System Freezes (Kernel Panic) When Displays Shut Down - Linux 32-bit RHEL 5 VM Using Quadro P4000

Xorg version: 7.1.1
Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) is used for the VM
The VM uses 3 monitors (connected to the DP ports of the P4000)
The P4000 is dedicated to the VM (host computer does not use it)
Drivers used: 375.39, 378.13, 384.98, 387.34

When the VM is booted up for the first time, the displays are working. The problem occurs when the VM is commanded to shut down. When commanded to shut down, the displays turn black and the VM freezes. I initially thought the problem was a shutdown problem, but after further investigation, this freeze happens whenever the displays shut down. Commands like “gdm-stop”, “gdm-restart”, “init 3” will cause this freeze. After the freeze occurs, a force shutdown command through Virtual Machine Manager is required to shut down the VM. However, when the VM boots again, the moment it tries to use the three displays, the VM will freeze.

I am working on getting existing software to work on new hardware. The hardware we used before had a Quadro K4200 that used a 352.63 driver. We are now using Quadro P4000 so I had to get a new driver that was compatible to the P4000. Using P4000, I tried multiple drivers (375.39, 378.13, 384.98, 387.34) but they all had the same display shutdown problem. To further investigate, I switched out the P4000 with a K4200 and used the same drivers, along with the old driver we originally used (352.63, 375.39, 378.13, 384.98, 387.34). After testing with the K4200, there are no problems when I use 352.63, 375.39, 378.13 drivers. However, the same freeze problems occur when I use 384.98, 387.34 drivers.

A small work around I found was to uninstall the nvidia driver before the VM freeze or forced shutdown. The difference with uninstalling the nvidia driver is that when the VM tries to boot up again, it won’t be able to start the X server (cannot attempt to use the three displays) so the VM will not freeze on boot up. At this point, I can go on the command line and reinstall the nvidia driver and start up the displays using commands like “gdm-restart” or “init 5”. The freeze problems still exist but at least I don’t have to reinstall the VM due to not being able to boot up.

In short, it seems like the displays only work the first time after the nvidia driver is installed.

I have the bug-report log and the installer log but I don’t know how to attach it to this thread. The bug-report log does not include the occurrence of the problem because the VM freezes (cannot SSH in).

Thanks in advance for the help. Please let me know if you need me to clarify on anything.

nvidia-installer.log (17.6 KB)
nvidia-bug-report.log.gz (131 KB)

See if starting the persistence daemon helps, it keeps the kernel driver initialized on X shutdown.

I started the persistence daemon but I still can’t ping or SSH into the VM after the freeze.

deleted, wrong thread
This forum software is horrible.