MP-BIOS bug on Asus Pundit1 AH2 (Kernel panic)

[Filip Palm]

I saw some other bugreports about this issue but they are all Fix Commited, but this isn't fixed.

I get this when i boot my Asus Pundit 1 AH2 barebone:

Uncompressing Linux... Ok, booting the kernel.
[..some numbers..] ..MP-BIOS bug: 8254 timer not connected to IO-APIC
[..some numbers..] Kernel panic - not syncing: IO-APIC + timer doesn't work! Boot with apic=debug and send report. Then try to boot with the 'noapic' option
[..some numbers..] _

I have this problem on all kernels from dapper to edgy. I have tried feisty but there is another bug so i can't even boot with the noapic option. It "Kernel panic"s either way.

When i try the apic=debug option nothing happens, just shows me the same information as before, but if i use the noapic option it boots as it should (all but the feisty ones).

Let me know if there is anything i can do to help out.

[carlb (bocek)]

I experienced this same problem trying to install Ubuntu 6.10 AMD 64 version. I get a kernel panic message. I posted this in the Ubuntu forum as well. I disabled acpi in the Bios to permit the install to work. This is a new build

The hardware is as follows:
Biostar Tforce 550 Motherboard for AM2
AMD A64 X2 3800
Wintec Memory 2x512 MB (1GB)
Maxtor 40gb IDE drive
Samsung 500gb SATA2 drive
Biostar V7102GL26 Video card (GForce 7100)
DVD drive

Its not clear how you would also go about using the noapic option in the CD install. Never did figure that out. Regardless there is a problem with running with APIC enabled on my system

[Filip Palm (filip)]

I have done some more tests now.

Dapper 6.06.1 fresh install
* Works fine.
---------

Dapper 6.06.1 with updates installed
* Kernel panic, works with "noapic" option.
---------

Edgy 6.10 fresh install
* Kernel panic, "works" with "noapic" option ("noapic" option needed when booting the install CD to).
---------

Edgy 6.10 with updates installed
* Kernel panic(or crash, debug messages all over the place) when running with "noapic" option, without "noapic" option usplash justs sits there doing nothing.
---------

Feisty 7.04 Herd1 fresh install
* Kernel panic(or crash, debug messages all over the place), even with "noapic".
---------

Feisty 7.04 with updates installed
* Works fine, prints out "Failed Failed Failed" at boot but works. Will attach dmesg-log.

"[ 12.593842] ACPI: Core revision 20060707
[ 12.642732] .. failed
[ 12.682743] .. failed
[ 12.722745] .. failed"

[vitt84 (vitt84)]

I have a similar problem concerning to IO-APIC in my new laptop bought a few days ago.
when i boot i receive the message "mp-bios bug: 8254 timer not connected to io-apic". after this, sometimes the boot process stops.. but generally it continue to run (during the remaining boot process, EVERY TIME ubuntu checks all filesystems.. and this activity requires EVERY TIME some minutes).

furthermore, if I boot with special options like noapic, there is the Kernel Panic .

i attach some quotes from dmesg:

--------------------
[4294670.901000] ACPI: Looking for DSDT ... not found!
[4294670.931000] ENABLING IO-APIC IRQs
[4294670.932000] ..TIMER: vector=0x31 apic1=0 pin1=0 apic2=-1 pin2=-1
[4294670.934000] ..MP-BIOS bug: 8254 timer not connected to IO-APIC
[4294670.934000] ...trying to set up timer (IRQ0) through the 8259A ... failed.
[4294670.934000] ...trying to set up timer as Virtual Wire IRQ... failed.
[4294670.934000] ...trying to set up timer as ExtINT IRQ... works.
...
[4294687.386000] bcm43xx: Error: Microcode "bcm43xx_microcode5.fw" not available or load failed.
[4294687.401000] bcm43xx: Error: Microcode "bcm43xx_microcode5.fw" not available or load failed.
...
[4294850.805000] Error calling BSTS
[4294850.805000] A6M model detected, unsupported, trying default values, supply the developers with your DSDT
--------------------

[vitt84 (vitt84)]

i forgot to mention in the previous post my hardware:

ASUS Notebook A6M-Q065H | CPU 32 bit: SEMPRON 3400+ | RAM: 1 GB DDR2 667 | HD: 100 GB | Video card: NVIDIA GeForce Go 6100

[studiomohawk (studiomohawk)]

I have same problem here using Asus M2N-E motherboard with AMD Atnhon 64 X2 4600+ and NVIDIA GeForce 7900GS.

