Asus A8N-SLI

[sibov]

the onboard sound ever suxxx.

SB Audigy Cards ROXXX

[1U]

Code: Select all

Jul 10 23:42:12 garw eth0: -- ERROR --
Jul 10 23:42:12 garw Class:  Hardware failure
Jul 10 23:42:12 garw Nr:  0x264
Jul 10 23:42:12 garw Msg:  unexpected IRQ Status error
Jul 10 23:42:12 garw eth0: Adapter failed.

I get the same exact error with an extra pci ethernet device I added. It just can't load for some reason. Does anyone have any ideas? Booting with noapic or not makes no difference. My exact error is:

Code: Select all

eth0: -- ERROR --
        Class:  Hardware failure
        Nr:  0x264
        Msg:  unexpected IRQ Status error
eth0: Adapter failed.

If I'm really patient and lucky the module will load, but the card is still not usable. Not the actual card itself, I've used it in other linux boxes before without any problems.

I don't see why everyone hates this board so much, I love it. I see it as a tradeoff. Either get a junky board with half the features and less performance, or get a nice board like this one but spend more time learning things. One way or anohter, the time is not fully wasted, but yes it is very irritating having to troubleshoot this stuff. I've had to use a livecd and go through at least 10 reboots before I even got it to a usable state (I'm still new to 64bit).

Sound works great for me btw, but I only use 2 channel headphone output to my sony earbuds so the quality is great.

[Niko_K]

Code: Select all

Jul 10 23:42:12 garw eth0: -- ERROR --
Jul 10 23:42:12 garw Class:  Hardware failure
Jul 10 23:42:12 garw Nr:  0x264
Jul 10 23:42:12 garw Msg:  unexpected IRQ Status error
Jul 10 23:42:12 garw eth0: Adapter failed.

I get the same exact error with an extra pci ethernet device I added. It just can't load for some reason. Does anyone have any ideas? Booting with noapic or not makes no difference. My exact error is:

Code: Select all

eth0: -- ERROR --
        Class:  Hardware failure
        Nr:  0x264
        Msg:  unexpected IRQ Status error
eth0: Adapter failed.

If I'm really patient and lucky the module will load, but the card is still not usable. Not the actual card itself, I've used it in other linux boxes before without any problems.

I don't see why everyone hates this board so much, I love it. I see it as a tradeoff. Either get a junky board with half the features and less performance, or get a nice board like this one but spend more time learning things. One way or anohter, the time is not fully wasted, but yes it is very irritating having to troubleshoot this stuff. I've had to use a livecd and go through at least 10 reboots before I even got it to a usable state (I'm still new to 64bit).

Sound works great for me btw, but I only use 2 channel headphone output to my sony earbuds so the quality is great.

I had some network problems too... until I added "optimization = 1" when laoding the module

Maybe this helps,
Niko

[1U]

Niko_K, thank you for the information. I added the following to my /etc/modules.conf

Code: Select all

options bcm5700 optimization="1"

But that did not fully fix it. Now I get the following error when attempting to start it:

Code: Select all

Trying to free free IRQ5
eth0: -- ERROR --
        Class:  Hardware failure
        Nr:  0x264
        Msg:  unexpected IRQ Status error
eth0: Adapter failed.
Trying to free free IRQ5

It only makes that error the first time I load the module after re-emerging it. When I try to reload it I get the following:

