Author | He Miao
Produced by | CSDN (ID: CSDNnews)
Linux kernel is the core of a huge and complex operating system. It handles various requests like a human brain. Generally speaking, the Linux kernel updates frequently, but recently it has been stumped by the memory problem of Linus Torvalds computers. The merge window of
Linux 6.1 is currently open. Two days ago, a Linux kernel developer asked Linus Torvalds if he missed a merge request. Linus said: "I am merging on laptop (very slow)."
seems that the problem of computer speed is too slow, and even the master Linus cannot avoid it. At first he thought it was a new kernel bug, but after checking it, it was a memory stick problem. What the hell is going on
?
Linus' computer memory storm
After the problem of request merge was very slow, Linus did a detection and found that "it was the random memory corruption of the user space on my computer's main desktop, which caused the random failure of allmodconfig to build and internal compiler errors, etc."
At the beginning, he thought it was caused by a new kernel bug. Although it happened occasionally, his intuition was wrong this time. Then he started the old kernel for verification, and used memory testing software at night to verify, and finally confirmed that after two and a half years of stable operation of my computer, a DIMM memory broke randomly.
Follow-up Linus can only wait for the new DIMM to arrive and replace it. He complained: A lot of time was wasted on the wrong things.
Linus' main PC is a workstation equipped with AMD RyzenThreadripper 3970X CPU, which was assembled in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also mentioned in the post that his main PC is set for error correction code memory (ECCh memory), which is related to daily work, as Linux (and all other software) can benefit from error correction performed by ECC RAM.
Because ECC memory sticks were scarce and expensive in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, he also publicly complained that Intel claimed that ECC memory serves servers and embedded devices, making it difficult for ordinary users to purchase cheap ECC memory sticks. He believes that ECC is suitable for everyone and hates business practices that make ECC memory "specialized". Will the final press conference of
Linux 6.1 be postponed?
Currently, Linus says that the computer's problems will not affect the merge window, because it can also complete the Linux 6.1 patch merge work on another machine, but it is more convenient for him to perform the merge on common machines.
Linux 6.1 has attracted much attention from developers this year. Since Linux 6.0 was officially released, some people have predicted that 6.1, released in December, will become the LTS (Long Term Support) version of this year. According to the normal schedule, Linux 6.1-rc1 will be released on October 16, while Linux 6.1 stable version may be released around December 4 or 11. Unless there are some unexpected situations in the development of Linux 6.1 that cannot be launched on time, Linux 6.1 will be officially launched this year.
Linux stability maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman said in an email on the 7th: "He is writing the second edition of "Linux Kernel Programming". He hopes that the book is built on the latest Linux version. The current Linux 5.10 LTS version expires in 2026. However, if possible, whether Linux 6.1 will become the latest LTS version, so that he may adopt the latest LTS version, but he cannot be sure, and it will be released until it is officially released. Currently, Linux has officially released version 6.0."
At present, Linux 6.1 is likely to become the LTS version this year. However, there is a small accident in the merger of Linux 6.1 patches, but you don’t have to worry too much.
It is understood that the upcoming Linux 6.1 has added an interesting new feature, which is to detect CPU corruption. In the past, some CPUs reported errors in large clusters. In the past, they were identified by viewing kernel code. Now developers have added some code to output information when CPU corruption or errors are detected, so that the system administrator can save trouble.This feature comes from the x86/cpu branch patch of the Linux 6.1 merge window: In case of a segmentation fault (segfault), the fault message prints out a "suspected" CPU number.
In addition, the new AMD GPU IP support, improvements in Intel DG2/Alchemist, Rust basics, major improvements in Btrfs, and possibly MGLRU and other new changes are all very exciting!
Reference source:
https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/10/linus_torvalds_ecc_memory_fail/
https://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/2210.1/00691.html
https://www.solidot.org/story?sid=73011