Windows XP works fine, but ubuntu 6.06.1 gave me same message posted here. I did try fedora core 5, but almost same message. Booting with linux 5.0 gave me black screen.

[Izwalito (izwalito)]

I experienced the same problem on a new machine using ubuntu 6.10 DVD.
the noapic option got ubuntu DVD to run. I was able to install ubuntu on my hard drive;
first reboot got me the same error again, I then removed the quiet option to get the error msg reported below.

hardware is:

AMD Athlon X2 3800+ EE 65W (AM2)
ASUS Crosshair MotherBoard
CORSAIR TWIN2X2048-6400 - DDR2-800 - 2x 1GB
GIGABYTE GV-NX76T256D-RH (GeForce 7600GT)
HD 160GB SATA2
PLEXTOR PX-716SA (SATA)
FORTRON 400W ATX FSP400-60GLN

Error msg is :

[17179573.104000] ENABLING IO-APIC IRQs
[17179573.108000] ..TIMER: vector=0x31 apic1=0 pin1=0 apic2=-1 pin2=-1
[17179573.112000] ..MP-BIOS bug: 8254 timer not connected to IO-APIC
[17179573.112000] ...trying to set up timer (IRQ0) through the 8259A ... failed.
[17179573.112000] ...trying to set up timer as Virtual Wire IRQ... failed.
[17179573.112000] ...trying to set up timer as ExtINT IRQ... failed :(.
[17179573.276000] Kernel panic - not syncing: IO-APIC + timer doesn't work! Boot with apic=debug and send report. Then try to boot with the 'noapic' option
[17179573.276000] _

using the noapic seems to help so far

[MichelM (michel-moreaux)]

Also get "kernel panic - not syncing IO-APIC + timer doesn't work".
I had installed Latest UBuntu release (fully updated) on an ASUS M2NPV-VM MicroATX
in november/december. No problem so far. Works perfectly any time.

Then recently (January 10th 2006), I performed the "update process". Many updates were automatically performed (more than 30 if I remember right). At the end (after all updates have been loaded and installed), I was asked for rebooting. Then... BANG!.. Kernel panic - not syncing, etc...

Now. The system does not boot correctly many times, reporting a kernel panic error. It boots sometimes after several tries to reboot. I have been asked to boot the kernel with "noapic" but I have not yet done so. Without doing so, the system boots sometimes.

When the system boots, it's OK afterwards. I had never had such a problem _before_ the latest system update.

[gr!m (mstvartak)]

I get the same error. My system specs are:

AMD X2 3600+ AM2
Biostar Tforce 550

I went into BIOS but the option to disable APIC is greyed out.

[Filip Palm (filip)]

I havent have this problem since i started using the "generic" kernel, so this only affects the i386 kernel.

[jlibster (jonahlibster)]

This problem with the IO-APIC error doesn't appear with the Latest Release (Feisty Fawn 7.04) with th Asus M2NPV-VM. However it does come up with the M2n32-SLI and SLI Deluxe. I hope the Generic kernel works properly. I hope some auto-detect method can be created so this doesn't happen with the novice person trying out Ubuntu.

[vitt84 (vitt84)]

This problem with the IO-APIC error * CONTINUES * to appear with the Latest Release (Feisty Fawn 7.04) with th Asus A6M-Q065H

[jonathanku (jonathanku)]

I'm also having the problem with Edgy
Hardware: ASUS M2N4-SLI // AMD64 X2 4600 // 2GB DDR2 667.

