Kernel panic

palos · n00b Joined: 21 Jul 2002 Posts: 9

I've made 3 attempts at my first install of Gentoo. Each has ended in a Kernel Panic error. They have all occured during Step 12 of the 1.2 Installation instructions but at different points. One was during the <emerge --pretend system>. The other 2 times were during <emerge system>. Once only a couple of minutes along, the other about 20 minutes into it. The box I'm installing to is my "guinea pig" box and has run everything from Win 95 to RedHat 7.3 with no problems and I've made no recent changes. The hardware is:

Abit BF6 mobo
PIII @ 500 mhz
256 Megs RAM
10 gig Maxtor HD
32 meg nVidia video AGP2x

The only tweak I've done is to disable ACPI in BIOS. This resulted in the emerge process going for 20 minutes but ended with:

"Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address xxxx"

I believe I've followed this instructions exactly but still no joy. Any help would be appreciated.
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What could possibly go wrong?

metalhedd · Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2002 2:12 pm Post subject:

if its having a problem with Paging it could be a memory problem. try running memtest86.. kernel panics have been kn own to be caused by heat too I think... search the forums you should find some info on what to do if you suspect faulty hardware, especially RAM.

palos · n00b Joined: 21 Jul 2002 Posts: 9

It was a flaky memory stick. I've had these 2 128 megs sticks for over a year. I've had at least 6 OSs installed on this box and never had a hardware problem. And just to prove Murphy's Law is in full effect, I had a 50-50 chance when I swapped one out and guessed wrong. Anyway, I'm up and running now and looking to push my luck with X and KDE.
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What could possibly go wrong?

Guest · Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2002 4:14 am Post subject: Good diagnosis

That was it ? Rates a tradesman grade IMO
Did a memory check verify - Iv'e read it is inaccurate, no real stress.
All the reviews mention Linux taxes memory to a greater extent,
to the point running a script for compile loop surpasses Factory
tests on unverified warranty submissions.

Never tempt arousing computer gremlins