Bug#501118: linux-image-2.6.26-1-686: Thinkpad i1300/1310: kernel panic on boot

[Clayton <ckoeni@gmail.com>]

Something very odd just happened. I just did an upgrade of all my
packages to the latest testing: a new kernel, the new grub, and I think
some other base system stuff came through as well. Now all my kernels
boot just fine. I wonder if there was some corruption in the file
system, which was just fixed up by shiny new packages?

On Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:32:36 +0100
Ben Hutchings <ben@decadent.org.uk> wrote:

> [...]
> > <ae>"....
> Please run "debsums -s linux-image-2.6.26-2-686" to verify the code on
> disk.  The debsums command is in the package of the same name.

For the record, I ran debsums against all my recent kernels, and got no
complaints.

> > > Was this a fresh installation of Debian 5.0 "lenny" or an upgrade
> > > from an earlier version?
> > 
> > Definitely not a fresh install, its an upgrade that goes back some
> > years, currently running up-to-date "testing".
> > 
> > > Is there any other operating system installed on this machine that
> > > works properly?  If not, please check the RAM with memtest86+
> > > which you can get from <http://www.memtest.org/>.
> > 
> > Even better, it boots and runs fine with currently installed kernel
> > 2.6.22, and I believe older kernels. However, in the name of
> > thoroughness, I have also run memtest as you suggested, and it
> > passed.
> 
> > Another data point: I just popped in another hard drive with a more
> > extensive list of kernels, and the newest Debian kernel that does
> > not lock up is 2.6.24-1.
> 
> This still sounds like a RAM fault.  Memtest86+ doesn't catch every
> kind of defect.  Can you try changing the RAM?

That will be the first thing I try if I start having trouble again,
although unfortunately 64M is soldered onto the motherboard, as I
recall. I would be skeptical about my hardrive, except I was getting
the same behavior from two different hardrives.

Baffled,
Clayton