[This message has also been posted to linux.debian.user.] In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Roberto C. Sanchez wrote: > On Fri, Feb 09, 2007 at 01:50:40PM -0800, Ric Otte wrote: >>=20 >> I was wondering if anyone else had had problems like this and had any >> suggestions. I don't know much about hardware and don't begin to know wh=
> [Kernel oops in stable code, suggesting cpu-mem issues] > Get a Knoppix CD or DVD and run memtest on your system for a couple of > days. Have you *ever* seen memtest catch a pattern sensitive memory failure? Memtest is good for finding stuck bits and stuck address lines. But there is another class of failure: "walking wounded" chips with electrostatic discharge damage, bad signal integrity, failed or inadequate bypass caps, cracked traces with high resistance bridges. These can give unreproducable soft memory errors when you hit just the right address sequence with just the right pattern in RAM. I've had bad motherboards that could run memtest for days, at all temperatures. But they'd give a kernel oops or "signal 11" before they got to the end of a kernel compile. GCC generates a more chaotic pattern set than memtest does. I had one where sliding the scroll bar up and down on an xterm would do it. Desktop-class PC hardware doesn't provide fault isolation tools. You just have to replace parts one at a time. First measure the supply voltages. You can chase an inadequate power supply for days; it makes everything else look flaky. If you find 12V, 5V, and 3.3V within 5% of nominal, with the CD spinning and hard drive seeking (fsck -nf), move on to other things. Next look at BIOS and correct any "overclocking" or "aggressive" timing settings that some fool may have left on the board. You've already eliminated the hard drive. Try the cable, just to rule it out. I haven't seen a flaky CPU in years, they seem to fail all the way when they fail. Memory can be bad, especially due to ESD. But my bet is on the motherboard. Motherboards get micro cracks, bad solder, wrong value bypass caps, all kinds of hard to isolate stuff. People don't handle them delicately enough, and they're barely strong enough not to crack when you clamp those cooler retainers down. Even Intel and Tyan and Asus. Cameron -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
