SEQ shutdown / Freezing linux

[astraa]

Hello All

Complete newbie:

My Show EQ is the latest version 4.2.13 running on an AMD 1.4 256 ram 32 meg DDR Asus GF3 Vidio card, 10/100 NIC using 7. Red Hat, installed via the install from Installing Show EQ on Red Hat 7.2 Clean install.

My problem is: SEQ keeps closing its self down at odd intervals, or worse locks up the Linux totally, what could be the cause of this, and how can I fix it.

And please all you Gurus out there we all started out asking questions.

Thanks in advance for all help in any form.


Astraa
Replies direct to email would be super :-)

[email protected]

[Cryonic]

When X appears to lock up, what is the output of top?

SEQ crashing is a problematic, but semi-irregular behavior. Restart SEQ and relog or zone.

what version of QT is SEQ compiled with. What compiler (2.9.6, 3.0.x, 3.1.x)?

The more information you give the better the help can be with responding (if we choose to).

[astraa]

Originally posted by Cryonic
When X appears to lock up, what is the output of top?

SEQ crashing is a problematic, but semi-irregular behavior. Restart SEQ and relog or zone.

what version of QT is SEQ compiled with. What compiler (2.9.6, 3.0.x, 3.1.x)?

The more information you give the better the help can be with responding (if we choose to).

When X locks up I have not seen any output of top. Not quite sure where I should look, and when it does lock up, I can not move any windows or open or close down any windows to look elsewhere, I have to reset.

The QT i used to compile is QT-2.3.2 as directed in the installing of Show EQ on Red Hat 7.2. I did not know that there was a newer version out, and if so how would I complie with it, the information I used to compile was from

http://www.ethernalquest.org/boards/viewtopic.php?t=276

And of course Cryonic it is upto you if you wish to reply, not sure why you would put that in your text, unless your really tired of the same questions over and over again, as I said in my first post Im new to this.

Astraa

Smile it might never happen :-) TTFN

[Cleric]

As a note I have also experienced complete SEQ freezeup to the point that I had to hard reboot my machine since I had no access to my desktop any longer.

I am running Mandrake 8.2, QT 3.0.4, gcc-3.0.4

Usually happens on zoning. It may be that the most recent CVS release will correct this, have to wait and see.

[Cryonic]

if X locks up, try and use ctrl-alt-backspace to drop to the command-line. It is extremely rare the linux locks up because of X or an X app (at least in my experience).

as for top. It is a command (similar to NT/2k/XPs Task Manager) that shows the processes running and can sort by CPU usage, Memory usage, etc...

Try running it from a terminal window while you have SEQ up and see what it shows at the time X locks up.

[fryfrog]

i have to say, it has been a VERY VERY long time since i have had to reboot my linux box due to it freezing up while running showeq. showeq sometimes bombs out, or makes X slow... but i can usually either ctrl-alt-backspace or ssh in and just restart X that way.

it really shouldn't be locking your box up to the point of having to power cycle it :(

[BlueAdept]

Originally posted by fryfrog
ssh in and just restart X that way.

You shouldnt ever need to ssh into your system if x locks. If ctrl-alt-backspace doesnt work, just do a ctrl-alt-f2 to bring up a term window. Log in and kill the x process.

If you want to get back to xwindows just press ctrl-alt-f7.

[astraa]

Originally posted by Cryonic
if X locks up, try and use ctrl-alt-backspace to drop to the command-line. It is extremely rare the linux locks up because of X or an X app (at least in my experience).

as for top. It is a command (similar to NT/2k/XPs Task Manager) that shows the processes running and can sort by CPU usage, Memory usage, etc...

Try running it from a terminal window while you have SEQ up and see what it shows at the time X locks up.

Thank you for that, I run the programme each time now, I will attempt to duely note the results and inform you, I have another question for you thou, you said

"what version of QT is SEQ compiled with. What compiler (2.9.6, 3.0.x, 3.1.x)? " is there a higher version ?

Astraa

[astraa]

Originally posted by BlueAdept

You shouldnt ever need to ssh into your system if x locks. If ctrl-alt-backspace doesnt work, just do a ctrl-alt-f2 to bring up a term window. Log in and kill the x process.
If you want to get back to xwindows just press ctrl-alt-f7.


