MP-BIOS bug problems with APIC and RAM > 1 GB

[waldorfm]

Following hardware: Macbook Pro Model 5.5, 2.53 Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB RAM
System: MacOSX Leopard 10.6.4, Virtualbox 3.2.8 r64453

Virtualbox configuration:
20 GB primary IDE HD
6 virtual SATA HD's.
RAM 1024 MB
1 CPU
IO APIC enabled
Hardware UTC clock enabled

Guest OS: Oracle Enterprise Linux 5.5

I've used above setup for a couple of weeks to experiment with Oracle 11g R2 ASM, without a problem, besides:
- CPU constantly high when Guest OS running, even when idle - blowing fan
- Kernel startup: "WARNNG calibrate_APIC_clock: the APIC timer calibration may be wrong"

When changing the RAM allocation of the guest OS from 1024 MB to 2048 MB the following reproducible problems occur:

- MP-BIOS bug: 8254 timer not connected to IO-APIC (new)
- Kernel startup: "WARNNG calibrate_APIC_clock: the APIC timer calibration may be wrong"
- Sporadic errors, sometime shutdown hangs, disk i/o stops, pressing a keys in terminal opens Vbox menus, etc.
- Strange errors such as hanging at synchronizing SCSI cache for disk sdk, although using SATA controller.
- Xorg not starting with display or terminal prompt garbled.

When I disable IO APIC in Virtualbox extended features:
- no longer displays the MP-BIOS bug message, but disk i/o hangs at startup.
- Fan goes quiet
- Vbox.log shows BIOS: int13_harddisk: function 02, unmapped device for ELDL=84
- hanging

Work-around:
- ioapic=off or noapic kernel parameter (configured in grub):
- IOAPIC disabled in Virtualbox setup

With above settings, system startup is working with or without IO APIC enabled in Virtualbox, but there are occasional wired issues, e.g. grub menu occasionally green at startup. Is there something broken with APIC and perhaps the INT13 interrupt when there is more than 1 GB RAM configured?

Thanks,
Markus


13-Sep-2010 Update

The system has frozen overnight, would not react to any key and I had to "force quit" virtualbox. I tested more grub boot options, also wondering why the grub menu sometimes appears in black and sometimes in green. I removed rhgb, quiet and also noapic from the kernel parameter line. To my surprise the system started properly again, even with IOAPIC is enabled in the Vbox settings. I put rghb quiet back and the system still works, with the 2 GB of RAM. Dmesg reports ACPI: Using IOAPIC for interrupt routing. The only side-affect I have noticed is that the fan is blowing at maximum again.

Was it just some glitch?. But restarting the application or computer was certainly not the issue, since I tried that before.


16-Sep-2010 Update

Ever since I allocated 2 GB of RAM Virtualbox has become unstable, occasionally crashing for various reasons. The console.app diagnostic reports show kernel errors like "EXC_BAD_INSTRUCTION (SIGILL)", "EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV)" and "EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS)".

Startup will sometimes hang, showing the MP-BIOS bug, however after some waiting or several restarts (cmd-r) the error disappears and the guest OS startup up normally.

I enabled "divider=10" in the grub startup options, which reduced CPU usage and slows down the fan, but the system is freezing after being idle for a while and does not respond to any keystrokes.

[jhowk]

I too have this same problem with CentOS 5.5. Interestingly enough though, if I create a guest that has X I don't get the same issues. Only for those guests that are bare bones installs...

[Cyberian]

I know this topic is old I still get this annoying error from time to time.

Host: Windows XP
Guest: Fedora 14

Even before the Grub selection screen appears the boot process hangs with messages shown in attachment.
If I close the guest window and start the same VM again it works without problems.

[dvestezar]

host win 7 64
guest Ubuntu 12.04.4 LTS
Mem 2048

I have same problem if I enable IO APIC because 2 CPU.