Code: Select all

eth0: -- ERROR --
        Class:  Hardware failure
        Nr:  0x264
        Msg:  unexpected IRQ Status error
eth0: Adapter failed.
NVRAM command (0x198) timed out!
eth0: -- ERROR --
        Class:  Hardware failure
        Nr:  0x264
        Msg:  unexpected IRQ Status error
eth0: Adapter failed.
eth0: -- ERROR --
        Class:  Hardware failure
        Nr:  0x264
        Msg:  unexpected IRQ Status error
eth0: Adapter failed.
NVRAM command (0x198) timed out!
WARNING: Cannot get MAC addr from NVRAM, using 0410d4000414
eth0: -- ERROR --
        Class:  Hardware failure
        Nr:  0x264
        Msg:  unexpected IRQ Status error
eth0: Adapter failed.
PHY ID unknown, assume it is SerDes
NVRAM command (0x198) timed out!
VPD read failed
eth0: -- ERROR --
        Class:  Hardware failure
        Nr:  0x264
        Msg:  unexpected IRQ Status error
eth0: Adapter failed.
eth0: -- ERROR --
        Class:  Hardware failure
        Nr:  0x264
        Msg:  unexpected IRQ Status error
eth0: Adapter failed.
NVRAM command (0x198) timed out!
eth0: -- ERROR --
        Class:  Hardware failure
        Nr:  0x264
        Msg:  unexpected IRQ Status error
eth0: Adapter failed.
eth0: -- ERROR --
        Class:  Hardware failure
        Nr:  0x264
        Msg:  unexpected IRQ Status error
eth0: Adapter failed.
NVRAM command (0x198) timed out!
eth2: HP ProLiant NC 150T PCI 4-port Gigabit Combo Switch Adapter found at mem d4000000, IRQ 5, node addr 0410d4000414
eth2: Agilent HDMP-1636 SerDes transceiver found
eth2: Scatter-gather ON, 64-bit DMA ON, Tx Checksum ON, Rx Checksum ON, 802.1Q VLAN ON, TSO ON
eth0: -- ERROR --
        Class:  Hardware failure
        Nr:  0x264
        Msg:  unexpected IRQ Status error
eth0: Adapter failed.
Trying to free free IRQ5

Which kills my wan eth0 device. It seems almost as if they are conflicting? Did I add that option to modules.conf properly or is there something else I have to do? My module is bcm5700 for a 4 port gigabit switch nic by hp. It works in all other computers.

[Niko_K]

hi,

i thought you are working with the nv_net module.
The option worked with this module for me.

Is the bcm5700 for using the second onboard lan device?

Sry for that,
Niko

[1U]

It's actually a standalone pci card which has 4 ethernet ports that act like a mini internal switch, gigabit even. The computer only getes one interface, but all 4 ports are able to interact with it. I use these in quite a few computers (all linux, gentoo, same setup except mb) and they are very handy for eliminating extra network appliance clutter. The model is NC150T incase you're intersted.

It's not the card though, some kind of conflicts on this mb. Any idea on how to fix this?

[1U]

It seems that it's not the card itself. It's just that this board makes it far too easy to run into conflict problems among devices. I removed only other pci card and now this one works without a problem. Any deas on how to fix these conflicts? I haven't tried using all 3 pci slots but I'd imagine it would be even worse. Also, for some reason if I disable acpi support in my kernel I can't use usb any more along with other devices, half the board simply isn't there any more. I disabled all extra features, but I still can't take acpi out.

Edit:
Nvm it's still spitting out those errors. At least this time I don't have to worry about my system locking up during loading/unloading the module.

[Benson]

When i start my pc from Livecd (2005.1 minimal) i get a kernel panic:

Code: Select all

>> Mounting squashfs filesystem
mount: Mounting /newroot/mnt/cdrom/livecd.squashfs on /newroot/mnt/livecd failed: Invalid argument
>> Copying read-write image contents to tmpfs
cp: etc: No such file or directory
cp: root: No such file or directory
cp: home: No such file or directory
cp: var: No such file or directory
>> No cdupdate.sh script found, skipping...
>> Booting (initramfs)......
chroot: cannot execute /bin/sh: No such file or directory
Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init

As far as i can say it's because of the kernel which is used by the livecd. I have tried to start the kernels with the bootparameters noapic and/or acpi=off, didn't made a difference. I wanted to use a RAID1, tried it also with only one harddisk connected with the Silicon Image controller and the Nvidia Controller, same problem. I really need some help, don't see what's going wrong

