Can't install Gentoo due to segfaults

[MrVahn]

I can't emerge a single thing. I'm stuck at updating portage. emerge portage will cause a segfault at gettext-0.16.1. Well, everything I try to emerge segfaults, and I can't seem to fix it anymore. I have used gentoo before, but needed to reinstall due to a fscked up CHOST. Now that I'm doing my reinstall everything just segfaults. I don't know how to fix this, but I know this is a hardware problem. Well, how actually would you deal with segfaults?

[Pseudonimo]

It would be better to install from a proper stage3, just pack your /etc and /var/lib/portage, install the stage3 and emerge world.

But I'm sure there is a way to reinstall directly, but it's not a simple reemerge world

[frostschutz]

Also, if the segfaults persist, consider testing your RAM thoroughly using memtest86 or similar app.

[MrVahn]

I can't do merges as of now because of the frequent segfaults. It annoys me too much that I left my computer doing memtest86+ while I lay my ass to sleep. For ~8hrs it did 22 passes and no errors. I think it is a processor or a cooling problem.

[Pseudonimo]

[MrVahn]

Yes it is. That is why I totally stripped off my current system. There is no OS currently installed in my machine. I'm still waiting for possible solutions to my segfault problem. As of now I will buy a new fan and some thermal grease and see if it works.

[Pseudonimo]

ah sorry, thought when you said reinstall, you ment reemerge :S. So you get that by chrooting the stage3 in the livecd?

[Pseudonimo]

Try compiling some programs by hand on the live cd, with make or just gcc, to see if it's that.

[MrVahn]

Ok I'll try doing that.

I'm installing gentoo the usual way via minimal install cd. I just pop-in the Ubuntu live CD whenever I'm tired of retrying to emerge portage (even portage won't merge completely) and posting the error messages in the forums. I usually experience a segfault on gettext-0.16.1. I can't go past gettext. Since I still have no OS in my machine, I just left the gentoo installation unfinished. I chroot into it via the minimal install cd.

[MrVahn]

Oops. There is no gcc or make command in the Ubuntu live cd. Crap. But really now, I can compile some things. Big ones like Xorg or firefox will segfault on some random dependency. Compiling portage segfaults on gettext with a random error message. That is why I assumed it to be a processor problem.

[Pseudonimo]

I mean the gentoo livecd. Yes, it could be, and there are better ways to test that (don't remember, but should be easy to google).

[MrVahn]

I have read about it in an article at gentoo documentation listing http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/articles/hardware-stability-p1.xml

I plan to try the CPU test, but I cannot since I do not have a functional system. I'll try to restart my installation once again after I apply additional cooling mechanisms and things still won't work.

[dmartinsca]

If your BIOS allows you to disable your processor's L2 cache you should try that. With no L2 Cache you'll probably take a pretty big performance hit, but it may be the cause of the segfaults. You could also try leaving L2 cache on and enabling L2 ECC as well, which won't hurt your performance nearly as much.

[MrVahn]

Ok. I'll try that. Actually I'm thinking about underclocking my CPU. But I think that L2 cache would suffice.

[MrVahn]

I disabled L2 cache, but I can't find L2 ECC in my BIOS setup. Disabling L2 cache did not cause any segfaults anymore. But yeah, things do compile slow. I'll just reenable it after I compile my toolchain. I think by that time it would be safe.