what do these errors in my syslog mean?

 

Mar 13 23:55:25 Tower kernel: ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
Mar 13 23:55:25 Tower kernel: ata1.00: cmd b0/d4:00:02:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 tag 0
Mar 13 23:55:25 Tower kernel: res 40/00:00:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
Mar 13 23:55:25 Tower kernel: ata1.00: status: { DRDY }
Mar 13 23:55:25 Tower kernel: ata1: hard resetting link
Mar 13 23:55:28 Tower kernel: ata1: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
Mar 13 23:55:28 Tower kernel: ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133
Mar 13 23:55:28 Tower kernel: ata1: EH complete
Mar 13 23:55:28 Tower kernel: mdcmd (6432): spindown 0
Mar 14 00:01:09 Tower kernel: ata2.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
Mar 14 00:01:09 Tower kernel: ata2.00: cmd b0/d4:00:02:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 tag 0
Mar 14 00:01:09 Tower kernel: res 40/00:00:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
Mar 14 00:01:09 Tower kernel: ata2.00: status: { DRDY }
Mar 14 00:01:09 Tower kernel: ata2: hard resetting link
Mar 14 00:01:11 Tower kernel: ata2: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
Mar 14 00:01:12 Tower kernel: ata2.00: configured for UDMA/133
Mar 14 00:01:12 Tower kernel: ata2: EH complete
Mar 14 00:01:12 Tower kernel: mdcmd (6477): spindown 1
Mar 14 00:08:49 Tower kernel: ata2.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
Mar 14 00:08:49 Tower kernel: ata2.00: cmd b0/d4:00:02:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 tag 0
Mar 14 00:08:49 Tower kernel: res 40/00:00:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)

 

and what does it mean when iomem could not be reserved?

 

Mar 13 09:04:32 Tower kernel: system 00:0c: iomem range 0xe0000000-0xefffffff has been reserved
Mar 13 09:04:32 Tower kernel: system 00:0d: iomem range 0xd1a00-0xd3fff has been reserved
Mar 13 09:04:32 Tower kernel: system 00:0d: iomem range 0xf0000-0xf7fff could not be reserved
Mar 13 09:04:32 Tower kernel: system 00:0d: iomem range 0xf8000-0xfbfff could not be reserved
Mar 13 09:04:32 Tower kernel: system 00:0d: iomem range 0xfc000-0xfffff could not be reserved
Mar 13 09:04:32 Tower kernel: system 00:0d: iomem range 0x77de0000-0x77dfffff could not be reserved
Mar 13 09:04:32 Tower kernel: system 00:0d: iomem range 0xffff0000-0xffffffff has been reserved
Mar 13 09:04:32 Tower kernel: system 00:0d: iomem range 0x0-0x9ffff could not be reserved
Mar 13 09:04:32 Tower kernel: system 00:0d: iomem range 0x100000-0x77ddffff could not be reserved
Mar 13 09:04:32 Tower kernel: system 00:0d: iomem range 0x77ef0000-0x7feeffff could not be reserved
Mar 13 09:04:32 Tower kernel: system 00:0d: iomem range 0xfec00000-0xfec00fff could not be reserved
Mar 13 09:04:32 Tower kernel: system 00:0d: iomem range 0xfee00000-0xfee00fff has been reserved
Mar 13 09:04:32 Tower kernel: system 00:0d: iomem range 0xfff80000-0xfffeffff has been reserved

syslog-2010-03-14.txt

what does it mean when iomem could not be reserved?

It just means you have been studying the syslog too closely!   

 

Seriously, it is completely harmless, not an error, just the normal process of the operating system identifying where all of the available memory is, and setting up the complete memory map.  Each addon card may map some memory (eg. for its BIOS and ports) into the global memory map.  If it does not find memory in a certain region, then it cannot be reserved.  (sorry, a rather simplistic answer)

 

what do these errors in my syslog mean?

 

All 3 exceptions are non-specific timeout issues, no error reported.  A request was made to the drive, but no response was received in a reasonable (and quite long) interval.  It is reported because it could indicate a problem, but nothing wrong was actually detected.  What is unusual with your 3 timeouts is that each is directly associated with a command to spin down.  I haven't seen that before, and I don't have any ideas so far.  Just something to monitor for now...