[mythtv-users] setpci, interrupts (Was: SOLVED System Load/Performance Question)

[Osma Ahvenlampi]

On Sat, 2006-02-25 at 09:44 -0800, Yan-Fa Li wrote:
> > I wonder if someone might be able to advice on a somewhat related
> > problem. I also have an nforce2 IGP system, but I'm suffering from
> > graphics related instability. The X server sometimes crashes, sometimes
>
> You don't mention what distribution or kernel you are running, there
> was a problem IO-APIC lockup problem with older 2.4 kernels on NForce2
> boards, but I doubt you are running anything that old.

Sorry about that. No, I'm running FC4, and the latest, or at least very
recent, kernel: 2.6.15-1.1831_FC4

> Try recompiling your kernel and enabling CONFIG_X86_UP_IOAPIC in your
> kernel config.  This will make it switch to using different interrupt
> controller code rather than the legacy XT PIC that your board is

Thanks for that hint. The FC4 kernel seems to start to use IO-APIC if
given the boot parameters "apic lapic", which I added. Interrupt lines
now report as IO-APIC-level (except for IDE, serial ports and keyboard,
which are IO-APIC-edge just like yours), and I got more interrupt lines
(numbers above 16).

However, my actual problem didn't go away - every time I try an OpenGL
app, no matter how trivial, I get a hard freeze. XVideo overlays also
have random errors (short horizontal black lines in the image in random
positions, but not all the time), and sometimes I get a hard freeze when
watching videos (with Xine or mplayer, but strangely enough, apparently
never with mythfrontend).

Didn't change when I unloaded the b2c2_flexcop_pci driver in charge of
the capture cards, nor when I disabled athcool and rebooted (I've read
that it causes problems on some motherboards, although I've never
noticed any of the most commonly reported audio issues with mine).

Could be a real hardware problem. Memtest86 doesn't notice any errors
though, so it's not the RAM, nor the CPU cache. I wish I could repeat
this problem with some diagnostics/test program that would tell WHAT's
broken.

I'm considering replacing the M/B, anyway. Any recommendations for a
stable, cool Micro-ATX M/B & CPU combination with integrated graphics
and sound? I need two PCI slots for the capture cards, and Firewire
would be a nice bonus (but not necessary). I'm running SDTV DVB only, so
huge performance is not a requirement - the Athlon XP 2500+ and
integrated Geforce 4 MX have been just fine, performance wise. What I do
want is a _stable_ machine, and one that runs without a huge amount of
fans (small case, in the livingroom). I've many times considered a
Pentium M system, but the desktop P-M motherboards are horribly
overpriced.

Thanks again,

//osma