Thankyou BlueAdept most helpfull, ))))).

Astraa

[astraa]

Well its happened again and the Ctrl Alt F2 did not work, Total lock-up. I ran Top as suggested but was unable to see the window information, I will try to keep Top in view at all times. Would a complee install solve this probleme, or does it indicate a Hardware problem with Memory ? its CAS 2.5 mem from kingston, and I forgot to say this is on a dual boot system setup as directed on posts. I dont have the link but only his email John oates [email protected] and I have no reason to think that his information was wrong, all it dealt with was the install with Grub and telling grub that XP is there. Any how thats the state of play so far.

All the replys I recived has given me more confidence in Linux ))

Astraa

[high_jeeves]

I would lean towards a hardware problem.. I have been running linux for about 8 years (wow, I feel old) and can count the number of total lockups I have had on my fingers... My first shot would be to lower your video drivers to a minimal set, and turn off acceleration (vesa, svga, vga, or some such).

--Jeeves

[astraa]

That sounds good, the Vidoe card I have is Asus V7100 AGP deluxe Combo 32 Meg DDR, and I do remeber that when setting it all up it did say that it could not probe the vidoe card, so I had to manually select 32 Meg and no clock frequencys as the DDR AGP was not listed. I have heard that Dentonator drivers are avail for linux but I dont really wish to install them, Hmm on another point the monitor I use is a Maxdata belina 17" 10 30 20 also not listed, I presume this is why I get monitor blackout every now and then, it goes black and then comes back. hopefully in RD7.4 they may have these cards and monitors.
The Resolution is 1024 x 768 16bit and being a newbie I have not found any where to change resolutions on the fly .


Astraa

[fryfrog]

install the nvidia drivers, that could very well solve your problems. also, make sure you don't have any crap hardware and if you are overclocking to tone it down and see what happens.

**edit: by crap i mean busted or not working. cheap hardware very frequently is fine :)

[Cryonic]

If you configured more modes than just the 1024x768x16bpp mode during the install, then use ctrl-alt-+ and ctrl-alt-- to cycle through them.

If you want to configure more modes, then at the command-line (Don't do this with X running). Login as root and run Xconfigurator.

If the RH install didn't have drivers for your card then I would recommend getting the ones from nvidia and use them.

The + and - keys to use are the ones on the Number Pad, not the ones over the main part of the keyboard.

[astraa]

Ok Thks Guys, going to try the Det Drivers as suggested, "I mean what can go wrong -- Right ? , other than a new install " I will let you all know what the outcome is.

P.S Cryonic Jep I did install more modes, just did not know the key combo for changeing them.

Thks Guys.

Astraa

[qdogz]

I have 3 systems I tried it on.

RedHat7.2, qt-2.3.2, gcc-3.1
Works like a champ
Had to change ALOT of stuff, and tell it not to validate QT during the ./configure stage on seq.

Mandrake8, qt-2.3.2, gcc-3.1
Cant get past qt install
fails when it cannot find 'moc'

SlackWare7.1, qt-2.3.2, gcc-3.1
Everything Upgraded/Updated.
fails when it cannot find 'moc'

dloading the qt-3.0.5 version

Hopefully I have it set right.

[astraa]

Well that did not work, I down loaded the right files from nivada site, and it loads all the way through till it get to the login screen just before it chages to the graphic interface and then nothing screen flashing and thats that, :-(

Its now back on screen after about 3 mins with a statement

INIT: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes.

Is there any way Please than I can stop it loading and return to the old setup ??

these are the files I downloaded

GLX RPM NVIDIA_GLX-1.0-2960.i386.rpm 41f1be196298c78a1ecb771517b81f1b

RedHat 7.3 UP i386 Architecture NVIDIA_kernel-1.0-2960.rh73up.i386.rpm 7d1d768bb836dcd55b48cc814ab1b8ce

[Cryonic]

change to init 3 (should keep X from spawning). Login as root. run Xconfigurator and reselect your hardware and modes.

qdogz: START YOUR OWN THREAD. DON'T REPLY TO SOMEONE ELSES WITH AN UNRELATED PROBLEM!!! ALSO READ THE FAQ AND FIND AN INSTALL GUIDE BEFORE YOU ASK A QUESTION

[astraa]

Originally posted by Cryonic
change to init 3 (should keep X from spawning). Login as root. run Xconfigurator and reselect your hardware and modes.

