Bug 8547

Summary: "Hardware error - pending bit very stuck" on Mobile AMD Sempron
Product: Power Management Reporter: Márton Németh (nm127)
Component: cpufreqAssignee: Mark Langsdorf (mark.langsdorf)
Status: CLOSED DUPLICATE    
Severity: normal CC: bunk, engage, izaera, lenb, mark.langsdorf
Priority: P2    
Hardware: i386   
OS: Linux   
Kernel Version: 2.6.22-rc3 Subsystem:
Regression: No Bisected commit-id:
Attachments: dmesg output after boot finished
lspci -v -v output
dmesg-2.6.27-rc3.txt

Description Márton Németh 2007-05-28 05:51:47 UTC
Most recent kernel where this bug did *NOT* occur:
Distribution: Debian
Hardware Environment: Clevo model D4J, product version D410J

$ cat /proc/cpuinfo 
processor       : 0
vendor_id       : AuthenticAMD
cpu family      : 15
model           : 28
model name      : Mobile AMD Sempron(tm) Processor 2600+
stepping        : 0
cpu MHz         : 800.000
cache size      : 128 KB
fdiv_bug        : no
hlt_bug         : no
f00f_bug        : no
coma_bug        : no
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 1
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov
pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt 3dnowext 3dnow ts
fid vid ttp
bogomips        : 1605.19
clflush size    : 64


Software Environment:

$ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
usbvnetr              107564  0 
ipv6                  232292  12 
ppdev                   8196  0 
lp                     10500  0 
eeprom                  6168  0 
i2c_viapro              8468  0 
i2c_core               21264  2 eeprom,i2c_viapro
cpufreq_userspace       4244  1 
cpufreq_powersave       2048  0 
powernow_k8            12940  0 
fan                     4356  0 
battery                 9220  0 
ac                      4484  0 
button                  6672  0 
mousedev               10740  2 
thermal                13704  0 
processor              25004  2 powernow_k8,thermal
serio_raw               6020  0 
i8042                  17880  0 
pcmcia                 34252  0 
firmware_class          8064  1 pcmcia
snd_via82xx            22700  1 
snd_mpu401_uart         7320  1 snd_via82xx
snd_seq_oss            29712  0 
snd_seq_midi            6816  0 
snd_seq_midi_event      6664  2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
evdev                   8192  4 
snd_seq                46264  5 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
k8temp                  4872  0 
snd_rawmidi            19520  2 snd_mpu401_uart,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_device          7188  4 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi
snd_via82xx_modem      11792  1 
snd_ac97_codec         96312  2 snd_via82xx,snd_via82xx_modem
ac97_bus                2816  1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm_oss            39232  0 
snd_mixer_oss          14472  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm                69932  4
snd_via82xx,snd_via82xx_modem,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer              19740  2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
psmouse                36880  0 
pcspkr                  3072  0 
atkbd                  15768  0 
libps2                  5896  2 psmouse,atkbd
parport_pc             32676  1 
parport                34536  3 ppdev,lp,parport_pc
8139too                21648  0 
mii                     4992  1 8139too
hwmon                   2948  1 k8temp
rtc                    10648  0 
8250_pnp                9728  0 
8250                   30356  1 8250_pnp
serial_core            18200  1 8250
ide_cd                 35488  0 
cdrom                  34080  1 ide_cd
yenta_socket           23692  1 
rsrc_nonstatic         11264  1 yenta_socket
pcmcia_core            34008  3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,rsrc_nonstatic
ehci_hcd               28948  0 
snd                    45604  16
snd_via82xx,snd_mpu401_uart,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device,snd_via82xx_modem,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer
soundcore               6752  1 snd
snd_page_alloc          8072  3 snd_via82xx,snd_via82xx_modem,snd_pcm
uhci_hcd               22808  0 
usbcore               116172  4 usbvnetr,ehci_hcd,uhci_hcd
bitrev                  2048  1 8139too
crc32                   4224  2 pcmcia,8139too


Problem Description:

