Do I give up on Gentoo with this machine?

veggie2u

I have been trying to install Gentoo on my main desktop machine Athlon 1600, Abit KT7A. Yes, it is not the most up to date, but I no longer game, and it has worked just fine with Windows XP for a couple of years now. I have 4 other Gentoo machines, so I am not a complete noob, but I am frustrated beyond belief. I had been trying to install 2004.3 for awhile, then gave up. I have been trying to install 2005.0 now for a couple of weeks with no luck. I have tried stage two, stage three internet, and stage three purely from the cd. When I try to emerge sync, emerge system, I get segmentation faults. I had 512 meg of ram with 256 of crucial, and 256 mushkin. I have removed the mushkin, I have reset the motherboard bios to safe defaults, and the bios reports the CPU temp after a seg fault less than 50 deg C. I never overclock. I can install smaller programs, but glibc, gcc, X. They always die. I have tried just about every forum answer for someone that has seg faults, gcc problems, or library conflicts. It comes back to hardware all the time. Is that realy possible? Windows XP and Fedora have worked just fine, just not compiles. Memtest appears to be work fine too. What can I do to know that for sure there is something flakey with the hardware?
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evader · Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 2:19 am Post subject:

Swap mobo/ram/cpu one at a time and try to reinstall everytime you swap one piece out.

Sorry, it's a tricky one
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veggie2u · Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 3:08 am Post subject:

I wish I could do all that. I don't have another socket A motherboard or CPU to swap in. I don't really want to buy stuff in this vintage again just to find out what does or doesn't really work.

(Other hardware is slot A and pIII stuff)
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felixo · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 31 Mar 2004 Posts: 88

do a memtest with the livecd. Segmentation faults mean bad disk or memory.

DavidMCS · Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 5:21 am Post subject:

Have a close look at the mainboard for bad caps too.

--
David-

veggie2u · Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 2:09 pm Post subject:

I have run through memtest once, but not for hours...

I don't see anything obvious on the motherboard that looks bad. And I often leave it running for days under windows.

Would running a seti client stress the system similar to gcc? I was just wondering if I was to run a seti (or folding, or something like that) under windows maybe I would find something under windows that gives similar problems.
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BlackEdder · Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 2:17 pm Post subject:

I'd first try a memtest for at least a night. Don't forget to turn all the options/tests on. The problem is that compiling is very unforgiving on hardware faults. A binary distro will probably run very stable

(as long as the memory fault isn't at the start of the memory chip were the kernel resides).

It might still also be a overheating problem. Seti might be a good test for that. Or get lm_sensors working and see what your cpuy temp does.

augury · l33t Joined: 22 May 2004 Posts: 722 Location: philadelphia

I get occational seg faults when: building with -funit-at-a-time (or building without -fno-unit-at-a-time), building with -j2 make options and if the kernel source is foobar. Usually nothing bad unless something was built out of kilter. If you have a more robust system to build on it can make things alot easier. I just built an p2 port for a dell laptop. It goes but i really couldn't build anything signifigant. If you think its the hardware (which wouldn't give alarming little error messages -- it would just die) try getting some dielectric grease, (which is silicone, and comes in two varieties one in a tube the other in a spray can in a solvent that spreads it thin which is what you want) and spray some on a flat surface and dip the edge of a piece of thick card board in it some and use that to clean and lubercate the metal contacts of the dimm slots and pci slots. Don't spray it on the board directly or put it on the dimms. this could short out components, likewise keep loose metal object away from live electronics, keep your hands clean and make sure you touch the box before touching components. Don't put too much on or it will prevent good contact. Mostly this prevents damage to the motherboard when installing modules but also helps make better contacts (theres hundereds) and help the modules in too the right position. This is all you can do to fix most broken hardware since the manufacture process is so esoteric. Don't waste your time on hardware that isn't worth it either since technology changes everyday and so do the requirements. Just look for a relatively good buy and clear space.

veggie2u · Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2005 4:03 pm Post subject:

I have tried several differnt memory configurations, running memtest86 overnight, and never get an error. I guess I need to hope that I can find a used proc or board similar to mine sometime. AthlonXP 1600, Abit-KT7A. I was really hoping to hold onto this board as a server in the near future running gentoo. I have several PC133 128 and 256 sticks of ram, and all my boards that could take them are failing!
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augury · l33t Joined: 22 May 2004 Posts: 722 Location: philadelphia

if you're not getting an error on an overnight memtest then theres got to be something wrong w/ configuration/source. it wouldn't be the first time. i have to debug about 1 out of every 10-15 ebuilds. another 1 in 10-15 i make modifications to. linux is the best when it comes to getting itself fixed. my grandmothers compaq athalon fouled yesterday. i hadn't touched a windows in a year. no error messages, no nothing. i got it back up half-assed (shes my grandmother) but i wound up doing the "clean install" mostly just because that sob keep popping that window up in my face every time i went to "show the systems files." came up and it looked like shit. jaggiddy edge fonts. i log in on smoother fonts than that. ive got all my files. theres bugs in linux and in getoo, but when a whole system falls on its face like that, its not fun. ive never furlled
my brow at linux or been called a liar or a theif by linux. its never turn'd its back on me. i never ask'd ' hey linux what are you doing ? i never said 'hey linux why dont you stop doing that. whats wrong with you linux. you need to cut the crap right now linux . im warning you linux this is the end of this the end of this fella . what the the fuck linux . hey linux HEY FUCK YOU LINUX YOU WANNA GO TO WAR YOU WANNA GO TO WAR LINUX YEAH FUCK YOU> no ive never had to say that.
say are you a vegetarian? me too. whats with the fake meat they keep on trying to serve us? if i dont like meat, why would i want fake meat anywho?