[ltp] Linux not stable

[wes schreiner]

unlisted wrote:

>On Mon, 2002-10-28 at 17:04, wes schreiner wrote:
>  
>
>>Charles E Taylor IV wrote:
>>
>>    
>>
>>>On Sun, 27 Oct 2002 07:12:34 -0800 (PST)
>>>Toby Riddell <tobyriddell@> wrote:
>>>
>>>      
>>>
>>>>I had many problems with my 600E until I added the "mem=" directive to
>>>>the grub configuration file. I read that Linux does not know that part
>>>>of the RAM is reserved for the firmware and this line is needed to
>>>>prevent them walking all over each other. The problems manifested
>>>>themselves as occasional, random crashes, problems with shutdown, and
>>>>creeping filesystem corruption until the system would no longer boot. 
>>>>        
>>>>
>
>my single symptom was much more obvious: linux would hang while
>booting/initializing.  this was on my 770x running debian, 2.2.18, and
>grub.  don't remember what version this bios is but when i received this
>machine a year ago i upgraded the bios to whatever was available on
>ibm's website.
>
Latest BIOS for a 770x is version 1.10 (IIET42WW) dated 10/12/2001. 
 That's what you should be using.

>
>  
>
>>>The system appears to use the same amount of memory as shown when the
>>>machine boots.  Does this problem only hit certain versions of the
>>>kernel/grub/lilo? 
>>>      
>>>
>
>recently i upgraded to 2.4.19, and that kernel would not boot with the
>"mem=" option.  so, i removed it and everything .
>
>so, from my limited experience with my unique configuration:
>- "mem=" option needed with 2.2 kernels
>- "mem=" option NOT needed with 2.4 kernels
>
>  
>
>>No, it's only an issue with older BIOS versions. If you update the BIOS 
>>first before initially installing Linux you will never see this problem.
>>    
>>
>
>"only"?  "never"?  those are pretty absolute absolutes.  want to change
>that after reading my personal experiences. ;-)
>
>anyways...
>  
>
Anyways you probably need to update your BIOS if you have memory 
detection problems with any version kernel.  Why?  Changelog of IIET42WW 
says:

>     * (Fix) Linux system fails with memory size detection. Linux
>       system only.
>
So I stand by my "only" and "never" above.  Update your BIOS and (at 
least for the 600 and 770 series) you won't have memory detection 
problems despite your kernel version, and thus you won't need a "mem=" 
option to boot.

wes