[techtalk] CPUID serial number - kernel panic

[Jeff Dike]

va3uxb at home.com said:
> I've just installed Red Hat 6.2 on a brand new computer, the
> installation worked fine, everything worked really smoothly till I
> tried to boot up for the first time.  It correctly identifies the CPU
> type, then it says: CPUID disabling serial number... and that's where
> it dies.  

You might try upgrading to a newer kernel.  RH6.2 has 2.4.2, and the early
2.4 kernels were a bit dodgy.

> It reports a General Protection Fault followed by a bunch of
> numbers, and then ends on a Kernel Panic.

That "bunch of numbers" is actually important if you can make it happen on
a recent kernel.  The procedure is you copy them down, run them through 
ksymoops, and send everything off to the kernel list.  That way everyone knows 
about it if they didn't already.

				Jeff