Linux Seti Cruncher down after power failure...

[OhioDude]

If someone can lend a hand, please do.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=34&threadid=736833

So far, I can't say that I'm all that impressed with X's reliability! :Q Granted, I'm a neophyte when it comes to X, but I've had to reinstall RedHat 7.2 on this system FOUR times and all I was trying to do was install a different monitor on the blasted thing! :| Plus, this box is a pig at Seti compared to when it was running Win2k, even when I run the Windows clients in WINE, average time per wu after about 40 wu's is nearly 1/2 hour slower than when I had Win2K Server installed on the box. :disgust:

 

[OhioDude]

Can any of our resident Linux guru's (you know who you are) give me a hand?

 

[Confused]

Bump here for great team member

OD, maybe you should title the post "nm" or "ignore", then you'll get everyone looking

ConfusedBW

 

[Evadman]

<< Bump here for great team member

OD, maybe you should title the post "nm" or "ignore", then you'll get everyone looking

ConfusedBW >>



ROFLMAO!

 

[IJump]

Couldn't really help other than with free bumps to keep both threads toward the top. I am interested in how you fix it, though.

 

[htmlmasterdave]

I know so little, it boggles the mind

EDIT: (about linux)

 

[n0cmonkey]

I just wanted to mention that this is an X problem, not a linux problem.

 

[CraigRT]

Sorry OD, can't help ya with Linux..


<< Plus, this box is a pig at Seti compared to when it was running Win2k, even when I run the Windows clients in WINE, average time per wu after about 40 wu's is nearly 1/2 hour slower than when I had Win2K Server installed on the box. >>



now I don't know.. but is there a reason you can't put Win2K back on it? that'd be a lot easier eh? heh

 

[Poof]

Sorry I didn't jump in here earlier but I've been sortof hanging out on the CPU forum getting some last minute info on the 1.6a woodies whilst I now wait for the damn Fedex man to show up with the rest of my stuff! ::|

Anyway - I did go through that other thread and I would have to agree with n0c both times in that X =! Linux and if you are evaluating for server use, there's no need to have X installed at all! As you should know, *nix is also =! windoze and doesn't require a graphical interface to run.

When reconfiguring stuff with X, you don't need to reinstall the entire distro to get X working... You need to either manually edit the XF86config-blah file (I noticed that the name is different these days) OR run some utility like xf86setup, etc., to try to get that stuff going automatically. I think that other distros need to use SuSE's "SaX" X configurator as it's as good with configuring X, as Red Hat's sndconfig is when configuring a sound card.

It seems like you're having a sync problem (wrong values in there).

With respect to SETI, it is known that the linux client is slower than the windoze client because they compiled the windoze client with the Intel compiler and compiled the linux one with gcc. There IS now an Intel compiler for Linux but since the SETI folks refuse to fix bugs in their clients that might speed things up, I doubt that they would allow the linux porter to recompile the linux client with the latest compilers.

Also, when running the CLI in WINE, the key is to run it with the "nt40" file system parameter, otherwise it defaults to 9x, ie., run it as (assuming the CLI is renamed to "seti.exe"):

wine --winver nt40 -- seti.exe -{parameters if necessary}

IIRC, there is a database of XF86config files on the net somewhere and you might be able to google to it by including your monitor name in there along with "XF86config".

 

[TNOguy]

RH 7.2 has xconfigurator, that is all you need to run to reset X for a new monitor Ohio Dude. It will try to detect your monitor via probe, and if it can't figure things out will allow you to specify your model, or to enter the vertical/horizontal sync values, and resolution. I'm sorry you went through the pain of re-installing for that.

If I can be of help let me know


TNOguy
(Van)

 

[zeruty]

<< Sorry I didn't jump in here earlier but I've been sortof hanging out on the CPU forum getting some last minute info on the 1.6a woodies whilst I now wait for the damn Fedex man to show up with the rest of my stuff! ::| >>



Sorry I couldn't resist this Poof.... but you deserve much more than 1.6" woodi.....errr never mind
(I'm talking about 1.6ghz northwood.... you sickos what were you thinking?)
err..
anyways...
yeah OhioDude, run xconfigurator and it should let you reconfigure

 

[Poof]

zeruty - sorry you didn't realize that I'm a babe and I don't measure performance in inches like you guys do. heh heh

 

[OhioDude]

Thanks for all the help, people!

A few points of note. First of all, there was no way I was going near that woodie remark, but I sure was tempted! :Q

I don't believe it is a refresh issue because the display is static, unlike an incorrectly set refresh rate where you can normally see the the image change, waving or vibrating, especially when moving the mouse pointer around, while the electron gun goes spastic inside the monitor. Also, the entire system hangs when X starts. I can't even telnet from a client. I've never seen a refresh problem on a monitor completely hang a system.

I ran Xconfigurator numerous times to try and get X to work with the other monitor to no avail. It's an older monitor, a Packard Bell 3020, that probe can't talk to. That model is listed but choosing it did not fix the problem. I re-ran Xconfigurator and manually set the vsync and hsync rates based on the monitor specs, but that didn't fix the problem either. I even re-installed RH from scratch with this monitor on the system. The first time it tried to start X, it hung with the same symptoms.