EDIT: Solved, hunted down the problem, my dvd-rom is broken, till i get a new one I'm using the dvd-burner (which is running without problems)


rgds,
Benson

[piercey]

Hey guys, just wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same unusual lm_sensors reading problem I have. eg.

fan1: 1917 RPM (min = 0 RPM, div =
fan2: 1622 RPM (min = 0 RPM, div =
fan3: 5273 RPM (min = 0 RPM, div =
M/B Temp: +29 C (low = -1 C, high = -1 C) sensor = thermistor
CPU Temp: +35 C (low = -1 C, high = -1 C) sensor = thermistor
Temp3: +25 C (low = -1 C, high = -1 C) sensor = thermistor

The problem is that the readings for M/B and CPU are reversed. My CPU temp is actually 29C. I was able to confirm this because my Zalman heatsink came with a fanmate 2 control, and when i slowed down and sped up its rpm, the "M/B" temperature was the only one that changed ! Maybe this will be useful to someone else too when you want to know your actual temps. On a side note I'm using the latest asus a8n sli deluxe board, as my chipset fan does 5k rpm, and not 8k like the original one.

[yottabit]

I got my A8N-SLI Premium and Athlon64 X2 3800+ up and running last night. I used the AMD64 LiveCD 2006.0 and did everything in 64-bit native. I'm still in the process of compiling Firefox, Thunderbird, Gaim, and installing Skype and OpenOffice-bin, but so far everything is super fast and slick.

Now to get sound working. I read all the sound bits in this post. Seems like the intel8x0 driver for ALSA works like in other nForce boards, but I thought this board doesn't actually use the sound capability on the nVidia chipset... I know in Windoze you have to install a different driver instead of using the nVidia SoundStorm driver... ASUS says it's "Realtek ALC850"... in their download section they have a driver listed for linux: http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/misc/a ... _Linux.zip ... Anyone tried it???

Bah, and now to get my scroll wheel working. How come setting the driver to imps2 doesn't just automagically make it work? If I have an imps2 it's obvious I have a scroll wheel right? Why do I have to manually set the axis mappings?! Arrrgh.

And finally, here is my relevant build info:

• CHOST="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"
• CFLAGS="-O3 -pipe -march=athlon64"
• CXXFLAGS="${CFLAGS}"
• MAKEOPTS="-j4"

Oh, and I have to play with some nVidia X settings to optimize the driver for even more speed! heheh. And lastly, my video card is a GeForce 7800 GT... it flies.

J

[piercey]

The driver provided by realtek is the same one thats in the kernel under ALSA drivers. Use it. (nvidia ac97 yadda yadda). Though the onboard sound sucks.
Also unrelated, but why is your MAKEOPTS equal to -j4. It should be the number of processors in your computer plus 1. Unless your 3800+ is a tri-core processor You're most likely slowing down your proc with that.

ps. Regarding my previous post about the sensors, it seems they were read incorrectly, i needed to modify /etc/sensors.conf to fix it.

[yottabit]

Yeah, I figured out the sound drivers when I started reading the included docs in that archive. Bah.

So I used the kernel ALSA drivers and aRts and it works well enough.

my 3800+ is a dual-core, so that's 2 procs, hence the -j4... I've actually upped that to -j5 just to make sure I keep it busy. It crunches code like none other... heheh.

J

[piercey]

my 3800+ is a dual-core, so that's 2 procs, hence the -j4...

I'm not sure how long since you've been in school, but as I said before, and now quoted from the installation docs:

With MAKEOPTS you define how many parallel compilations should occur when you install a package. A good choice is the number of CPUs in your system plus one

So, dual core processor equals 2 plus 1. Maths isnt my strongest subject, but I'm pretty sure that's 3. Hence my quip about your tri-core processor

[yottabit]

yeah yeah... heheh

But I have noticed much better utilization of advanced processors (i.e. AMD) by using #cpus + 2... And so I just carried my logic as pretending each of my cores are independent systems...

