Gentoo-sources kernel unstable on Inspiron 5000

[airman]

I have a Dell Inspiron laptop (PIII-500, 160M) with a fresh Gentoo installation using the gentoo-sources kernel (2.4.26-gentoo-r8). It boots fine, and seems to run fine. However, when I run a compile, anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes into the compile, the machine locks up, no response from the keyboard, and the HDD and PWR blink in unison about once per second. The only way out is to turn the laptop off with the power button. The kernel source was installed with emerge 'gentoo-sources', then created with 'genkernel --menuconfig all'. No changes were made to the default kernel config.

This does not seem to occur with the vanilla-sources kernel (2.4.26), as it has done several compiles lasting as long as 36 hours without a lockup or glitch. It was created with the same 'genkernel --menuconfig all' command using the default config.

Has there been any reports of problems with the gentoo-sources kernel on an Inspiron 5000? I've looked over the postings in the forum, and can find no reference to any. Is there maybe a known feature of the kernel which should be disabled for this machine?

[butters]

In my experience, Dell Inspirons have been far less... accurate with their BIOS reporting than any other modern PC maker I've had the pleasure of dealing with. In other words, if you're relying on genkernel-style initrd to properly detect your hardware via BIOS calls, you might be in for some surprises. If you want to run gentoo-sources, I would configure it manually, since you're having problems. This way you can find any particular settings that might be... offensive.

Things to look out for definitely include:

Preemptible kernel
SMP support
ACPI/APM support

I note (briefly) that 2.6.x kernels such as gentoo-dev-sources have better support for all of these above areas, especially when it comes to ACPI (important for laptops). However, it seems as if some people have an irrational fear of 2.6.x kernels, and cannot be pursuaded to try one no matter how many problems 2.4.x gives them with their Mobile Athlon64 laptops with integrated wireless....

In short, use whatever kernel works for you. Don't sweat it too much.

Good luck.
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[airman]

Thanks for the tip on Inspiron BIOS calls. I wasn't aware of the hardware reporting weakness.

On that note, maybe I'll give the 2.6.x kernel a try and see how it fares...