Code: Select all

29:56:27.301340 Reset initiated by ACPI
29:56:27.301416 Changing the VM state from 'RUNNING' to 'RESETTING'.
29:56:27.302076 CPUM: SetGuestCpuIdFeature: Enabled APIC
29:56:27.302104 PIT: mode=3 count=0x10000 (65536) - 18.20 Hz (ch=0)
29:56:27.310207 AHCI#0: Reset the HBA
29:56:27.314457 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#1: finished processing RESET
29:56:27.314496 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#0: finished processing RESET
29:56:27.314551 PDMR3Reset: after    12 ms, 1 loops: 1 async tasks - piix3ide/0
29:56:27.377024 Changing the VM state from 'RESETTING' to 'RUNNING'.
29:56:27.383089 Guest Log: BIOS: VirtualBox 4.3.0
29:56:27.383297 PIT: mode=2 count=0x10000 (65536) - 18.20 Hz (ch=0)
29:56:27.413914 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#1: RESET, DevSel=0 AIOIf=0 CmdIf0=0xa0 (-1 usec ago) CmdIf1=0x00 (-1 usec ago)
29:56:27.413977 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#1: finished processing RESET
29:56:27.424213 Display::handleDisplayResize(): uScreenId = 0, pvVRAM=0000000000000000 w=720 h=400 bpp=0 cbLine=0x0, flags=0x1
29:56:27.431370 AHCI#0: Reset the HBA
29:56:27.431495 AHCI#0: Port 0 reset
29:56:27.432452 Guest Log: BIOS: AHCI 0-P#0: PCHS=16383/16/63 LCHS=1024/255/63 67108864 sectors
29:56:27.432575 AHCI#0: Port 1 reset
29:56:27.433488 Guest Log: BIOS: AHCI 1-P#1: PCHS=4161/16/63 LCHS=520/128/63 4194304 sectors
29:56:27.433599 AHCI#0: Port 2 reset
29:56:27.434557 Guest Log: BIOS: AHCI 2-P#2: PCHS=16383/16/63 LCHS=1024/255/63 419430400 sectors
29:56:27.434679 AHCI#0: Port 3 reset
29:56:27.435723 Guest Log: BIOS: AHCI 3-P#3: PCHS=16383/16/63 LCHS=1024/255/63 734666752 sectors
29:56:27.435832 AHCI#0: Port 4 reset
29:56:27.435957 AHCI#0: Port 5 reset
29:56:27.436055 PIT: mode=2 count=0x48d3 (18643) - 64.00 Hz (ch=0)
29:56:27.444314 Display::handleDisplayResize(): uScreenId = 0, pvVRAM=0000000007cb0000 w=640 h=480 bpp=32 cbLine=0xA00, flags=0x1
29:56:29.917533 PIT: mode=2 count=0x10000 (65536) - 18.20 Hz (ch=0)
29:56:29.918093 Guest Log: BIOS: Boot : bseqnr=1, bootseq=0002
29:56:29.924613 Display::handleDisplayResize(): uScreenId = 0, pvVRAM=0000000000000000 w=720 h=400 bpp=0 cbLine=0x0, flags=0x1
29:56:29.955965 Guest Log: BIOS: Booting from Hard Disk...
29:56:31.037156 Guest Log: int13_harddisk: function 02, unmapped device for ELDL=84
29:56:31.037905 Guest Log: int13_harddisk: function 00, unmapped device for ELDL=84
29:56:31.038632 Guest Log: int13_harddisk: function 02, unmapped device for ELDL=84
29:56:31.039371 Guest Log: int13_harddisk: function 00, unmapped device for ELDL=84
29:56:31.040100 Guest Log: int13_harddisk: function 02, unmapped device for ELDL=84
29:56:31.040830 Guest Log: int13_harddisk: function 00, unmapped device for ELDL=84
29:56:35.202589 PIT: mode=2 count=0x12a5 (4773) - 249.98 Hz (ch=0)
29:56:35.560701 PIT: mode=0 count=0x10000 (65536) - 18.20 Hz (ch=0)
29:56:36.790131 AHCI#0: Reset the HBA
29:56:36.829243 AHCI#0: Port 0 reset
29:56:36.845707 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#0: RESET, DevSel=0 AIOIf=0 CmdIf0=0x00 (-1 usec ago) CmdIf1=0x00 (-1 usec ago)
29:56:36.845889 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#0: finished processing RESET
29:56:36.846797 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#1: RESET, DevSel=0 AIOIf=0 CmdIf0=0xa1 (-1 usec ago) CmdIf1=0x00 (-1 usec ago)
29:56:36.846977 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#1: finished processing RESET
29:56:37.156363 AHCI#0: Port 1 reset
29:56:37.499977 AHCI#0: Port 2 reset
29:56:37.844449 AHCI#0: Port 3 reset
29:56:38.186706 AHCI#0: Port 4 reset
29:56:38.522132 AHCI#0: Port 5 reset

All is ok when IOAPIC disabled with 1CPU. Today I saw this post and I will try 2CPU+IOAPIC and less mem than 1024.

This issue occurs when 1) More mem than 2014+IOAPIC or 2)2 CPU + IOAPIC ???

VB get this error in 24h, always.

