My first kernel panic - what to do?
 

Greetings LQ,

I am running Fedora 17 on a Frankenstein-like server in my attic (built from bits, some broke, bits replaced). It has run without fault through major upgrades since Fedora 8. It's previous uptime was 157 days. I routinely install the latest kernel updates.
However, the latest kernel update only lasts for 24-48 hours before a kernel panic locks up the machine.

I have never-ever had a kernel panic before. As a temporary measure, I have changed the grub default to a previous kernel version which appears to be fine (current uptime is now 6 days)

I tried looking in the message log for clues about what might be going wrong but there is nothing. I assume a kernel panic just kills the system dead before anything useful can be recorded.

Um...so what should I do next?

EDIT: I'm reasonably certain that emailing Linus and saying "Hey! Your patch broke my server!" isn't the correct response although I sort of considered it simply to see if he'd reply :D

are you still able to boot from the previous kernel?

Yes. The grub default is now a previous kernel which (appears) fine. However, I'd like to know how to diagnose whatever problem my server has with the latest kernel if possible.

perhaps some new driver is no compatible with your hardware

Or they might have removed some old hardware drives(which are needed for you server to boot) in the new kernel.