[Linux-aus] pcie errors

[Adam Nielsen]

> What I would like from the experts here is any suggestions about things I may 
> have missed or misunderstood.  Am I right in interpreting this as a PCIe error 
> related to the CPU root port?  Is reseating the CPU the thing to do for that?  
> Am I right in thinking that the change of kernel version is extremely unlikely 
> to be connected to the problem?

It's unlikely to be the kernel version given that the PCIe code doesn't
often change that significantly, and that physical actions (like the
cleaning you mentioned, or just moving a computer in a vehicle) are
notorious for causing these kinds of problems.

In my experience the majority of these issues are caused by the RAM
making poor electrical contact in its socket.  Often reseating the
memory DIMMs helps as they are very sensitive to less than perfect
electrical connections to the socket.

Compressed air is great for cleaning out dust, but it doesn't remove
the thin later of caked-on dust and oils that often build up on
electronics sitting around for a long time.  (Think about using
compressed air to clean your dinner plate - it will blow off any large
chunks but by no means leave your plate clean.)

If you have some electrical contact cleaner (available from automotive
shops and some hardware stores), spraying it liberally into the memory
socket and across the pins on the stick of memory itself will help wash
off any stubborn dust and oils from the contacts that could be
preventing a clean electrical connection.

I would suggest running something like memtest86 to give the memory a
full workout (perhaps before even touching the memory sticks) to see if
you are having any memory issues.  But even if memtest86 comes back
clean, I'd still recommend giving the memory sticks a good clean just
because they are such a common source of problems in scenarios like
yours of having just cleaned the inside of the machine.

The corruption from flaky memory can cause all sorts of problems so
until it is ruled out, I wouldn't be worrying about PCIe errors.

The second most common cause of strange issues is a deteriorating power
supply not able to maintain stable enough voltages, so if cleaning the
memory doesn't help, trying an alternate power supply is often a good
idea, although I think with all the voltage regulation on modern
motherboards this is probably less of an issue than it once was.

Cheers,
Adam.