, I think most users use 2.6 now. Please reopen when you get time to test it.