[dvestezar]

Same problem

Code: Select all

16:53:17.426075 Reset initiated by ACPI
16:53:17.426144 Changing the VM state from 'RUNNING' to 'RESETTING'.
16:53:17.426677 CPUM: SetGuestCpuIdFeature: Enabled APIC
16:53:17.426705 PIT: mode=3 count=0x10000 (65536) - 18.20 Hz (ch=0)
16:53:17.431064 AHCI#0: Reset the HBA
16:53:17.433606 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#0: finished processing RESET
16:53:17.433641 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#1: finished processing RESET
16:53:17.433683 PDMR3Reset: after     7 ms, 1 loops: 1 async tasks - piix3ide/0
16:53:17.495970 Changing the VM state from 'RESETTING' to 'RUNNING'.
16:53:17.499813 Guest Log: BIOS: VirtualBox 4.3.0
16:53:17.500020 PIT: mode=2 count=0x10000 (65536) - 18.20 Hz (ch=0)
16:53:17.522200 Display::handleDisplayResize(): uScreenId = 0, pvVRAM=0000000000000000 w=720 h=400 bpp=0 cbLine=0x0, flags=0x1
16:53:17.530365 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#1: RESET, DevSel=0 AIOIf=0 CmdIf0=0xa0 (-1 usec ago) CmdIf1=0x00 (-1 usec ago)
16:53:17.530425 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#1: finished processing RESET
16:53:17.548048 AHCI#0: Reset the HBA
16:53:17.548175 AHCI#0: Port 0 reset
16:53:17.549154 Guest Log: BIOS: AHCI 0-P#0: PCHS=16383/16/63 LCHS=1024/255/63 67108864 sectors
16:53:17.549289 AHCI#0: Port 1 reset
16:53:17.550200 Guest Log: BIOS: AHCI 1-P#1: PCHS=4161/16/63 LCHS=520/128/63 4194304 sectors
16:53:17.550347 AHCI#0: Port 2 reset
16:53:17.551306 Guest Log: BIOS: AHCI 2-P#2: PCHS=16383/16/63 LCHS=1024/255/63 419430400 sectors
16:53:17.551439 AHCI#0: Port 3 reset
16:53:17.552465 Guest Log: BIOS: AHCI 3-P#3: PCHS=16383/16/63 LCHS=1024/255/63 734666752 sectors
16:53:17.552615 AHCI#0: Port 4 reset
16:53:17.552803 AHCI#0: Port 5 reset
16:53:17.552908 PIT: mode=2 count=0x48d3 (18643) - 64.00 Hz (ch=0)
16:53:17.581815 Display::handleDisplayResize(): uScreenId = 0, pvVRAM=0000000007920000 w=640 h=480 bpp=32 cbLine=0xA00, flags=0x1
16:53:20.032192 Display::handleDisplayResize(): uScreenId = 0, pvVRAM=0000000000000000 w=720 h=400 bpp=0 cbLine=0x0, flags=0x1
16:53:20.035116 PIT: mode=2 count=0x10000 (65536) - 18.20 Hz (ch=0)
16:53:20.035649 Guest Log: BIOS: Boot : bseqnr=1, bootseq=0002
16:53:20.036564 Guest Log: BIOS: Booting from Hard Disk...
16:53:21.044717 Guest Log: int13_harddisk: function 02, unmapped device for ELDL=84
16:53:21.045464 Guest Log: int13_harddisk: function 00, unmapped device for ELDL=84
16:53:21.046172 Guest Log: int13_harddisk: function 02, unmapped device for ELDL=84
16:53:21.046898 Guest Log: int13_harddisk: function 00, unmapped device for ELDL=84
16:53:21.047612 Guest Log: int13_harddisk: function 02, unmapped device for ELDL=84
16:53:21.048325 Guest Log: int13_harddisk: function 00, unmapped device for ELDL=84
16:53:25.111839 PIT: mode=2 count=0x12a5 (4773) - 249.98 Hz (ch=0)
16:53:25.475942 PIT: mode=0 count=0x10000 (65536) - 18.20 Hz (ch=0)
16:53:26.494584 AHCI#0: Reset the HBA
16:53:26.515344 AHCI#0: Port 0 reset
16:53:26.520776 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#0: RESET, DevSel=0 AIOIf=0 CmdIf0=0x00 (-1 usec ago) CmdIf1=0x00 (-1 usec ago)
16:53:26.520905 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#0: finished processing RESET
16:53:26.521257 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#1: RESET, DevSel=0 AIOIf=0 CmdIf0=0xa1 (-1 usec ago) CmdIf1=0x00 (-1 usec ago)
16:53:26.522924 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#1: finished processing RESET
16:53:26.861767 AHCI#0: Port 1 reset
16:53:27.211458 AHCI#0: Port 2 reset
16:53:27.549115 AHCI#0: Port 3 reset
16:53:27.892113 AHCI#0: Port 4 reset
16:53:28.233799 AHCI#0: Port 5 reset

I have to disable IOAPIC and set 1cpu only

[mpack]

Pasting partial logs in a dead topic unlikely to get you any answers.

Create a new topic, describe the problem properly, and provide a full log as a .zip attachment (not pasted). Minimum information needed for assistance.

Locking this one.