What Can Cause a Kernel Panic? Understanding Kernel Panic

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Kernel panic can occur when the kernel encounters errors it can’t recover from.

Causes and Detection

1) Trigger: Hardware issue, software bug, or unexpected situation the kernel can’t handle.

2) Detection: The kernel realizes there’s a problem it can’t solve.

3) Reaction: The kernel panics! It stops processes, displays an error message, and the computer says “I am done!”.

An example of kernel panic on Linux shows the system has crashed and cannot recover. Kernel panic serves as a safety measure to prevent hardware, software, and memory damage after a major error. It prevents further issues and writes the kernel dump to disk for technicians to debug.

Resolving Kernel Panic

To identify the cause of a kernel panic, look for error messages displayed during the panic.

To resolve:

  • Update all software and drivers.
  • If upgraded RAM recently, check it is seated properly.
  • Enter recovery mode and edit configuration files.

Incompatible device drivers and hardware are prominent kernel panic causes. Other causes include resource exhaustion from lack of memory, disk space or kernel tables. Installing incompatible software like kernel modules or drivers leads to panics too.

Diagnosing the Problem

Kernel panic symptoms include system freeze and failure to boot. Error messages display the error type, code module active then, and drives loaded. As oops events precede panics, finding oops causes helps prevent panics.

To identify the cause:

  1. Boot in safe mode or rescue mode.
  2. In rescue mode, log in as root to check files.
  3. Run lsmod to list loaded modules.
  4. Check /var/log/messages for clues, though it may not have useful info.

Detach peripherals, even small ones like USB drives. If added RAM recently, remove it and exchange if problem disappears. Redoing recent changes in reverse order can isolate the cause.

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