Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!matt
From: matt@accuvax.nwu.edu (Matt Larson)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.xenix
Subject: Trouble with recurring 'dfalloc: PANIC' messages
Message-ID: <2471@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 29 Dec 89 21:55:37 GMT
Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu
Reply-To: matt@accuvax.nwu.edu (Matt Larson)
Distribution: world
Organization: Northwestern Univ. Evanston, Il.
Lines: 25

A company that I write software for is having an interesting problem.  We are
having trouble tracking down the cause.  Hopefully someone out there will have
an idea.  Here's the situation:

The system is a DTK motherboard, 25 Mhz, two serial ports at COM1 and COM2,
a DigiBoard 16i, two floppies, and a tape drive.  None have conflicting memory
addresses, interrupts, or DMA channels.  The system runs SCO XENIX 2.3.2GT -
they have an ESDI drive.  Every so often this ugly message appears:

dfalloc: PANIC: frame not free at exit

This, of course, brings the system to a crashing halt.  I have not been able
to isolate what causes this to happen; at this point, it still appears random.
However, if I reboot without cycling power, the system does not recognize COM2
on its boot-up checklist.  If I cycle power, COM2 is recognized and behaves
fine.

We have tried re-installing the DigiBoard software at SCO's suggestion with no
luck.  We are also on our second standard COM1/COM2 serial board.

Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.
--
Matt Larson             Internet: matt@holmes.home.nwu.edu
Voice: (708) 492-9854       UUCP: ...!{oddjob,gargoyle}!nucsrl!holmes!matt
"I believe in the fundamental interconnectedness of all things." - Dirk Gently