So each core gets two threads, plus I added an extra just to make sure. It's performing insanely fast.

[chemaja]

the onboard sound ever suxxx.

SB Audigy Cards ROXXX

How does onboard sound suck? I'm planning to buy an A8N32-SLI Deluxe, which has the Realtek® ALC850.

I'll probably only use it for 2.1 speaker configuration, mainly for music. I'm not a hardcore gamer (though I'll play a few).

[longship]

the onboard sound ever suxxx.

SB Audigy Cards ROXXX

How does onboard sound suck? I'm planning to buy an A8N32-SLI Deluxe, which has the Realtek® ALC850.

I'll probably only use it for 2.1 speaker configuration, mainly for music. I'm not a hardcore gamer (though I'll play a few).

I have ASUS A8N-SLi Premium and everything just works. I'm using kernel 2.6.15 and with the exception of mplayer, I have a stable system.

[piercey]

The onboard sound sucks for the following reasons:

1) It's software mixed, therefore latency
2) It supports only 2.1 sound
3) It cannot play ALSA and OSS sound apps at the same time.

So its a pita if you want to listen to a flash movie with audio and you have something like gaim open. Or want to play a game like ut with a music player. Not to mention problems with skype.

[Monkeh]

The onboard sound sucks for the following reasons:

1) It's software mixed, therefore latency
2) It supports only 2.1 sound
3) It cannot play ALSA and OSS sound apps at the same time.

So its a pita if you want to listen to a flash movie with audio and you have something like gaim open. Or want to play a game like ut with a music player. Not to mention problems with skype.

For 1 and 2: dmix. Works flawlessly for me.

[piercey]

I too think dmix is great, back when i was using onboard anyway, but it certainly did not fix 1 and 2. Only 2.1 sound is supported by the ALSA driver, and there is always latency in software mixers.

[Monkeh]

Typo. I meant 1 and 3. The latency on mine is less than .05 of a second. It's there, but it's not noticable at all.

[jmusits]

Hey there,

I recently built an amd64 system w/ an ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard and I keep getting random freezes (need to do a hard reboot, cannot ssh in). This never happens when I am around or the when the computer is under load (I've run cpuburn and everything seems to be fine). /var/log/messages gives me nothing as to why this would be happening. I had heard from a friend that xscreensaver was giving some people problems so I scrapped that. I still got lockups. There is no rhyme or reason to why this is happening.

I ran a couple ssh sessions into the machine to hopefully get a snapshot of what is happening when it goes down. sensors reports that the CPU and Motherboard temp are unchanged from when at idle (31 C). According to top X is utilizing 93% of the CPU. All /var/log/messages shows me is that cron is checking its jobs every 10 minutes (nothing was supposes to start at crash time). These are for the last time the machine crashed.

I'm not sure what X is doing because the screen blacks after 10 minutes of X being idle and the machine went down about and hour and a half after this.

The exact system specs are as follows:
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe MB
AMD 64 3700+ (San Diego)
1GB (1x1GB DIMM) Kingston ValueRam DDR 400 (PC3200)
XFX GeForce 6800XT PCI-E Video
Antech TruePower 2.0 550-watt PSU
74GB Western Digital SATA HDD (using the nVidia SATA ports)
Plextor DVD+/-RW IDE Optical (in 2nd IDE slot/channel)
gentoo-sources-2.6.15-r1

I will try to get some more datapoints as to whats going on when the system crashes. What I'm most concerned about is did I get some flaky hardware that needs to be RMA'd? If so whats a likely candidate, the MB? If any more info would be helpful please let me know and I will provide it.

Thanks is advance for the help,

Jason

[chemaja]

So [onboard sound is] a pita if you want to listen to a flash movie with audio and you have something like gaim open. Or want to play a game like ut with a music player. Not to mention problems with skype.

