[mythtv-users] Power outages and UPSs/Mythfrontend restarts X server

Bob Sully rcs at malibyte.net
Fri Jul 27 05:11:26 UTC 2007


> Bob Sully wrote:
>> We had a power failure here the other night which outlasted my UPS.
>> Prior
>> to that, my combined BE/FE Myth box had been up for about two months;
>> during that time, I had performed a routine update to the OS.  There
>> were
>> no problems before.  Now, since the machine came back up after the power
>> went down, I can't start mythfrontend - it restarts the X server every
>> time.
>>
>> There's nothing enlightening in mythbackend.log.  The only clue I can
>> find
>> is in the X server log:
>>
>> -- Backtrace:
>> 0: /etc/X11/X(xf86SigHandler+0x71) [0x48f161]
>> 1: /lib64/libc.so.6 [0x2b016c437030]
>>
>> Fatal server error:
>> Caught signal 11.  Server aborting
>>
>> Interestingly, if I ssh in from another box, I can start it remotely and
>> run most of the utilities remotely (but can't watch any recorded files,
>> though the thumbnails work).
>>
>> I have a remote FE box upstairs running the same OS (Mandriva 2007.0
>> x86-64) which was also upgraded...same problem there when I try to start
>> the frontend.  My guess is that one of the upgrades broke mythfrontend's
>> ability to come up.  Maybe X itself....or libc6??
>>
>> Here's some info on the BE/FE box:
>>
>> X Window System Version 7.1.1
>> Release Date: 12 May 2006
>> X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0, Release 7.1.1
>> Build Operating System: Linux 2.6.12-31mdk x86_64
>> Current Operating System: Linux vader.malibyte.net
>> 2.6.17.14-6mdvmmcustom-k8 #2 PREEMPT Sun Apr 15 01:33:21 PDT 2007 x86_64
>> Build Date: 17 July 2007
>>
>> Anyone else seen this and have a possible fix?
>>
>> TIA
>> Bob
>>



DaveD wrote:
> I keep reading posts from people on this list about having problems
> after power outages.  APC makes UPS's that talk quite nicely to Linux
> boxes via the apcupsd (APC UPS daemon) that sell for $25!  I opted for a
> little more VAW and paid $30!  You can get away with the cheapest
> version available if you just have the CPU plugged into it with a
> 2-minute unconditional shutdown (system goes down clean if power not
> back within two minutes).  That's how I have mine  configured, but
> they're smart enough to calculate percent of battery left and wait until
> the last minute to tell the machine to shut itself down (default
> configuration).  I don't trust it, myself, so I just have the 2-minute
> limit.  I think I've got about 15 minutes to spare when my systems go
> down and I've had several outages with zero problems with these
> installed.  I've got one on my Myth box, another on my file
> server/firewall and a third on my wife's Windoze machine.  One $30 UPS
> would probably handle two CPUs nicely.  Cheap insurance, if you ask me!
>
> DaveD
>

Dave:  Thanks...this UPS has a usb connection and I believe it will work
with Linux (possibly with nut), but I haven't had time to mess with it.

I did figure out what the problem was, though.  The new version of X and
the nVidia driver 1.0-9755 are a flaky combination.  I went back and got
1.0-9639 (which oddly enough is their latest "legacy" driver, even though
it has a lower version number).

Bob

-- 
________________________________________
Bob Sully - Simi Valley, California, USA
http://www.malibyte.net
http://www.malibyte.com



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