The kerenel prints the following message after boot is finished:

powernow-k8: Hardware error - pending bit very stuck - no further pstate changes
possible
powernow-k8: transition frequency failed
powernow-k8: error - out of sync, fix 0x8 0x0, vid 0x6 0x6

Steps to reproduce:

After the boot finished, the messages are always there.
Comment 1 Márton Németh 2007-05-28 05:52:45 UTC
Created attachment 11609 [details]
dmesg output after boot finished
Comment 2 Dave Jones 2007-05-31 13:33:12 UTC
this is a longshot, but is there a BIOS update available for your system ?
Comment 3 Mark Langsdorf 2007-05-31 13:41:20 UTC
Some part of the motherboard or chipset on your machine is failing to complete
the pstate transition to the new frequency and voltage.

What chipset does your laptop use?
Comment 4 Márton Németh 2007-05-31 23:11:15 UTC
Created attachment 11626 [details]
lspci -v -v output

# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
00:00.1 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
00:00.2 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
00:00.3 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
00:00.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
00:00.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 PCI bridge [K8T800/K8T890
South]
00:08.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
00:0c.0 CardBus bridge: ENE Technology Inc CB1410 Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
00:0e.0 Mass storage controller: Winbond Electronics Corp Unknown device 8481
(rev 01)
00:0e.1 Mass storage controller: Winbond Electronics Corp Unknown device 8482
(rev 01)
00:10.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1
Controller (rev 80)
00:10.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1
Controller (rev 80)
00:10.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1
Controller (rev 80)
00:10.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 82)
00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8235 ISA Bridge
00:11.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc.
VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06)
00:11.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8235/8237
AC97 Audio Controller (rev 50)
00:11.6 Communication controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. AC'97 Modem Controller
(rev 80)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron]
HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address
Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM
Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron]
Miscellaneous Control
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. S3 Unichrome Pro VGA
Adapter (rev 01)
Comment 5 Márton Németh 2007-05-31 23:13:56 UTC
I could not find any BIOS update. 
http://www.clevo.com.tw/download/ftpOut.asp?Lmodel=D4x0J&ltype=9&submit=+GO+
Comment 6 Márton Németh 2008-03-05 23:08:17 UTC
As of linux-2.6.25-rc4 the "powernow-k8" messages look like:

powernow-k8: Found 1 Mobile AMD Sempron(tm) Processor 2600+ processors (1 cpu cores) (version 2.20.00)
powernow-k8:    0 : fid 0x8 (1600 MHz), vid 0x6
powernow-k8:    1 : fid 0x0 (800 MHz), vid 0x18
powernow-k8: ph2 null fid transition 0x8
Comment 7 Márton Németh 2008-03-05 23:18:09 UTC
As of linux-2.6.23 the "powernow-k8" messages are the same:

powernow-k8: Found 1 Mobile AMD Sempron(tm) Processor 2600+ processors (1 cpu cores) (version 2.00.00)
powernow-k8:    0 : fid 0x8 (1600 MHz), vid 0x6
powernow-k8:    1 : fid 0x0 (800 MHz), vid 0x18
powernow-k8: ph2 null fid transition 0x8
Comment 8 Ivan Zaera Avellon 2008-04-22 00:56:11 UTC
Please have a look at bugs 6382 and 8264 because I think they are the same error.
Comment 9 Márton Németh 2008-08-20 00:30:11 UTC
I just add here some links for 
 - bug #8264 (powernow-k8 module gets stuck switching powerlevels on dualcore AMD64) and
 - bug #6382 (Random lockups, no kernel panic just a compleate hang)
for easier reference.
Comment 10 Márton Németh 2008-08-20 01:42:45 UTC
Created attachment 17325 [details]
dmesg-2.6.27-rc3.txt

I read bug #8264 and bug #6382 but I cannot say for sure that this bug is the same as the others. For example I never get system hang.

