Bug#404143: Fans unreliable under load, permanent memory leak
Package: linux-image-2.6.18-3-amd64
Version: 2.6.18-7
Severity: grave
Justification: hardware overheating hazard; requires periodic reboots
(This is not the same bug as #400488 (upstream #7122))
This bug affects several amd64 notebooks from HP, notably the nx6125
and the nx6325; there may be other affected machines as well.
Kernel team, please apply the patches for
http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=5534
This bug is there merely to remind the kernel team not to release etch
without the patches :) However I'm not sure which upstream version of
linux, if any, contains the patches in the (long) trail of comments.
So, it might be necessary to wait for a few days until the patches
arrive in Linus' tree.
Symptoms:
- under load, the fans fail to turn on when the temperature reaches
and then exceeds the normal threshold, which is 58°C.
- there is a permanent memory leak in the kernel, even when the system
is idle. The leak is visible by looking at
$ grep Slab: /proc/meminfo and
$ grep Acpi-State /proc/slabinfo
Workaround:
- if overheating, shut down the computer and let it cool down; or
let it shut itself down to prevent a fire hazard.
- if the only problem is the memory leak, reboot.
Consequence: linux-image-2.6.18-3-amd63 (=2.6.18-7) is unsuitable for
release.
The memory leak is described at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/linux-acpi@vger.kernel.org/msg03119.html
Today I had to reboot my HP Compaq nx6325 because the kernel was
eating 1.8 Gb out of the 1.9 Gb of RAM in the system, after about 9
days of uptime. Then I started a hourly cron job to monitor
/proc/meminfo and /proc/slabinfo as described above:
2006-06-21T20:06:10: Slab: 30296 kB
2006-17-21T20:17:01: Slab: 37756 kB
2006-17-21T21:17:01: Slab: 48116 kB
2006-17-21T22:17:01: Slab: 55764 kB
2006-17-21T23:17:01: Slab: 69904 kB
-- Reboot with acpi=noirq: only one CPU found --
2006-24-21T23:24:10: Slab: 10444 kB
-- Reboot with pci=noacpi: only one CPU found --
2006-30-21T23:30:26: Slab: 9676 kB
2006-30-21T23:30:26: Acpi-State 0 0 80 48 1 : tunables 120 60 8 : slabdata 0 0 0
-- Reboot with no options: OK, both CPUs found --
2006-34-21T23:34:23: Slab: 10584 kB
2006-34-21T23:34:23: Acpi-State 0 0 80 48 1 : tunables 120 60 8 : slabdata 0 0 0
2006-17-22T00:17:01: Slab: 15424 kB
2006-17-22T00:17:01: Acpi-State 23088 23088 80 48 1 : tunables 120 60 8 : slabdata 481 481 0
2006-17-22T01:17:01: Slab: 29956 kB
2006-17-22T01:17:01: Acpi-State 59136 59136 80 48 1 : tunables 120 60 8 : slabdata 1232 1232 0
I'm more than willing to help test a kernel package, but I'll be on
[VAC] from 2006-12-23 to 2007-01-03 inclusive. So, please do not
release Etch just now :)
--
Ludovic Brenta.
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