I haven't yet found the time to try Xconfigurator on the system since the power outtage on Saturday blew out X. (This is with the original CTX monitor that was working fine.) I will try that sometime today.

Just for the record, here are the hardware specs. It was built mostly from spare parts:

Tiger 100 Dual Slot-1 MB
400 MHz Pentium II (2)
256 MB Samsung
Western Digital 40 GB IDE HD (New)
Diamond Viper V330
Linksys LNE-100 10/100 (New)
Ancient Mitsumi 4X CD-ROM
CTX VL500 monitor
Antec KS282 Case w/300W PS

Pretty basic system...

Yes, I know that X != *nix. And yes I know that you don't need X to run Linux or any other *nix. I've installed and worked on quite a few *nix servers before, mostly AIX and HP-UX and we currently have a SCO 5.0.5 server in-house to run legacy apps, all sans X. This is absolutely my first experience with X, and it hasn't been a happy one.

 

[ColinP]

Yeah, getting X to work with an older monitor can be a ah heck....

You could search on the net for the monitor ideal/maximum parameters then edit your xf86config file manually (you may need to add a modeline etc). I've not had to mess with that stuff for a while.

Found this

There used to be a program called XF86Setup that was a bit more friendly than xconfigurator, that may be worth a go.

Do you know that when you try to start X and it crashes you can hit ctrl-alt-backspace together to quit X ?
Should work.

keep trying

Col

 

[n0cmonkey]

<< Yes, I know that X != *nix. And yes I know that you don't need X to run Linux or any other *nix. I've installed and worked on quite a few *nix servers before, mostly AIX and HP-UX and we currently have a SCO 5.0.5 server in-house to run legacy apps, all sans X. This is absolutely my first experience with X, and it hasn't been a happy one. >>



X is just there so you can have multiple [xea]terms on the screen at one time.

Try removing the X rpms and reinstalling them. Something funky is going on. Have you upgraded your kernel at all? Any hardware conflicts?

 

[TNOguy]

<< zeruty - sorry you didn't realize that I'm a babe and I don't measure performance in inches like you guys do. heh heh >>



Really? Poof, why don't I have your pic yet and why aren't two Linux lovers like us together yet?

Crazee told me before that although we had Kari Wurhrer, the babe actress extraordinare, you guys had someone named "Poof". Would love to meet you

Ohio Dude: After all of that, even installing RH Linux from scratch with the monitor hooked in, I'm wondering if your monitor just isn't supported...? Did you say that it USED to work? If so, was that on a previous RH distro? Just curious. Did that monitor EVER work with RH 7.2? If it did, was it just up to the power outage?

Also: Does your monitor still work fine with other OS's? Are you able to boot just fine visually into WINDOZE of any sort if you are dual boot?

And Poof? Will you marry me?

TNOguy

 

[zeruty]

I knew you are a babe Poof, thats why I mentioned it in the first place


I was gonna ask the same thing TNOguy


OhioDude: yeah, you have a reputation to maintain, I read your mind and said it for you

 

[Poof]

:Q

LOL you Penguins!!!!!

BTW, I finally got my P4 up on SETI @150MHz bus, 1.55Vcore. It's running 1.6@2.4!!!

Thing is, it's doing around the same times as my XP 1900 running 1.6@1.7 (142FSB). Anyone see anything wild here about the P4's performance in comparison????

Anyway... gotta figure out which distro I want to put on it...

 

[OhioDude]

<< And Poof? Will you marry me? >>


Get in line, Van...

Besides being a hardware buff, bit-fiddler, tweak master, Linux expert, DC crack master, and Seti race babe, I also hear she has a monster home theater setup. AND she has every Star Trek episode ever produced on video tape! :Q:Q:Q



To answer your questions, Van. The original monitor on the system when I installed RH was a 15" CTX VL500. I then tried to switch it out with a spare 17" Packard Bell 3020 which is still a good monitor used as a spare on several systems. In fact, right now, it is running perfectly on a Win2K workstation. I was never able to get it to work with X after running Xconfigurator and manually entering the monitor specs. Since it was a brand new install of RH at the time, I just re-installed RH from scratch with that monitor attached to see if that would get it to work. Suprisingly, during the install, the 3020 did show up as a monitor choice. But as soon as RH tried to show the GUI logon, the same symptoms listed in one of my earlier posts appeared. No biggy, at that point, so I just replaced it with the CTX (which can be probed) and reinstalled again. X ran fine with that monitor until the power failures on Saturday. And the CTX is still good. I've tried it on several other systems since then and it works fine.

I haven't had a chance to spend any more time debugging the X problem this week. I hope to get back to it shortly. There are other issues and deadlines occupying my time right now.

 

[zeruty]

For the sake of all that is good in this world.... Poof.. you must reproduce! We need more of your superiority in the gene pool