CentOS 5.5 - kernel panic - Help!

[feenberg-fCu/yNAGv6M at public.gmane.org (Daniel Feenberg)]

On Fri, 4 Jun 2010, Edward Ned Harvey wrote:

>> From: discuss-bounces-mNDKBlG2WHs at public.gmane.org [mailto:discuss-bounces-mNDKBlG2WHs at public.gmane.org] On
>> Behalf Of Tim Callaghan
>>
>> I'm trying to track down the source of a kernel panic that I see once
>> or twice a week on one of my CentOS machines, specifics:
>>   CentOS 5.5
>>   ASUS p6x58d Motherboard
>>   Intel i7-920
>>   3 x Corsair X3 2GB
>>   WD 1TB 6Gb SATA - OS drive
>>   Intel X-25M SSD - data drive for DB benchmarking
>>
>> After running for a few days, the machine fails to respond to ping.
>> When I look at the console I see "kernel panic - not syncing - nmi
>
> I'm just guessing these are custom build machines, no?  That is - not dell,
> not some name brand where they've built and distributed and offer support
> for thousands of identical configurations.  Right?
>
> I've had precisely the same experience you're having now, whenever using
> custom builds.  I don't recommend custom builds if you expect reliability.
>
> Sorry that's not more helpful.  They just don't distribute thousands of
> identical systems, and nobody offers support for the system as a whole, so
> there isn't the level of testing and thoroughness that's necessary to make
> it a reliable system as a whole.  Just because something is standards
> compliant ... doesn't mean it works together, and *far* from meaning
> bug-free.

On the other hand, the parts are standard, so you can replace them at low 
cost. I would start by swapping out memory, then using a pci card for 
ethernet. Those are simple to replace, and I have found that both can be 
the source of intermittant kernel panics. If neither of those work, then 
the next replaceable part is the MB, but that is more work.

We have some integrated systems and some home-made. I wouldn't say one is 
easier to deal with than the other, just different. In particular, a small 
shop such as ours will not get help with intermittant errors such as this 
one from a large vendor, no matter what the service contract says. This is 
especially true if the OS isn't Windows. In many cases I have found that 
it is less work to fix a system than it is to convince a vendor that 
something is wrong.

Daniel Feenberg

>
> Anyway.  Good luck.
>
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