Latest kernel update fixed crashes?
The latest kernel update seems to have fixed the panics and GPFs I was
experiencing.
I was experiencing nearly predictable crashes whenever RAM was filled with
cached disk blocks. At that point, it seemed that anything that addressed the
cache would cause a crash: use a program that needed RAM or compile something.
Even 'sync' would cause a crash. I think I even reinstalled the linux-image
pkg, thinking something might've been corrupted.
I'm running Wheezy 64-bit. I had 8GiB of GSkill 9-9-9-24 RAM in my quad
PhenomII, Gigabyte MA790FXT-UD5P. Because a memtest showed there might be a
bad bit somewhere, I bought new RAM: 16GiB GSkill 7-7-7-21. It made no
difference. As soon as there was pressure on RAM, the system would crash.
Sometimes with triple faults. I was really beginning to doubt the CPU (memory
controller) and other hardware.
Then the latest kernel update was released (3.2.51, I believe). I installed it
and the problems ceased. I can build my firewall without crashes now; the
complete build fills 16GiB RAM (cached disk blocks).
I perused the kernel changelogs from .46 to .51; nothing stood out to my
apprentice's eyes.
So it comes down to two questions. Was there a kernel change that would
account for this improvement in stability? Or is it more likely that some
kernel/module was corrupted on disk and the new kernel erased that error,
transparently fixing the 'problem'?
Thanks,
N
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