I compiled Linux kernel 2.6.27-rc3 with CONFIG_X86_POWERNOW_K8=m, CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_DEBUG=y and CONFIG_PRINTK_TIME=y. I booted with cpufreq.debug=7 kernel parameter so I get all the debug messages. I attached the full result. I get the following message:

[   27.090015] powernow-k8: ph2 null fid transition 0x8

I don't know what exactly this means and whether this is a problem or not.
Comment 11 engae 2008-11-28 16:06:03 UTC
I have a similar problem on a MSI K8MM-V running Mandriva 2009.0, kernel 2.6.27.4-desktop-2mnb, cpufreqd-2.3.3-1mdv2009.0

powernow-k8: Found 1 AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3000+ processors (1 cpu cores)(version 2.20.00)
powernow-k8:    0 : fid 0xc (2000 MHz), vid 0x2
powernow-k8:    1 : fid 0xa (1800 MHz), vid 0x6
powernow-k8:    2 : fid 0x2 (1000 MHz), vid 0x12
powernow-k8: ph2 null fid transition 0xc
powernow-k8: Hardware error - pending bit very stuck - no further pstate changes possible
powernow-k8: transition frequency failed
powernow-k8: error - out of sync, fix 0x2 0xc, vid 0x0 0x0
powernow-k8: ph2 null fid transition 0xc
powernow-k8: Hardware error - pending bit very stuck - no further pstate changes possible
powernow-k8: transition frequency failed
powernow-k8: failing targ, change pending bit set
powernow-k8: error - out of sync, fix 0x2 0xc, vid 0x0 0x0
powernow-k8: ph2 null fid transition 0xc
powernow-k8: Hardware error - pending bit very stuck - no further pstate changes possible
powernow-k8: transition frequency failed
powernow-k8: error - out of sync, fix 0x2 0xc, vid 0x0 0x0
powernow-k8: ph2 null fid transition 0xc
Comment 12 engae 2008-11-29 12:50:45 UTC
I have problems with 2 machines - one with an Intel Duo (first listing) and 
another with an AMD Athlon64 (second listing). My Dell laptop with a Pentium-M 
seems to be working OK though. The Intel Duo board has the latest BIOS. I 
tried to update the BIOS in the Athlon64 board but the latest BIOS "killed" my 
ethernet (VIA chipset) so I had to roll back to the original BIOS.

[shirley99cr@shirley ~]$ dmesg | grep cpufreq
cpufreqd[2129]: segfault at 1c ip b7e60244 sp bfc03adc error 4 in 
libsysfs.so.2.0.1[b7e5b000+b000]
[shirley99cr@shirley ~]$ su -c "/sbin/service cpufreqd status"
Password:
cpufreqd dead but subsys locked
[shirley99cr@shirley ~]$ uname -a
Linux shirley 2.6.27.5-desktop-2mnb #1 SMP Thu Nov 20 15:20:32 EST 2008 i686 
Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual  CPU  E2200  @ 2.20GHz GNU/Linux
[shirley99cr@shirley ~]$ rpm -qa | grep cpufreqd
libcpufreqd-2.3.3-1mdv2009.0
cpufreqd-2.3.3-1mdv2009.0
[shirley99cr@shirley ~]$ cpufreq-info
cpufrequtils 005: cpufreq-info (C) Dominik Brodowski 2004-2006
Report errors and bugs to cpufreq@vger.kernel.org, please.
analyzing CPU 0:
  driver: acpi-cpufreq
  CPUs which need to switch frequency at the same time: 0
  hardware limits: 1.20 GHz - 2.20 GHz
  available frequency steps: 2.20 GHz, 1.60 GHz, 1.20 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: ondemand, conservative, powersave, userspace, 
performance
  current policy: frequency should be within 1.20 GHz and 2.20 GHz.
                  The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency is 1.20 GHz.
analyzing CPU 1:
  driver: acpi-cpufreq
  CPUs which need to switch frequency at the same time: 1
  hardware limits: 1.20 GHz - 2.20 GHz
  available frequency steps: 2.20 GHz, 1.60 GHz, 1.20 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: ondemand, conservative, powersave, userspace, 
performance
  current policy: frequency should be within 1.20 GHz and 2.20 GHz.
                  The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency is 1.20 GHz.