How do I chage the int 3 ?

I can get in with Ctrl-Alt-F2 where i can log in as root, what should i do from there please ?.

[Cryonic]

sorry. You can change your runlevel during bootup by editing the line that loads your kernel.

It's hard to explain without showing/doing it myself. I'm guessing you are using grub, so during boot up you need to edit the menu.

I don't know the key strokes to do this, but grub shows them to you before it selects what to boot.

find the line that says something like:
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.18-5 ro root=/dev/hda3

and append 3 to the end of it:
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.18-5 ro root=/dev/hda3 3

Then boot.

If you are using LILO, then it's pretty simple

#boot: linux 3

assuming linux is the label for booting linux.

[astraa]

Originally posted by Cryonic
sorry. You can change your runlevel during bootup by editing the line that loads your kernel.

It's hard to explain without showing/doing it myself. I'm guessing you are using grub, so during boot up you need to edit the menu.

I don't know the key strokes to do this, but grub shows them to you before it selects what to boot.

find the line that says something like:
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.18-5 ro root=/dev/hda3

and append 3 to the end of it:
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.18-5 ro root=/dev/hda3 3

Then boot.

If you are using LILO, then it's pretty simple

#boot: linux 3

assuming linux is the label for booting linux.

Ok done that, got the Xconfig programme up running but it will not accept what I used in the first install, Cryonic if your in the UK and dont mind a private call to solve this problem pls email me. But pls dont take this the wrong way, I only ask as I feel it may solve this quicker. Pls dont take offence.

[Cryonic]

nope, I'm nowhere near the UK. Got a whole continent and a big body of water between there and here. You could always try to find a local Linux users group there.

[astraa]

Originally posted by Cryonic
nope, I'm nowhere near the UK. Got a whole continent and a big body of water between there and here. You could always try to find a local Linux users group there.

Ok Thks :-)

I wil try and battle on.

If any other reader knows of a local grp based in the UK that might me able to help pls let me know.-)

[S_B_R]

Originally posted by astraa


Ok Thks :-)

I wil try and battle on.

If any other reader knows of a local grp based in the UK that might me able to help pls let me know.-)

Google (http://www.google.com/) So Powa http://www.lug.org.uk/index.php

npnp thx la~ ^_^

[astraa]

One last attempt.

In the Xconfigurator
under PCI probe it lists
PCI Entry : nVidia Corporation:NV11 [GeForce2 MX]
X Server : None
XFree4 Driver : nv (default)

How can I get this back to what it was before I installed the Drivers, ?? Every 17inch Monitor that I see in the list with similar Sycs i have tried but to no avail.

[astraa]

Well after alot of RFM
I found this tit bit of info

rpm -e NVIDIA_kernel
rpm -e NVIDIA_GLX

As guess what. I have my old settings back.

All seems to be well apart from my Mouse going daft.


Thankyou all for all your help
:D

[lildr00d]

I've expierenced this sort of behavior on my 2nd linux box. Im testing out RedHat 7.3 and thus far SEQ works as normal except response to mouse movement is really slow.. I.E Move mouse over spawn and it takes 30sec to 1 min to display info.


I think this is because its RH 7.3 and useing 3.0.5. I read on the posts that 3.0.1 thru 3.0.4 is recomended.


Again I am just testing this out to see if RH 7.3 will be a better option or not.

[fryfrog]

lil, compile qt-2.3.2 with gcc3 and see what happens. i was noticing odd behavior and general slowness when compiling against qt-3.x myself.

as for the NVIDIA rpms, you really should get them working. did you follow the instructions on their site to a T? if you are not using the EXACT kernel they describe, you CAN NOT USE the rpms and need to compile the source.

it truely is worth it, the accelerated drivers are very nice. they are also probably the most updated and most current of ANY linux video driver.

[astraa]

Originally posted by fryfrog
lil, compile qt-2.3.2 with gcc3 and see what happens. i was noticing odd behavior and general slowness when compiling against qt-3.x myself.

as for the NVIDIA rpms, you really should get them working. did you follow the instructions on their site to a T? if you are not using the EXACT kernel they describe, you CAN NOT USE the rpms and need to compile the source.

it truely is worth it, the accelerated drivers are very nice. they are also probably the most updated and most current of ANY linux video driver.

