[drm: i830_wait_ring] *ERROR* lockup

[Mikkel L. Ellertson]

Mike McCarty wrote:
> I run FC2 and had an unusual even today. I had a regular login,
> and also had logged in on the CTRL-ALT-F1. Suddenly, the screen
> went to the login screen on the GUI display, and when I switched to
> the CTRL-ALT-F1 TTY, I found these messages:
> 
> [drm: i830_wait_ring] *ERROR* space: 90016 wanted 131064
> [drm: i830_wait_ring] *ERROR* lockup
> [drm: i830_wait_ring] *ERROR* space: 90008 wanted 131064
> [drm: i830_wait_ring] *ERROR* lockup
> 
> When I went back to the GUI screen, and logged in, everything
> seemed normal, except that all my apps had died, of course.
> 
> I suspect an "out of RAM" type error. But I wonder what
> caused it. Googling turned up some info that makes it look
> like X is somewhat unstable. It's been running on this machine
> for a couple of years without a problem.
> 
> Mike
You may want to do a search on kernel memory overcommit.

"Memory overcommit is a Linux kernel feature that lets applications
allocate more memory than is actually available. The idea behind
this feature is that some applications allocate large amounts of
memory "just in case", but never actually use it. Thus, memory
overcommit allows you to run more applications than actually fit in
your memory, provided the applications don't actually use the memory
they've allocated. If they do, then the kernel terminates the
application."

Mikkel
-- 

  Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons,
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