Bug#623594: system freeze during boot with IOMMMU enabled
 

Package: Debian-testing-amd64-DC-1.iso (latest version converted to boot
USB)
Severity: Critical
Platform: x86_64 Linux (also .386/i686)

Description of problem:
Since I updated the firmware of my BIOS to a revision that supports AMD
IOMMU and turned that feature on, pretty much anything that runs Linux
fails to boot All I see about half a second after I pass the GRUB
bootloader is a blinking cursor in the upper left corner. The mouse gets
disabled (i.e. powered off in spite of being plugged in) and the
keyboard doesn't even respond to caps-lock, num-lock and scroll-lock
toggles (numlock light is constantly on).


I assume that it is needless to say that this is a non-issue when the
IOMMU feature is disabled.


This happens to any (x86_64) Linux based LiveCD I have tested so far:
lubuntu 10.4, ubuntu 10.10, Fedora 14, Fedora 15 beta, FreeBSD 8 (is not
Linux but...) and latest Debian Live.

I used the liveUSB in most of these attempts and it has a LED light that
just shuts off in the middle of the boot process when the freeze happens.

I don't have this problem with Windows 7 64 bit, XenServer (Install CD
with Linux tools as well as installed partition) and FreeDOS/MS-DOS
based boot CDs.


Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):
kernel 2.6.32.X and 2.6.35.X ... ???

How reproducible:
On my system; very. The failure rate is 100%.

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Use a computer with MSI 890FXA-GD70 and BIOS version 1.9 with IOMMU
enabled in the Advanced BIOS feature menu, XFX ATI5450 GPU, Intel Server
NIC (Copper), a DVD drive and two large harddrives.

2. Insert a Linux liveCD or liveUSB
3. Boot

Actual results:
Immediate crash with no info about it and all peripherals except the
display seemingly severed.


Expected results:
Successful boot.

Additional info:
I also get this problem with i386/i686 based liveCD/USBs, but in this
case the screen displays error messages. Here's a list of error messages
from the Fedora 15 beta liveCD:

[ 0.242337] [<c07cdf2c>] ? panic+0x5x/0x156
[ 0.242467] [<c043d898>] ? do_exit+0x66/0x61c
[ 0.242597] [<c07d57d3>] ? _raw_spin_unlock_irqrestore+0x13/0x15
[ 0.242730] [<c043beda>] ? kmsg_dump+0x3a/0xb8
[ 0.242863] [<c07d6c8b>] ? oops_end+0xa2/0xa8
[ 0.242976] [<c07cd9ec>] ? no_context+0x128/0x130
[ 0.243106] [<c07cdb0e>] ? __bad_area_nosemaphore+0x11a/0x122
[ 0.243239] [<c07cdb2d>] ? bad_area_nosemaphore+0x17/0x19
[ 0.243370] [<c07d8624>] ? do_page_fault+0x159/0x30c
[ 0.243500] [<c07d57d3>] ? _raw_spin_unlock_irqrestore+0x13/0x15
[ 0.243634] [<c0404ed7>] ? do_softirq+0x8c/0x92
[ 0.243766] [<c043fe77>] ? irq_exit+0x4c/0x70
[ 0.243896] [<c0404bff>] ? do_IRQ+0x7e/0x92
[ 0.243975] [<c07d84cb>] ? do_page_fault+0x0/0x30c
[ 0.244108] [<c07d62bf>] ? error_code+0x67/0x6c
[ 0.244241] [<c0a8db0b>] ? pci_pcibios_init+0xe5/0x234
[ 0.244373] [<c0a8e787>] ? __pci_mmcfg_init+0x1b1/0x1ea
[ 0.244506] [<c0a8d9f1>] ? pci_arch_init+0x2e/0x63
[ 0.244638] [<c0a8cb13>] ? dmi_id_init+0x266/0x28e
[ 0.244771] [<c0401194>] ? do_one_initcall+0x8c/0x140
[ 0.244975] [<c0a8d9c3>] ? pci_arch_init+0x0/0x63
[ 0.245106] [<c0a57a08>] ? kernel_init+0x1ec/0x278
[ 0.245238] [<c0a5781c>] ? kernel_init+0x0/0x278
[ 0.245369] [<c040377e>] ? kernel_thread_helper+0x6/0x10

These are the last error message lines shown on the screen before the crash.
The mouse and the USB stick is not "powered off" as in the x86_64 cases
but the keyboard is irresponsive as in the prior cases.




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