Yes Fryfrog I did follow it to the "T" and I shall be retrying it over the weekend, I belive that it was a Self mistake, and I will keep you informed as to the outcome.

Do I take it from your reply above that qt-3.x is better or worse that qt-2.3.2 ? and if so are u including it in the Installs posts?

TTFN
Astraa

[fryfrog]

i tried qt-3 and qt-2, and my personal opinion is that it works better with qt-2. i think a few others noticed that as well.

[qdogz]

Originally posted by Cryonic
change to init 3 (should keep X from spawning). Login as root. run Xconfigurator and reselect your hardware and modes.

qdogz: START YOUR OWN THREAD. DON'T REPLY TO SOMEONE ELSES WITH AN UNRELATED PROBLEM!!! ALSO READ THE FAQ AND FIND AN INSTALL GUIDE BEFORE YOU ASK A QUESTION

Sorry.. I must have had 2 windows open and posted in the wrong one. Jeez.. take a valium..

[qdogz]

Originally posted by fryfrog
i tried qt-3 and qt-2, and my personal opinion is that it works better with qt-2. i think a few others noticed that as well.

I compiled both qt-2 and qt-3, qt-3 was a bit slower on the compile, and the only noticeable difference I saw on in SEQ was that some of the previous draws on the map were not visible as quick, and with qt-3 the did.

I played with it for a while, and ended up freezing the Desktop and had to manually restart X

back to qt-2.

astraa you said that you dual booted XP and RH? have you noticed anything (other than its windows) strange behavior when in XP?

[astraa]

Originally posted by qdogz


I compiled both qt-2 and qt-3, qt-3 was a bit slower on the compile, and the only noticeable difference I saw on in SEQ was that some of the previous draws on the map were not visible as quick, and with qt-3 the did.

I played with it for a while, and ended up freezing the Desktop and had to manually restart X

back to qt-2.

astraa you said that you dual booted XP and RH? have you noticed anything (other than its windows) strange behavior when in XP?

Hi qdogz

Hmm I installed XP first and then RH 7.3 useing Grub, XP works fine, I have no probs in XP at all, its stable and does not lockup or screen blanking like RH does, so I am now going to install the Nvidia drivers again on RH 7.3.

Only thing I stuck on now is the NVchooser file that they say you should download at http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?PAGE=linux I cant get to run, its full file name is Nvchooser.sh and I dont know how to run this. The system I have is a AMD so I take it I have to install the Althlon architecture, as i think the I386 or i686 or i585 means Intel ? could someone answer me this question so I can proceed.

the files I have downloaded so far are

NVchooser

GLX RPM NVIDIA_GLX-1.0-2960.i386.rpm 41f1be196298c78a1ecb771517b81f1b

This file Im not sure about, It was the one I installed first time round
RedHat 7.3 UP i386 Architecture NVIDIA_kernel-1.0-2960.rh73up.i386.rpm 7d1d768bb836dcd55b48cc814ab1b8ce


RedHat 7.3 UP Athlon Architecture NVIDIA_kernel-1.0-2960.rh73up.athlon.rpm 942875b5aef33c374a32d91a994cf01e



Thks

Astraa

[domesticbeer]

Astra
do
chmod +x NVchooser.sh
then
./NVchooser.sh

[astraa]

Originally posted by domesticbeer
Astra
do
chmod +x NVchooser.sh
then
./NVchooser.sh

Woot Excellent. I owe ya a Beer )) :-)

:D

Astraa

TTFN
Runs off screaming "There coming to get me, for the funny farm"

[Cryonic]

screen blanking? sounds like X is set to blank the screen to conserve power.

xset -s off

keeps it from blanking on me. Also check to see if you have a screensaver set to turn on after X minutes of idle time. ShowEQ running doesn't count as you doing stuff, only moving the mouse or typing counts.

[fryfrog]

i usually end up using "xset s off" and "xset -dpms" :)

the s turns the screen saver off, -dpms turns off the power saving thing.

