Hi guys, I've solved my problems ... the solution is to start with a non smp kernel. I think that the problem is located in the CPU. Follow /proc/cpuinfo : processor : 0 vendor_id : GenuineIntel cpu family : 15 model : 4 model name : Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 3.00GHz stepping : 1 cpu MHz : 2993.123 cache size : 1024 KB fdiv_bug : no hlt_bug : no f00f_bug : no coma_bug : no fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 5 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm pni monitor ds_cpl cid xtpr bogomips : 5947.39 Thanks for your help -- Gabriele Chervatin