asterisk users - Oct 2007 - Asterisk using 200% CPU and then crashing...

We have a customer that has Asterisk 1.4.12.1, Zaptel 1.4.5.1,
Asterisk-Addons 1.4.3. running on a Dell Poweredge 1900 server (Dual
Core Xeon, 4gb RAM, 500gb Raid 5).  Until a month ago they had two
TE120P cards and everything was working fine.  Since they needed to add
a third E1 line we decided to change one of the TE120P cards with a
TE210P.  After the change we had a couple of crashes (server completely
locks up).  At first we thought we had a defective card so we changed it
but kept having the same problem.  We have tried a TE411P, a Sangoma
A104x (PCI express), an Openvox D210P and D410P and still the server
crashes about three times a week.  I can see the Asterisk process go
from around 10% usage to 100%, then 200% and the server hangs after
that.

	Why would inserting a multiport card affect Asterisk and the server?
How can I debug this situation?  I do not have enough slots to insert
three single cards of the same type so I need the multiport card to
work.  When Asterisk goes above 100% it will start ignoring commands you
issue on the CLI but calls keep coming and going.  At this moment I have
to watch the server all day and if it goes above 100% I restart Asterisk
when we have a low call volume.  Obviously I cannot keep doing this
forever.

	Could this be a problem with the Server?  Maybe a Kernel problem?  So
far all I have been willing to do is put "acpi=off" as a parameter on
the kernel because I read that sometimes ACPI causes problems.  Same
problem still.  I have not been able to determine a pattern to when
Asterisk will start using more CPU, sometimes it will go four days of
heavy use without a problem and then start acting up on a Saturday with
very few users.  Any ideas will be appreciated.

-- 
Telecomunicaciones Abiertas de M?xico S.A. de C.V.
Carlos Ch?vez Prats
Director de Tecnolog?a
+52-55-91169161 ext 2001
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Carlos Chavez wrote:
> crashes about three times a week.  I can see the Asterisk process go
> from around 10% usage to 100%, then 200% and the server hangs after
> that.
>
> 	Why would inserting a multiport card affect Asterisk and the server?
> How can I debug this situation?  I do not have enough slots to insert
>   
Carlos,

Just as a temporary suggestion, move back to the 2 cards and see if you 
are still experiencing the issues.  If you still have the issues, you'll 
know to look elsewhere.

Doug

-- 
 
Ben Franklin quote:

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary
Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

On Wednesday 17 October 2007 19:09:23 Carlos Chavez
wrote:
> ????????Why would inserting a multiport card affect Asterisk and the
> server? How can I debug this situation? ?I do not have enough slots to
> insert three single cards of the same type so I need the multiport card to
> work. ?When Asterisk goes above 100% it will start ignoring commands you
> issue on the CLI but calls keep coming and going. ?At this moment I have to
> watch the server all day and if it goes above 100% I restart Asterisk when
> we have a low call volume. ?Obviously I cannot keep doing this forever.
I recently had the same problems. Just that wasnt't related to installing
any
new hardware. You can check out the issue 
http://bugs.digium.com/view.php?id=10775

Could you provide your OS and glibc version? Also - can you try to disable 
IAX?

Regards,
Atis

-- 
Atis Lezdins
VoIP Developer,
IQ Labs Inc.
atis at iq-labs.net
Skype: atis.lezdins
Cell Phone: +371 28806004
Work phone: +1 800 7502835

Carlos Chavez wrote:
> 	We have a customer that has Asterisk 1.4.12.1, Zaptel 1.4.5.1,
> Asterisk-Addons 1.4.3. running on a Dell Poweredge 1900 server (Dual
> Core Xeon, 4gb RAM, 500gb Raid 5).  Until a month ago they had two
> TE120P cards and everything was working fine.  Since they needed to add
> a third E1 line we decided to change one of the TE120P cards with a
> TE210P.  After the change we had a couple of crashes (server completely
> locks up).  At first we thought we had a defective card so we changed it
> but kept having the same problem.  We have tried a TE411P, a Sangoma
> A104x (PCI express), an Openvox D210P and D410P and still the server
> crashes about three times a week.  I can see the Asterisk process go
> from around 10% usage to 100%, then 200% and the server hangs after
> that.
The Dell PowerEdge 1600 is listed on
http://www.digium.com/en/docs/misc/compatibility_notes.php
Not sure about the 1900.

However your problem might be completely unrelated to
any Dell specific issues.

Regards,
  Philipp Kempgen

-- 
amooma GmbH - Bachstr. 126 - 56566 Neuwied - http://www.amooma.de
    Let's use IT to solve problems and not to create new ones.
          Asterisk? -> http://www.das-asterisk-buch.de

Gesch?ftsf?hrer: Stefan Wintermeyer
Handelsregister: Neuwied B 14998