NESS eDR400 - linux flash boot failure

[knight2001dts]

Hi!

Just wondering if anyone here has access to a NESS eDR400 DVR that could possibly make a .bin of the 64mB flash device, as my unit has a linux boot error and now fails to boot into the program.......

error is as follows:

Code: Bad EIP value.
./module_load: line 39: 464 Segmentation fault /sbin/insmod -f $MOD

i have no idea what that means other than it has shat itself

CHEERS!

Knight

[intelliGEORGE]

Code: Bad EIP value

This is generally a Hardware fault.

./module_load: line 39: 464 Segmentation fault /sbin/insmod -f $MOD

Segmentation faults can be caused by a number of things being;

If you've transfered a program from some other machine, you may have corrupted the file in the transfer.

Compiling a Linux kernel.

The machine has been running for years and suddenly stuff like this starts happening. This is called kernel panic.

My hunch points to Kernel Panic.

Possible reasons for a system panic, is an E Trap. Basically, an E trap is a page fault that referenced an impossible page: the CPU tries to access an address that does not exist and can't be accessed. As page references are normally very carefully managed, the usual cause for this is bad (defective) RAM; scrambled bits point the CPU toward disaster and it blindly follows.

Therefore, if you have a kernel panic on a machine that otherwise has been running along for months or years, bad RAM is the most likely suspect.

[tytower]

This is the output from "man.insmod" on a current Linux machine
The -f switch isn't mentioned so it may be a much older version .This is version 8 . $MOD means the contents of the variable MOD and this is probably a file name as the -f might mean "file" . So it cant find the file it seeks .

I agree with the above and wonder if the memory is rmovable or all in an eeprom or something .

I wonder how you might connect this up to a monitor or linux machine for a look see . Can this be done George?

insmod(8) insmod(8)

NAME
insmod — simple program to insert a module into the Linux Kernel

SYNOPSIS
insmod [filename] [module options ...]

DESCRIPTION
insmod is a trivial program to insert a module into the kernel: if the
filename is a hyphen, the module is taken from standard input. Most
users will want to use modprobe(8) instead, which is cleverer.

Only the most general of error messages are reported: as the work of
trying to link the module is now done inside the kernel, the dmesg usu‐
ally gives more information about errors.

BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY
This version of insmod is for kernels 2.5.48 and above. If it detects
a kernel with support for old-style modules (for which much of the work
was done in userspace), it will attempt to run insmod.old in its place,
so it is completely transparent to the user.

COPYRIGHT
This manual page Copyright 2002, Rusty Russell, IBM Corporation.

SEE ALSO
modprobe(8), rmmod(8), lsmod(8), insmod.old(8)

[intelliGEORGE]

I agree with the above and wonder if the memory is rmovable or all in an eeprom or something .

I wonder how you might connect this up to a monitor or linux machine for a look see . Can this be done George?

To be honest I usually send my units back, a quick call to Ness Technical support might shed some light on it. All I know is the OS is embedded 64Mb CF card, so it wouldn't surprise me if the memory was in an eprom.

[knight2001dts]

Thanks for the replies guys!!!

I have since contacted NESS and got a replacement flash card, and now the unit boots up OK.......

Except that now there is no HD power......It is looking like a bad zener on the drive power board also as a result of a power surge/outage.

The flash has stopped all boot failures, but now this other problem to sort.......any common faults with this ?? Have now posed the question to NESS who have been fantastic so far.

CHEERS!!!

Knight.

[cwispy]

The most common cause of any linux failure like you mention above is faulty storage device, be it hdd, cf, flash ram, dvd/cd etc. I come across this almost on a daily basis with the linux support which I offer to a lot of clients who sell but do not repair of maintain, linux based equipment. That said, I tend to see a lot of failed CF cards. I generally clone the replacement cards when i get them so i can then make replacements as needed without having to wait for replacements.

[SafetyDancer]

Cwispy, thats the best thing to do.

Back those CF cards up where possible. Especially when dealing with proprietary / linux OS"s :P

I've tried rebuilding a Kobi DVR without much luck, and it costs a pretty penny to get DVR's rebuilt, no matter how simple they are!

[Chimp]

[QUOTE= I've tried rebuilding a Kobi DVR [/QUOTE]

Why would you bother lol

[Chimp]

sorry SafetyDancer not really a big fan of the Kobi stuff

[SafetyDancer]

Yeah I don't particularly like them either, but I'm happy to work on anything that comes my way.

My favourite cheap(ish) embedded dvr at the moment is the Pacom PDR 16-LX series.

Easy to sell, install, service and operate.