Athlon64 box:

[n0sq@server2 ~]$ cpufreq-info
cpufrequtils 005: cpufreq-info (C) Dominik Brodowski 2004-2006
Report errors and bugs to cpufreq@vger.kernel.org, please.    
analyzing CPU 0:                                              
  driver: powernow-k8                                         
  CPUs which need to switch frequency at the same time: 0     
  hardware limits: 1000 MHz - 2.00 GHz                        
  available frequency steps: 2.00 GHz, 1.80 GHz, 1000 MHz
  available cpufreq governors: ondemand, conservative, powersave, userspace, 
performance
  current policy: frequency should be within 1000 MHz and 2.00 GHz.
                  The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency is 1000 MHz.
[n0sq@server2 ~]$ dmesg | grep powernow
powernow-k8: Found 1 AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3000+ processors (1 cpu 
cores)(version 2.20.00)
powernow-k8:    0 : fid 0xc (2000 MHz), vid 0x2
powernow-k8:    1 : fid 0xa (1800 MHz), vid 0x6
powernow-k8:    2 : fid 0x2 (1000 MHz), vid 0x12
powernow-k8: ph2 null fid transition 0xc
powernow-k8: Hardware error - pending bit very stuck - no further pstate 
changes possible
powernow-k8: transition frequency failed
powernow-k8: failing targ, change pending bit set
powernow-k8: error - out of sync, fix 0x2 0xc, vid 0x0 0x0
powernow-k8: ph2 null fid transition 0xc
[n0sq@server2 ~]$ dmesg | grep cpufreqd
cpufreqd[2053]: segfault at 1c ip b80bc244 sp bf8e607c error 4 in 
libsysfs.so.2.0.1[b80b7000+b000]
[n0sq@server2 ~]$ su -c "/sbin/service cpufreqd status"
Password:
cpufreqd dead but subsys locked
[n0sq@server2 ~]$ uname -a
Linux server2 2.6.27.4-desktop-2mnb #1 SMP Thu Nov 6 13:00:14 EST 2008 i686 
AMDAthlon(tm) 64 Processor 3000+ GNU/Linux
[n0sq@server2 ~]$ rpm -qa | grep cpufreqd
cpufreqd-2.3.3-1mdv2009.0
libcpufreqd-2.3.3-1mdv2009.0
Comment 13 Márton Németh 2009-05-22 05:25:55 UTC
This problem still exists on 2.6.30-rc5 together with Clevo D410J:

$ dmesg | grep powernow
[   17.984504] powernow-k8: Found 1 Mobile AMD Sempron(tm) Processor 2600+ processors (1 cpu cores) (version 2.20.00)
[   17.985117] powernow-k8:    0 : fid 0x8 (1600 MHz), vid 0x6
[   17.985122] powernow-k8:    1 : fid 0x0 (800 MHz), vid 0x18
[   17.985811] powernow-k8: ph2 null fid transition 0x8
[   29.443942] powernow-k8: Hardware error - pending bit very stuck - no further pstate changes possible
[   29.443959] powernow-k8: transition frequency failed
[   29.606057] powernow-k8: error - out of sync, fix 0x8 0x0, vid 0x6 0x6

$ cpufreq-info 
cpufrequtils 004: cpufreq-info (C) Dominik Brodowski 2004-2006
Report errors and bugs to cpufreq@lists.linux.org.uk, please.
analyzing CPU 0:
  driver: powernow-k8
  CPUs which need to switch frequency at the same time: 0
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 1.60 GHz
  available frequency steps: 1.60 GHz, 800 MHz
  available cpufreq governors: powersave, ondemand, userspace, conservative, performance
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 1.60 GHz.
                  The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency is 800 MHz.
  cpufreq stats: 1.60 GHz:34,68%, 800 MHz:65,32%  (1317)
Comment 14 Mark Langsdorf 2010-02-03 19:44:31 UTC

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 8264 ***