http://communities.vmware.com/message/1567564#1567564

Same problem here. ubuntu 10.04 server LTS 64bit (kernel 2.6.32-23-server) on ESXi 4.0 u1 Dell Customized.

The problem seems to be triggered by high CPU usage (file copy on dm-crypt encrypted volume).

“acpi=off noapic” seems to have solved the problem.

with “noapic” only, the problem persisted. I haven’t tried with “acpi=off” alone.

I tried apt-get update / upgrade, but the problem didn’t go away. Trying with noapic added to grub now, I’ll post my findings here.

Thanks for the post, it’s a big help.

Feb 13 07:11:31 Eeyore kernel: [    0.000000] Linux version 2.6.20-17-generic (root@terranova) (gcc version 4.1.2 (Ubuntu 4.1.2-0ubuntu4)) #2 SMP Wed Aug 20 16:47:34 UTC 2008 (Ubuntu 2.6.20-17.39-generic)

[   24.697338] CPU0: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU          6300  @ 1.86GHz stepping 06
[   24.787921] CPU1: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU          6300  @ 1.86GHz stepping 06

Feb 12 15:53:35 Eeyore kernel: [27003.130001] BUG: soft lockup detected on CPU#1!
Feb 12 15:53:35 Eeyore kernel: [27003.130023]  [softlockup_tick+156/240] softlockup_tick+0x9c/0xf0
Feb 12 15:53:35 Eeyore kernel: [27003.130463]  [run_timer_softirq+303/416] run_timer_softirq+0x12f/0x1a0
Feb 12 15:53:35 Eeyore kernel: [27003.130475]  [__do_softirq+130/256] __do_softirq+0x82/0x100
Feb 12 15:53:35 Eeyore kernel: [27003.130485]  [do_softirq+85/96] do_softirq+0x55/0x60
Feb 12 15:54:21 Eeyore kernel: [27048.573537] BUG: soft lockup detected on CPU#1!

Feb 13 07:11:31 Eeyore kernel: [    2.397143] ACPI (exconfig-0455): Dynamic SSDT Load - OemId [   AMI] OemTableId [  CPU1PM] [20060707]
Feb 13 07:11:31 Eeyore kernel: [    2.397478] ACPI: Processor [CPU1] (supports 8 throttling states)
Feb 13 07:11:31 Eeyore kernel: [    2.397755] ACPI (exconfig-0455): Dynamic SSDT Load - OemId [   AMI] OemTableId [  CPU2PM] [20060707]
Feb 13 07:11:31 Eeyore kernel: [    2.398048] ACPI: Processor [CPU2] (supports 8 throttling states)
Feb 13 07:11:31 Eeyore kernel: [    2.398054] ACPI Exception (acpi_processor-0677): AE_NOT_FOUND, Processor Device is not present [20060707]
Feb 13 07:11:31 Eeyore kernel: [    2.398060] ACPI Exception (acpi_processor-0677): AE_NOT_FOUND, Processor Device is not present [20060707]
Feb 12 15:54:21 Eeyore kernel: [27048.573561]  [softlockup_tick+156/240] softlockup_tick+0x9c/0xf0
Feb 12 15:54:21 Eeyore kernel: [27048.573674]  [__do_softirq+130/256] __do_softirq+0x82/0x100
Feb 12 15:54:21 Eeyore kernel: [27048.573683]  [ksoftirqd+0/240] ksoftirqd+0x0/0xf0
Feb 12 15:54:21 Eeyore kernel: [27048.573687]  [do_softirq+85/96] do_softirq+0x55/0x60
Feb 12 15:54:21 Eeyore kernel: [27048.573693]  [ksoftirqd+115/240] ksoftirqd+0x73/0xf0

Apart from this I also experienced:

My machine appeared to have locked-up – every 15 to 20 seconds it would unfreeze though… then I could do things for a few seconds (i.e. change from X11 GUI to console (terminal)), then it would freeze again.

I was running GKrellM (http://gkrellm.net), and CPU usage was NIL on Core1, and high on Core0.

Ambient temperature was around 30 Degrees Celsius, and Humidity was approaching 100%.
CPU according to the BIOS was ~62 Degrees Celsius.

From what I can gather on Intel’s website, the CPU hardware has HW thermal protection:

The Intel Core Duo system also implements hardware-based thermal control. Hardware-based thermal management is intended to handle abnormal thermal conditions and to protect the die from transient effects. Hardware-based thermal control ensures that the CPU will always operate within specified conditions. This improves reliability and allows higher performance with tighter control parameters.

Legacy thermal control features implement two externally visible signals:

• THERMTRIP: a fixed temperature sensor to detect catastrophic thermal conditions and to shut down the system if thermal runaway occurs.
• PROCHOT: a fixed temperature threshold that provides the DVS with a self-control mechanism that drops frequency and voltage to a new working point (a more detailed description of this mechanism can be found in [1]).

http://www.intel.com/technology/itj/2006/volume10issue02/art03_Power_and_Thermal_Management/p03_power_management.htm

I believe this may be what is causing the syslog messages?

HTH.