Miscellaneous

What is kernel taint?

What is kernel taint?

The primary reason for the ‘Tainted: ‘ string is to tell kernel debuggers if this is a clean kernel or if anything unusual has occurred. Tainting is permanent: even if an offending module is unloaded, the tainted value remains to indicate that the kernel is not trustworthy.

How do you check for tainted kernel?

To know if a running kernel is tainted or not, check the numerical value in the file /proc/sys/kernel/tainted. Non-zero if the kernel has been tainted. Numeric values, which can be checked: 1 – A module with a non-GPL license has been loaded, this includes modules with no license.

How does the kernel store taint States?

As an example, the taint state is set when a machine check exception (MCE) has been raised, indicating a hardware related problem has occurred. Once the tainted state of a running kernel has been set, it cannot be unset other than by reloading the kernel, that is by shutting down and then restarting the system.

What is taint Linux?

The kernel will mark itself as ‘tainted’ when something occurs that might be relevant later when investigating problems. Note the kernel will remain tainted even after you undo what caused the taint (i.e. unload a proprietary kernel module), to indicate the kernel remains not trustworthy. …

What causes a kernel to become tainted?

The use of a proprietary (or non-GPL-compatible) kernel module—this is the most common cause of tainted kernels and usually results from loading proprietary NVIDIA or AMD video drivers. The use of staging drivers, which are part of the kernel source code but are not fully tested.

What causes a kernel panic?

Causes. A panic may occur as a result of a hardware failure or a software bug in the operating system. Add-on hardware or malfunctioning RAM could also be sources of fatal kernel errors during start up, due to incompatibility with the OS or a missing device driver.

What is an example of taint?

Taint is defined as to make something decay or cause it to be impure. An example of to taint is for a terrorist to put a chemical in the public water supply. The definition of a taint is something that corrupts or makes something undesirable. An example of a taint is a criminal charge on someones permanent record.

What does Lsmod do in Linux?

The lsmod command is used to display the status of modules in the Linux kernel. It results in a list of loaded modules. lsmod is a trivial program which nicely formats the contents of the /proc/modules , showing what kernel modules are currently loaded.

How bad is a kernel panic?

When you get a Kernel Panic on OS X, the screen darkens and you see a multilingual message that tells you to restart your computer. Much like a Blue Screen of Death on Windows, this could be indicative of a software problem, a hardware problem, or a conflict of hardware and software.

Can a bad hard drive cause a kernel panic?

Bad built-in hardware (including hard drives) Repeated kernel panics can be the result of incompatible, damaged or misconfigured built-in hardware. Sometimes the fix is as simple as re-seating built-in hardware.

Is taint a slur?

As verbs the difference between slur and taint is that slur is to insult or slight while taint is to (l) or (l) (something) with an external (l), either (l) or (l) or taint can be to damage, as a lance, without breaking it; also, to break, as a lance, but usually in an unknightly or unscientific manner.

What is a Grundle?

Noun. grundle (plural grundles) (US, slang) The perineum; the area between the anus and genitals.

What does ” kernel tainted ” mean in Stack Overflow?

Tainting is permanent: even if an offending module is unloaded, the tainted value remains to indicate that the kernel is not trustworthy. Also showing numbers for the content of /proc/sys/kernel/tainted file: Non-zero if the kernel has been tainted.

How to decode tainted state in Linux kernel?

Table for decoding tainted state ¶ Bit Log Number Reason that got the kernel tainted 0 G/P 1 proprietary module was loaded 1 _/F 2 module was force loaded 2 _/S 4 kernel running on an out of specificatio 3 _/R 8 module was force unloaded

What does ” kernel tainted ” mean in Fedora 17?

My OS is Fedora 17. Recently, kernel tainted warning “kernel bug at kernel/auditsc.c:1772!-abrt” occurs: This problem should not be reported (it is likely a known problem). A kernel problem occurred, but your kernel has been tainted (flags:GD).

What is a taint flag in SuSE kernel?

In SUSE kernels, additional taint flags are implemented. N: An uNsupported module has been loaded, i.e. a module which is not supported by SUSE and which is not known to be supported by a third party.