If I interupt the boot process with [Esc], the other options (safe mode??) do appear to let me into my Edgy installation.
I'm relatively new to Linux (this is my second Ubuntu install) - can someone clarify what the resolution process would normally be for this type of issue?

[jonathanku (jonathanku)]

For the benefit of others... I did this to solve my woes...

Add the following to the end of the "Kernel" line in /boot/grub/menu.lst
e.g. by typing: sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
...into a command prompt.

[vitt84 (vitt84)]

what we have to add?

[jonathanku (jonathanku)]

Sorry udiopz - forgot the most important part:
      noapic nolapic acpi=off pci=noacpi

So my "kernal" line looks something like:
      kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-generic root=UUID=28907a80-1829-4d20-b09d-36f9bdb2aad0 ro quiet splash noapic nolapic acpi=off pci=noacpi

JK

[Justin Bowes (daft-angus)]

I have the same Kernel Panic problem on my ASUS M2NBP-VM CSM board.

Please note: not only does "noapic" fix the problem, but so does removing the "splash" option.

The timer bug is still present in dmesg, but I get a kernel panic with "splash" and no kernel panic without "splash".

[jonathanku (jonathanku)]

Interesting - I'll try removing that myself and see what happens....

[Fred Mora (launchpad-net-trace)]

jonathanku,

Did you ever do that test?

I have an M2N-E SLI motherboard and I had a similar problem. I wasn't able to boot, much less install Linux. I changed my boot options to
quiet splash noacpi noapic nolapic acpi=off irqpoll

These boot parms allowed me to perform an Ubuntu 6.06 installation and to boot my machine reliably. I am not sure if I also need pci=noacpi. According to the BootPrompt-HOWTO, "This disables the use of ACPI routing information during the PCI configuration stages.". Is it required for this mobo, considering the parameters above?

[jonathanku (jonathanku)]

Fred... strange goings on here. My menu.lst now doesn't contain the noapic stuff I mentioned below.

I removed "Splash" anyway as an experiment as Justin suggested, but that only appears to show more of the bootup messages, as opposed to the ubuntu logo and the progress bar.

Sorry, can't answer your question about the pci=noacpi parameter. If things work (especially PCI devices) then I wouldn't worry about changing anything!

[Gaetan Nadon (memsize)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. You reported this bug a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue for you. Can you try with the latest Ubuntu release? Thanks in advance.
BugSquad

[Fred Mora (launchpad-net-trace)]

I have never been able to get the Asus M2N-E SLI motherboard to behave reliably. Even if I complete an Ubuntu install, I get random reboots during normal use (!). Nothing in the logs.

I "solved" my problem by banishing Asus mobos from my custom PCs and using another motherboard. A shame, considering how good the Asus mobos used to be and how well they used to work with Linux.

I am going to try the old mobo with 8.04 and see how it works.

[Gaetan Nadon (memsize)]

Thanks for responding. I am trying to assess if this is a valid bug in Ubuntu, I am not a developer. I've done a quick search for your mobo, and I got mixed results. Some claim it works and pass validation tests, others claim they were not able to install any Linux distro. I have seen comments like:

   "You need to disable ADMA by putting sata_nv.adma=0 as a boot parameter in order to install Ubuntu 8.04 64-bit. The 32-bit version installs without this parameter."

   "I struggled with random lockups under Edgy and then Feisty until "noapic" cured it for me. I had the 8254 timer message with Feisty but don't recall it with Edgy."

Many have reported acpi must be off and some BIOS versions did not work. Some claim Live CD does not work but alternate install does. This user has the same problem installing Fedora 8 on Asus M2N-MX:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/how-to-install-fedora-8-on-asus-m2n-mx-se-643214/
This Ubuntu threads inidicate the freezes are due to the nvidia driver.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=678377&highlight=MP-BIOS+bug%3A+8254+timer

I personally used Asus mobos for many years with just one problem where I had to upgrade the BIOS as I got intermittent freezing. However I always picked Intel chipset for Intel CPUs and now I have AMD690G for AMD CPU on a M2A-VM and running 64 bit Ubuntu.

