"Bus errors"

[Mikko Työläjärvi]

On Sun, 6 Feb 2005, Tom Parquette wrote:

> Hi.
> I'm running 5.3-R with a custom kernel on a dual processor athlon.
> I've recently started getting "Bus error" showing up as a reason for various 
> failures.  e.g. setiathome, make buildworld.
> I've also gotten some panics (there are only about 5 messages that didn't 
> tell me anything and (sorry) I did not write them down.  I'm waiting for that 
> to happen again.
> I've also seen some hangs where the screen saver (the blue rain one) hangs.
> For the hangs and panics I've only been able to get out of them with the 
> hardware reset button.
>
> I've done some searching on "bus error" but it does not seem to apply. I only 
> found entries talking about software interface problems.
>
> I'm starting to wonder if I have a hardware problem with this machine since 
> it only seemed to start when I put a heavier load on it (e.g. setiathome) 
> and the strange symptoms seem to be showing up in multiple places.

The symptoms are typical of hardware problems.  Could be bad memory,
overly optimistic memory timings or CPU overheating.  As you run
setiathome, the latter would be my first guess.

Try installing sysutils/xmbmon to keep an eye on the temperature of
your CPUs.  My Athlon 3200+ tends to fall over on its face when
running setiathome on a hot summer's day, and there is no way I'm
going to put even more loud fans in that box...

    $.02,
    /Mikko