[SOLVED] Boot error with new kernel-2.6.40.6-0.fc15.x86_64

[Doug Hutcheson]

I use the proprietary Nvidia driver, kept up to date by kmod-nvidia as far as I understand.

I have just allowed the system to update to kernel-2.6.40.6-0.fc15.x86_64. The boot succeeded, but the display manager did not start. The trace on screen was as follows:

Started Display Manager
[  39.132791] systemd-readahead-collect[470]: Failed to read event: Value too large for defined data type

I have no idea what this means.

I successfully booted into the previous kernel 2.6.40.4-5.fc15.x86_64, so it is something to do with the upgrade.

Is it a problem with the Nvidia driver, or is it in the Fedora realm? What do I do next?

[glennzo]

You may find some useful information here.

[Doug Hutcheson]

Hmmmmm ... that problem is with FC16, but it does point up the fact that there are current problems. I might just keep booting into the working kernel, until yum reports a new nvidia module is available and try again then.

Thanks for the reply.

[kschram]

I have the same problem every time a new kernel is released. The easy work around is as follows :
- do a yum downgrade on your kernel (to get a working installation).
- from time to time, do a yum check-upgrade and wait for the kmod-staging of the new kernel to become available.
- once it is available, you can upgrade the kernel again.

If you don't want to downgrade your kernel, you could also install bootconf (or something similar) and tell grub to start with the old kernel.

Yes, its annoying, but I have learned to live with it. In the mean time, I try to do updates on all my fedora computers once a month and postpone the update a couple of days if there is a new kernel and no kmod-staging...

Good luck.

Originally Posted by Doug Hutcheson

Hmmmmm ... that problem is with FC16, but it does point up the fact that there are current problems. I might just keep booting into the working kernel, until yum reports a new nvidia module is available and try again then.

Thanks for the reply.

what do you have installed? the binary blob from nvidia.com or the kmod from rpmfuson ?

[Doug Hutcheson]

detox: I use kmod-nvidia from rpmfusion. I understood that this pulled in the proprietary code from Nvidia - is that wrong?

kschram: Yes, that was the problem. I just ran a yum update and, sure enough, kmod-nvidia came with it. All working now.

Starts to write out 100 times:
I must wait for kmod-nvidia before updating kernel
I must wait for kmod-nvidia before updating kernel
I must wait for kmod-nvidia before updating kernel
...

[adellaci]

Originally Posted by Doug Hutcheson

detox: I use kmod-nvidia from rpmfusion. I understood that this pulled in the proprietary code from Nvidia - is that wrong?

kschram: Yes, that was the problem. I just ran a yum update and, sure enough, kmod-nvidia came with it. All working now.

Starts to write out 100 times:
I must wait for kmod-nvidia before updating kernel
I must wait for kmod-nvidia before updating kernel
I must wait for kmod-nvidia before updating kernel
...

ROFLMAO

There are many things i do in Linux that i should be writing lines too

Originally Posted by Doug Hutcheson

detox: I use kmod-nvidia from rpmfusion. I understood that this pulled in the proprietary code from Nvidia - is that wrong?

kschram: Yes, that was the problem. I just ran a yum update and, sure enough, kmod-nvidia came with it. All working now.

Starts to write out 100 times:
I must wait for kmod-nvidia before updating kernel
I must wait for kmod-nvidia before updating kernel
I must wait for kmod-nvidia before updating kernel
...

install the akmod-nvidia NOT the kmod-nvidia the akmod will rebuild a kmod for each kernel you install, the kmod can take days to get built in rpmfusion, so remove kmod and install the akmod

IMO i dont think RPMFusion should build kmods at all, just akmod-nvidia as its better for the user.

[Doug Hutcheson]

Originally Posted by detox

install the akmod-nvidia NOT the kmod-nvidia the akmod will rebuild a kmod for each kernel you install, the kmod can take days to get built in rpmfusion, so remove kmod and install the akmod

Well, just goes to show you keep on learning!

For any lurkers, I did a 'yum erase kmod-nvidia', followed by 'yum install akmod-nvidia.x86_64', which brought in a number of dependencies:

Installed:
  akmod-nvidia.x86_64 1:280.13-2.fc15.3                                                                             

Dependency Installed:
  akmods.noarch 0:0.3.6-3.fc12                               emacs-filesystem.x86_64 1:23.2-19.fc15                 
  fakeroot.x86_64 0:1.12.4-3.fc15                            fakeroot-libs.x86_64 0:1.12.4-3.fc15                   
  kernel-devel.x86_64 0:2.6.40.6-0.fc15                      kmodtool.noarch 0:1-18.fc11                            
  rpm-build.x86_64 0:4.9.1.1-2.fc15                          rpmdevtools.noarch 0:8.1-1.fc15                        
  xemacs-filesystem.noarch 0:21.5.31-2.fc15

Thank you, detox, for detoxing my thinking. Cheers, Doug.