Very Computer

I'm having a strange problem which appears to be(?) memory related.
                                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I'm running the "hamm" release of Debian on a Tyan dual CPU
motherboard with 1-166mH Pentium CPU. The problem predated the
installation of the "hamm" release. I was using Fast Page Mode Drams
memory, 2-16Mb + 2-4Mb SIMMS.

Most things ran, however, when I tried to build a new kernel I got
repeated failures with the error message:
"gcc: Internal compiler error: program cc1 got fatal signal 11"

These errors occured randomly in the make process with variable
frequency.

Also dselect gets random Segmentaion violations.

I purchased 2-32Mb SIMMS and replaced the memory. The errors
persisted. I then began trying all combinations of memory. The error
went away only when I ran with the 2-4Mb SIMMS. The computer runs
error free but painfully slow. (With only 8Mb of memory, it's a wonder
that it runs at all)

Has anyone else encountered a similar problem? Does anyone have any
ideas as to what could be causing the problem?

Any suggestions would be greatfully received.

Karl Abrams

I encountered many of the same problems you describe, which were fixed by
buying some high quality RAM.  I've found that some motherboards are more
picky than others about the ram quality.  One way to work around this is to
slow down the ram timings in BIOS.  Set them to the slowest (largest)
settings, and compile the kernel.  If you still get sig11s (even with the
newer EDO ram you bought, I'd start suspecting something else.  If things go
alright, start speeding up the settings slowly, and try recompiling the
kernel again.  Repeat until the start getting sig11s, then back off one
setting.  Of course, you probably won't notice that much of a performance
hit from leaving the ram at their slowest timings, so you can leave them
there if you're lazy.

-Dave

: I encountered many of the same problems you describe, which were fixed by
: buying some high quality RAM.  I've found that some motherboards are more
: picky than others about the ram quality.  One way to work around this is to
: slow down the ram timings in BIOS.  Set them to the slowest (largest)
: settings, and compile the kernel.  If you still get sig11s (even with the
: newer EDO ram you bought, I'd start suspecting something else.  If things go
: alright, start speeding up the settings slowly, and try recompiling the
: kernel again.  Repeat until the start getting sig11s, then back off one
: setting.  Of course, you probably won't notice that much of a performance
: hit from leaving the ram at their slowest timings, so you can leave them
: there if you're lazy.

I second that!

You may also slow down the settings for the timings with cache access
within the BIOS.
It makes a difference with some mobo's.

Regards,
Friedhelm

--
Microsoft is NOT the answer. Microsoft is the Question.
The answer is: "NO!"
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Friedhelm Mehnert,  Berliner Allee 42,  22850 Norderstedt,  Germany

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TIA

--

**********************  Only my opinion!!  *************************
Steve Martin, Software Engineer, Philips-Albuquerque Test Operations
NR7P                                               Ph:  505-822-7274


Linux ---- because reboots are for kernel upgrades...
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