We are running Monta Vista Linux 2.4.17 on a custom embedded system. 
The processor is Intel IXP425.  There is no swapping on the system.
There are some number of modules that we insmod into the system.

On occasion we see errors of the form:-

swap_free: Bad swap file entry 1dab3064 
swap_free: Bad swap file entry 1842b040 
swap_free: Bad swap file entry 18429040 
swap_free: Bad swap file entry 31d7303c 

On searching the Internet, this seems to be a well known Linux
problem.  But I couldn't quite determine what the appropriate solution
for us would be.  Any pointers/patches/help would be highly
appreciated.

I don't know how exactly to reproduce the problem, it just shows up
every now and then.  While it is possible that the modules that we
insmod coulb be causing the problem, it seems unlikely given that so
many other people are seeing similar errors.

Thank you.

---

Request for Question Clarification by joseleon-ga on 08 Mar 2004 10:41 PST

Hello, rajivd:
  I have been researching on this problem and it seems the common
point of most cases is a hardware problem with memory, althought none
has "confirmed" that this is the problem, most talk about it.

Is there any possibility you can test the system with another memory?

Regards.

---

Clarification of Question by rajivd-ga on 08 Mar 2004 11:05 PST

I don't think that this is hardware issue.  We have seen the same
error on multiple systems.  Also, many other Linux users have reported
this problem. For instance, one of the many links reporting this kind
of a problem is

http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0206.0/0723.html

One sure way to get rid of the errors would be to create a partition
and format it as a Linux swap partition. Then using the "swapon" tool
to start system swapping.