Typo. I meant [latency and ALSA/OSS concurency issues]. The latency on mine is less than .05 of a second. It's there, but it's not noticable at all.

Aaah, decisions, decisions. I might just use onboard sound, and if it irritates me enough, I'll buy a real sound card.

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

[Monkeh]

The onboard works just fine for me, though I am considering replacing it, mainly for Windows. I play a lot of BF2, and it crackles badly for some reason (all onboard does with BF2..).

[longship]

the onboard sound ever suxxx.

SB Audigy Cards ROXXX

Sorry, nice try. Re: SB anything.
But M-Audio card *do* roxxxx.

you're correct about the onboard audio. It is not too good.

I use onboard audio for system sounds, etc. and for watching TV. It's good enough for that. My M-Audio Audiophile 2496 is pumped into my stereo system and does music, the high quality stuff. Imaging, fidelity, S/N ratio, and dynamic range are beautiful. Leaves SB audio in the dust.

[longship]

Hey there,

I recently built an amd64 system w/ an ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard and I keep getting random freezes (need to do a hard reboot, cannot ssh in). This never happens when I am around or the when the computer is under load (I've run cpuburn and everything seems to be fine). /var/log/messages gives me nothing as to why this would be happening. I had heard from a friend that xscreensaver was giving some people problems so I scrapped that. I still got lockups. There is no rhyme or reason to why this is happening.

I ran a couple ssh sessions into the machine to hopefully get a snapshot of what is happening when it goes down. sensors reports that the CPU and Motherboard temp are unchanged from when at idle (31 C). According to top X is utilizing 93% of the CPU. All /var/log/messages shows me is that cron is checking its jobs every 10 minutes (nothing was supposes to start at crash time). These are for the last time the machine crashed.

I'm not sure what X is doing because the screen blacks after 10 minutes of X being idle and the machine went down about and hour and a half after this.

The exact system specs are as follows:
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe MB
AMD 64 3700+ (San Diego)
1GB (1x1GB DIMM) Kingston ValueRam DDR 400 (PC3200)
XFX GeForce 6800XT PCI-E Video
Antech TruePower 2.0 550-watt PSU
74GB Western Digital SATA HDD (using the nVidia SATA ports)
Plextor DVD+/-RW IDE Optical (in 2nd IDE slot/channel)
gentoo-sources-2.6.15-r1

I will try to get some more datapoints as to whats going on when the system crashes. What I'm most concerned about is did I get some flaky hardware that needs to be RMA'd? If so whats a likely candidate, the MB? If any more info would be helpful please let me know and I will provide it.

Thanks is advance for the help,

Jason

Your system is somewhat similar to mine. I have ASUS A8N and Athlon dual core, Raptors on nForce4 SATA (software RAID). I was having hangs, too.

These are the things I did.

Get the latest kernel. I'm using 2.6.15-gentoo-r7, but any 2.6.15 will probably do okay.

First, make sure you have the latest nVidia drivers. I'm using "nvidia-kernel-1.0-8178" which cured some issues I didn't know I had. You'll have to unmask it to load it. Don't forget the companion "nvidia-glx" which you'll also have to unmask. Make sure that you install them per the Gentoo nVidia document.

Make sure that you have the "PM Timer" kernel config set. It's under the Processor features page when you're building the kernel. In /usr/src/linux/.config it's "CONFIG_X86_PM_TIMER=y". Then add "clock=pmtmr notsc" to the end of the "kernel" line in your grub.conf. This stuff will fix the runaway real time clock and "lost ticks" problems (scan /var/log/messages to see if you're getting "lost ticks").

Do not use mplayer-bin-1.0.20060217. It has plenty of problems and was hanging my system *hard*. Instead, use mplayer-bin-1.0-pre7-r3.

Only time will tell, but since I did these things, my system has been stable.