[mythtv-users] Is this a failing drive?

[Don Brett]

On 11/21/2011 11:12 AM, Keith Pyle wrote:
> On 11/21/11 06:00, Manuel McLure wrote:
>> On Sun, Nov 20, 2011 at 7:40 PM, Don Brett<dlbrett at zoominternet.net>  wrote:
>>>> This is a little off-topic, but it's a new drive on a new Mythbuntu
>>>> installation. ?Symptoms are:
>>>>
>>>> -partition table got corrupted (after about 50 hours on the drive); an
>>>> 8-hour low level format got it back
>>>> -the box occasionally freezes-up for a few seconds
>>>> -I see multiple instances of these errors in /var/log/syslog:
>>>>
>>>> Nov 20 09:54:02 zedo kernel: [ ? ?6.292384] EXT4-fs (sda2): re-mounted.
>>>> Opts: errors=remount-ro
>>>> Nov 20 09:55:12 zedo kernel: [ ? 81.573425] EXT4-fs (sda2): re-mounted.
>>>> Opts: errors=remount-ro,commit=0
>>>> Nov 20 09:58:51 zedo kernel: [ ?300.004041] [Hardware Error]: Machine
>>>> check events logged
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ?From /var/log/mcelog, I see multiple entries of this:
>>>>
>>>> mcelog: failed to prefill DIMM database from DMI data
>>>> Kernel does not support page offline interface
>>>> mcelog: mcelog read: No such device
>>>> Hardware event. This is not a software error.
>>>> MCE 0
>>>> CPU 0 4 northbridge
>>>> MISC c008000001000000 ADDR 1844184
>>>> TIME 1321843678 Sun Nov 20 21:47:58 2011
>>>> ? Northbridge NB Array Error
>>>> ? ? ? ?bit42 = L3 subcache in error bit 0
>>>> ? ? ? ?bit43 = L3 subcache in error bit 1
>>>> ? ? ? ?bit46 = corrected ecc error
>>>> ? ? ? ?bit59 = misc error valid
>>>> ? ? ? ?bit62 = error overflow (multiple errors)
>>>> ? memory/cache error 'evict mem transaction, generic transaction, level
>>>> generic'
>>>> STATUS dc074c60001c017b MCGSTATUS 0
>>>> MCGCAP 106 APICID 0 SOCKETID 0
>>>> CPUID Vendor AMD Family 16 Model 5
>>>> Hardware event. This is not a software error.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I replaced the sata drive cables, disconnected the dvd drive, tried a
>>>> different power supply. ?I also tried another drive on the same box (but
>>>> it was an ide) and had no errors. ?With a different motherboard...still
>>>> got the "re-mount" errors but none of the "[Hardware Error]" entries.
>>>> Anyone have a suggestion?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> PS - the hardware is: (everything but the power supply and case is new)
>>>> -ASUS M4A78LT-M AM3 AMD 760G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
>>>> -SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4 HD204UI 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
>>>> -ADATA Gaming Series 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
>>>> Desktop Memory
>>>> -ZOTAC ZT-20203-10L GeForce GT 220 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16
>>>> HDCP Ready Video Card
>>>> -ThermalTake 430 power supply
>> It's not a disk problem, that's a CPU or motherboard problem. The disk
>> corruption is caused by your memory contents getting corrupted and
>> being written to disk.
>>
>> See http://halobates.de/mce.pdf for details on exactly what a "machine
>> check exception" is.
> With the caveat that I'm not an expert on this...
>
> I suspect your cache memory or perhaps the Northbridge (handles
> communication among cores, possibly RAM, video) has a problem.
> Depending on your specific CPU, the Northbridge may be on the CPU, i.e.,
> CPU cores and Northbridge are all in one package.  This is the case for
> many recent, mainstream processors from both Intel and AMD.
>
> The errors you included suggest a multi-bit error in the L3 cache.  L3
> is special memory where (a limited amount of) recently used instructions
> and data are stored for faster access by the CPU than going to main
> RAM.  As Manuel wrote, if the cache is corrupted, it could lead to all
> manner of intermittent and seemingly random problems, including those
> you mentioned.
>
> If this is a Northbridge/cache problem and the Northbridge is on the CPU
> die, then your only fix will be to replace the CPU.  If the Northbridge
> is a separate chip on the motherboard, then you'll have to replace the
> motherboard but could keep the CPU.
>
> It may be worthwhile trying to see if Asus will help you if this a new
> motherboard.  (I have no personal experience with Asus support and don't
> know if/how they will help.)
>
> Keith
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users at mythtv.org
> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>
>

I just notice that I hadn't included the cpu on the list of hardware; 
it's an AMD Athlon II X3 445 Rana (3.1GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core 
Desktop Processor ADX445WFGMBOX).  Apparently this processor doesn't 
have an L3 cache (from Toms Hardware - *Rana*, triple-core, no L3 cache 
(2.7+ GHz)), does that matter, or is the cache on the motherboard?

I looked up the features on the motherboard chipset, it has a North 
Bridge (AMD 760G); I assume that means the cpu does not have an 
integrated northbridge...right?  So it looks like my problem might be 
with the motherboard.

Sidenote - Some other threads implied it might be a memory problem, so I 
played with it a little.  The box started with (2) 2 gig ddr3's.  I 
removed one of the sticks...similar behavior.  Replaced that with the 
other stick (still running with a single stick)...errors increased a 
lot, 2-3 errors a minute.   Does that mean anything?

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.mythtv.org/pipermail/mythtv-users/attachments/20111121/8d40f3a8/attachment.html