[domesticbeer]

If you are using the nvidia drivers from nvidia you may want also enable GLX in the XF86Config file and tell it to use the Nvidia drivers

In /etc/X11/XF86Config

do this


Section "Device"
Identifier "NVIDIA GeForce"
#Driver "nv"
Driver "nvidia"
#VideoRam 32768
# Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate
EndSection




and this



Section "Module"

# This loads the GLX module
# Load "glx" (Uncomment this line)



Only if you have downloaded and installed the drivers from Nvidia.

[astraa]

Well Installed and edited the lines as directed in the Nvidia read me.
here it is i hope its not too long. Does everything look ok ?

# File generated by anaconda.

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Anaconda Configured"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"

# The location of the RGB database. Note, this is the name of the
# file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db"). There is normally
# no need to change the default.

RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"

# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together)
# By default, Red Hat 6.0 and later now use a font server independent of
# the X server to render fonts.

FontPath "unix/:7100"

EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "extmod"
Load "fbdevhw"
Load "pex5"
Load "glx"
Load "record"
Load "xie"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "keyboard"

# Option "AutoRepeat" "500 5"

# when using XQUEUE, comment out the above line, and uncomment the
# following line
# Option "Protocol" "Xqueue"

# Specify which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1))
# Option "Xleds" "1 2 3"

# To disable the XKEYBOARD extension, uncomment XkbDisable.
# Option "XkbDisable"

# To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the
# lines below (which are the defaults). For example, for a non-U.S.
# keyboard, you will probably want to use:
# Option "XkbModel" "pc102"
# If you have a US Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use:
Option "XkbModel" "microsoft"
#
# Then to change the language, change the Layout setting.
# For example, a german layout can be obtained with:
Option "XkbLayout" "de"
# or:
# Option "XkbLayout" "de"
# Option "XkbVariant" "nodeadkeys"
#
# If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and
# control keys, use:
# Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:nocaps"
Option "XkbRules" "xfree86"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
Option "XkbVariant" "basic"
#Option "XkbOptions" ""
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
# Modified by mouseconfig
Driver "mouse"
Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"
Option "Protocol" "PS/2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "yes"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "Monitor Model"
HorizSync 30.0-69.0
VertRefresh 50.0-120.0
Option "dpms"

# -- 1400x1050 --
# 1400x1050 @ 60Hz, 65.8 kHz hsync
Modeline "1400x1050" 129 1400 1464 1656 1960
1050 1051 1054 1100 +HSync +VSync

# 1400x1050 @ 70Hz, 76.8 kHz hsync
Modeline "1400x1050" 151 1400 1464 1656 1960
1050 1051 1054 1100 +HSync +VSync

# 1400x1050 @ 75Hz, 82.3 kHz hsync
Modeline "1400x1050" 162 1400 1464 1656 1960
1050 1051 1054 1100 +HSync +VSync

# 1400x1050 @ 85Hz, 93.2 kHz hsync
Modeline "1400x1050" 184 1400 1464 1656 1960
1050 1051 1054 1100 +HSync +VSync

EndSection

Section "Device"
# no known options
Identifier "NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX (generic)"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX (generic)"
BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX (generic)"

#BusID
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX (generic)"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 16

Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubsection

EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In this section Section

#"Device"
# # no known options
# Identifier "NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX (generic)"
# Driver "nvidia"
# VendorName "NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX (generic)"
# BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX (generic)"
#
# #BusID
#EndSection
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It failed to pickup the Asus G.Card so this is waht is from the Redhat 7.2 Original install. I tryed to run XConfigurator but it keep bonking out on me, so I had to manually edit.

I hope I have not made a Grave n00b mistake in this. It seem to run fine ATM.

Astraa

[domesticbeer]

does the nvidia logo appear when X starts?

[astraa]

Originally posted by domesticbeer
does the nvidia logo appear when X starts?

No it does not I was wondering about that ..

[domesticbeer]

something is not loaded correctly then.

[astraa]

Originally posted by domesticbeer
something is not loaded correctly then.

Oh bummer. Any one else know what has not loaded correclty ??

[astraa]

Hi All

I would like to thank the following.

Cryonic
Fryfrog
BlueAdept
high_jeeves
S_B_R
domesticbeer

for all the help given on my problem, since installing the nivida drivers the system is stable is does not cloes down it does not screenblank anymore, it does however Not show the Nvidia Logo on boot up, and the Linux grp in UK proved to be a dead bird, no answer from any of them.

Once again Thankyou all.

:D