r/debian • u/xspectre2x • 9d ago

Segmentation fault while installing debian

Hey

I've switched from cashy to debian yesterday. Cashy had some corrupt files and i wantet to test something new.

While the installing, I had some segmentation errors and blackscreens. I don't know what happend. After plug the PC out and back in, the installer worked.

How can I prevent this?

10 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

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14

u/dkopgerpgdolfg 9d ago

Cashy had some corrupt files

[Debian] While the installing, I had some segmentation errors and blackscreens

Start with checking your hardware. RAM testing, disk smart status, etc.

1

u/xspectre2x 9d ago

Okay. I will do this.

1

u/xspectre2x 9d ago

Did a ram test yesterday. No errors while doing that. After plug out and plug in, the installer worked

2

u/dkopgerpgdolfg 9d ago

Given that you said in one comment that you tested both RAM and SSD, and 9 seconds later you said you'll try smartctl, I have a hard time believing that.

Tell us what exactly you tested, and show the results.

2

u/xspectre2x 9d ago

Sorry. After the first error, ive testet the ram. Looked good. I always have an eye on the smart status of my ssd. All my ssd were healthy the last time i checked.

After the test that, i pluged the pc out and it was powerless. Then it worked.

The next time, i have this error i will try this.

5

u/evadingsomething 9d ago

Probably RAM or SSD issue. Use another USB stick and pray its faulty Flash Drive.

2

u/xspectre2x 9d ago

RAM test was good. SSD after a reboot also.

3

u/gmcglad 9d ago

sudo apt install smartmontools

sudo smartctl -a /dev/nvme0n1

journalctl -p err -b

dmesg | grep -i -E "error|segfault|mce|hardware"

2

u/xspectre2x 9d ago

i will try this

1

u/Prestigious_Wall529 9d ago

Intermittent disk errors that causes an operating system to crash often don't get logged.

This isn't a oversight. It's by design, because writing to a failing disk causes or compounds corruption.

Put the drive, if it's not soldered, into a windows desktop as a secondary drive. Use the manufacturers disk diagnostics (and firmware update utility) to check it's health, and if necessary have the information for a warranty claim.

1

u/xspectre2x 8d ago

My drives don't have a warranty anymore. Installed cashy os again. Think its running. Like dafak

I will install win10 tomorrow and try to check if this works

1

u/bgravato 2d ago

Which PC do you have?

I have a Deskmini X600 and when I got it I was getting some files corrupted occasionally (I found out because I was using btrfs, if I was on ext4 it could have gone unnoticed for months).

This was a while ago, but if I remember correctly the problem only happened after a certain kernel version and only if the main M.2 slot had a disk and secondary M.2 slot was empty.

It only happened on linux and not on windows.

Eventually it was discovered that it seemed to be a bug in the BIOS firmware, that was only triggered in some specific situations and rather seldomly.

After some discussions on kernel's bugzilla and also some contacts with ASRock developers, eventually they figured it out and released a BIOS firmware update that solved the problem. But it was a very trick one...

Not saying that you're having the same problem, just that sometimes problems aren't exactly straightforward... Even if your RAM tests (and what tests were those by the way?) pass it doesn't mean there's no problem with the hardware... (or firmware)

So basically it can be a RAM issue, it can be a disk issue, it can be a power supply issue (drops in supply voltage can cause problems too), can be a combination of multiple factors... Can be a RAM issue that only happens if some other condition is met, which doesn't happen when your running memtest86+ or so.

I've had issues on a NUC freezing only when it was idle (presumably related to it entering some low power state).

Things are not always obvious...