CentOS - May 2005 - Kernel panic on Dell 1850

I'm attempting to upgrade to kernel-smp-2.4.21-27.0.4.EL (x86_64) on a 
Dell 1850.  The new kernel is panicing on reboot.  When comparing 
against the current working kernel, I just noticed that we're currently 
running the "UP" kernel:

[root at polaris root]# uname -srvp
Linux 2.4.21-27.0.2.EL #1 SMP Wed Jan 19 11:49:43 CST 2005 x86_64

First question... why is the kernel version reporting as SMP when this 
is the UP kernel package?  I thought it might have something to do with 
HT, but no, it's seeing both processors:

[root at polaris root]# cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep proc
processor       : 0
processor       : 1
processor       : 2
processor       : 3

Second question... has anyone else experienced problems with 
kernel-smp-2.4.21-27.0.4.EL on x86_64?  I installed the newer kernel 
and it paniced on reboot.  I'm offsite without console, so I'll be 
going in tomorrow to take a closer look.  Just FYI, here is the 
information on each kernel we're working with:

[root at polaris root]# rpm -qi kernel
Name        : kernel                       Relocations: (not 
relocatable)
Version     : 2.4.21                            Vendor: CentOS
Release     : 27.0.2.EL                     Build Date: Wed 19 Jan 2005 
12:56:58 PM EST
Install Date: Fri 08 Apr 2005 05:44:16 AM EDT      Build Host: head
Group       : System Environment/Kernel     Source RPM: 
kernel-2.4.21-27.0.2.EL.src.rpm
Size        : 33381631                         License: GPLv2
Signature   : DSA/SHA1, Thu 20 Jan 2005 10:52:57 AM EST, Key ID 
7049e44d025e513b
Summary     : The Linux kernel (the core of the Linux operating system)
Description :
The kernel package contains the Linux kernel (vmlinuz), the core of your
CentOS operating system.  The kernel handles the basic functions
of the operating system:  memory allocation, process allocation, device
input and output, etc.

[root at polaris root]# rpm -qi kernel-smp
Name        : kernel-smp                   Relocations: (not 
relocatable)
Version     : 2.4.21                            Vendor: CentOS-3
Release     : 27.0.4.EL                     Build Date: Fri 22 Apr 2005 
06:47:22 PM EDT
Install Date: Wed 11 May 2005 10:16:23 AM EDT      Build Host: tru64
Group       : System Environment/Kernel     Source RPM: 
kernel-2.4.21-27.0.4.EL.src.rpm
Size        : 26669758                         License: GPLv2
Signature   : DSA/SHA1, Fri 22 Apr 2005 07:12:58 PM EDT, Key ID 
7049e44d025e513b
Packager    : Pasi Pirhonen <upi at iki.fi> - http://iki.fi/upi/
Summary     : The Linux kernel compiled for SMP machines.
Description :
This package includes a SMP version of the Linux kernel. It is
required only on machines with two or more CPUs.

Install the kernel-smp package if your machine uses two or more CPUs.


Thanks in advance,

--
Jason Dixon
DixonGroup Consulting
http://www.dixongroup.net

On Wed, May 11, 2005 at 10:59:51AM -0400, Jason Dixon
wrote:
> I'm attempting to upgrade to kernel-smp-2.4.21-27.0.4.EL (x86_64) on a 
> Dell 1850.
On CentOS-3, you should be using the ia32e (EM64T Intel)kernels not the x86_64
(AMD opteron).  Can you retry with the ia32e kernels (UP/SMP) ?

Cheers,

Tru
-- 
Tru Huynh (CentOS-3 i386/x86_64 Package Maintenance)
http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0xBEFA581B
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On May 11, 2005, at 11:14 AM, Tru Huynh wrote:
> On Wed, May 11, 2005 at 10:59:51AM -0400, Jason Dixon wrote:
>> I'm attempting to upgrade to kernel-smp-2.4.21-27.0.4.EL (x86_64)
on a
>> Dell 1850.
>
> On CentOS-3, you should be using the ia32e (EM64T Intel)kernels not 
> the x86_64
> (AMD opteron).  Can you retry with the ia32e kernels (UP/SMP) ?
Yes, I see that now:

[root at polaris root]# rpm -q --qf "%{ARCH} %{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}\n"
kernel
ia32e 2.4.21-27.0.2.EL

[root at polaris root]# rpm -q --qf "%{ARCH} %{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}\n"
kernel-smp
x86_64 2.4.21-27.0.4.EL

However, I wonder why "yum install kernel-smp" chose the x86_64
kernel?
  Looking in the CentOS update repository, there is no ia32e directory.  
Inside the x86_64 directory, I see the following kernels:

kernel-2.4.21-27.0.4.EL.ia32e.rpm
kernel-2.4.21-27.0.4.EL.x86_64.rpm
kernel-smp-2.4.21-27.0.4.EL.x86_64.rpm
kernel-smp-unsupported-2.4.21-27.0.4.EL.x86_64.rpm
kernel-unsupported-2.4.21-27.0.4.EL.ia32e.rpm
kernel-unsupported-2.4.21-27.0.4.EL.x86_64.rpm

Why is there no kernel-smp for ia32e?  Based on the current kernel's 
behavior, I guess it's safe to assume the UP kernel will work for SMP, 
but why isn't it labeled accordingly?  Is this just an oversight by the 
package maintainers?  It would be great if someone could post a FAQ 
regarding these kernels for CentOS 3.4.

Thanks,

--
Jason Dixon
DixonGroup Consulting
http://www.dixongroup.net