There seems to be more than one problem and more than one solution. I found some excellent posts on the Ubuntu forum, some very recent. I am confident you can get the mobo working and perhaps rescue some hardware. If I had the hardware I would try it for you.

If you feel it's not worthy for you to pursue the matter, I'll mark the defect as invalid, otherwise I can mark it as confirmed and it will reach a developer.

Thanks

BugSquad

[Fred Mora (launchpad-net-trace)]

On Tuesday 23 December 2008 16:35, Gaetan Nadon - <email address hidden>
wrote:
> Thanks for responding. I am trying to assess if this is a valid bug in
> Ubuntu, I am not a developer. I've done a quick search for your mobo,
> and I got mixed results. Some claim it works and pass validation tests,
> others claim they were not able to install any Linux distro. I have seen
> comments like:
>
> "You need to disable ADMA by putting sata_nv.adma=0 as a boot
> parameter in order to install Ubuntu 8.04 64-bit. The 32-bit version
> installs without this parameter."
>
> "I struggled with random lockups under Edgy and then Feisty until
> "noapic" cured it for me. I had the 8254 timer message with Feisty but
> don't recall it with Edgy."
>
> Many have reported acpi must be off and some BIOS versions did not work.
> Some claim Live CD does not work but alternate install does. This user
> has the same problem installing Fedora 8 on Asus M2N-MX:
> http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/how-to-install-fe
>dora-8-on-asus-m2n-mx-se-643214/ This Ubuntu threads inidicate the
> freezes are due to the nvidia driver.
> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=678377&highlight=MP-BIOS+bug%3A
>+8254+timer
>
> I personally used Asus mobos for many years with just one problem where
> I had to upgrade the BIOS as I got intermittent freezing. However I
> always picked Intel chipset for Intel CPUs and now I have AMD690G for
> AMD CPU on a M2A-VM and running 64 bit Ubuntu.
>
> There seems to be more than one problem and more than one solution. I
> found some excellent posts on the Ubuntu forum, some very recent. I am
> confident you can get the mobo working and perhaps rescue some hardware.
> If I had the hardware I would try it for you.
>
> If you feel it's not worthy for you to pursue the matter, I'll mark the
> defect as invalid, otherwise I can mark it as confirmed and it will
> reach a developer.
>
> Thanks
>
> BugSquad

Bonjour Gaetan,

Not sure if you speak French (I am French) so I'm going to write in
English.

I still have the machine with the suspicious mobo. I'll try one of the
methods described here and we'll see if I still have problems. That's what
Christmas vacations are for, aren't they?

Thank you,

  --Fred

[Gaetan Nadon (memsize)]

Hi Fred,

Yes I do speak French, but for the benefit of those who don't, we shall continue in English :-) You may want to search the Ubuntu forum for "MP-BIOS bug: 8254 timer". I got many hits. I just listed a few examples. There are very recent posts as well, so others keep running in this problem.

I would cover the basics, like most up-to-date BIOS, good memory sticks and so on. Run the memory test from Live CD, I notice it loads a simple Linux kernel to do so. You can also load a non Linux OS, just to ensure the hardware is OK. Unplug any non essential hardware or USB device. You can also boot in recovery mode (if you get that far) to avoid any graphics issues.

The objective is to get a "simple test case" that we can submit to development. I was looking at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingProcedures written for those who want to report a bug, and there is a BIOS check tool which may help. I would recommend trying with Intrepid (8.10). I have a spare partition should you find something you want to compare.

No need to ruin your Holidays for this!
Thanks.

[Gaetan Nadon (memsize)]

Simply switch the bug report to New again if it is still a problem for you and you have additional information.

"We are closing this bug report because it lacks the information we need to investigate the problem, as described in the previous comments. Please reopen it if you can give us the missing information, and don't hesitate to submit bug reports in the future. To reopen the bug report you can click on the current status, under the Status column, and change the Status back to "New". Thanks again!"
BugSquad