# [solved] Freezing problem

## Spectre85

Hello all,

First off - I'm sorry if this is posted in the wrong place - please move it if it is.  But I think I have a hardware problem that I (might?) be able to find a solution with using the kernel.

I have Gentoo installed on an old (90's) compaq 7598 computer (see http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00034150&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&product=94528).  There have been several "upgrades" to the stock machine.  It has 2 PC100 256MB ram modules now (identical brand, speed, etc).  It has a 40GB Maxtor hard drive now.  And it has a 10/100/1000 gigabit ethernet card (yes, I know gigabit would never get used on this!).  Also, I've somewhat "stripped" the computer from other parts to minimize where the problem might be.  II've disconnected the CD drive and floppy drive.  So the computer basically consists of:  Motherboard + power supply + 2x256MB Ram + PCI ethernet card (in slot 2 or 4) + 1 IDE cable connecting to the hard drive (in 1 of 2 IDE ports).  The hard drive is set as master.

Now, my computer has a problem of randomly freezing.  I honestly don't know/remember if this happened way back when it ran windows 95 because the computer sat around for years until I dug it out and installed Xubuntu on it around 2004 or 2005.  With Xubuntu though, the problem of random freezes existed.  I used the computer on and off for several years and then stopped using it again 1.5 of so years ago.  Now I brought it back from the dead again to install Gentoo.  I wanted to see if it would still freeze with another OS and I wanted to use a minimal Gentoo install to avoid as many potential problems as I could.  When I started the Gentoo CD, I immediately had a problem, it would freeze at "scanning for wd7000..."  With google, I found the following website and I made the problem go away by passing noload=pata_qdi (see https://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=252635).  After this, the Gentoo install went perfectly and I had no other problems.  My computer never froze during the (long) compiling and installation processes.  Then, my gentoo seemed to work all the time without ever freezing.  But then I tried to update it with "emerge --update world".  It begins to compile the new gcc, but freezes at some point during the install (different points of the compiling).  When it freezes, the cursor continues to blink, but I get no result from ANY key combination (ctrl+alt+delete, ctrl+alt+F#, esc, etc, etc).  My only option is to hard power it off and turn it back on.  I then re-compiled and installed a new kernel, where I spent several hours going through every option in "make menuconfig" and selecting only what applied to my system.  With this new kernel though, I get the same result (no problems except when I try to update with emerge).  It is interesting that it doesn't ever freeze during the kernel compile and install or at any other point...only when I try the emerge update (gcc compile).  Albeit, I haven't really done much else with the computer and I have NO windows manager nor desktop.

I get a similar freeze when running memtest86 as well.  Sometimes it will go all the way through the test just fine, and other times it will freeze part way through the test.  I've also tried this with just one or the other of the pieces of RAM in.  So if this is a RAM problem, then both of mine are bad.

I'm just looking for suggestions on what my problem might be (what piece of hardware) and how I can figure it out for sure.  I'm kind of guessing that the problem is my motherboard, maybe?  Also, I don't think it is overheating...The case is off and it is very cool in my room.  Also, if I touch the heat sink right after a freeze, it is not hot at all.

So what kinds of log files and other things should I check to narrow down the problem?  Are there some kernel options I should turn on/off to get extra output to some log file that I could then read after a freeze?  Feel free to ask for any log/command outputs, etc.  Any help is greatly appreciated and sorry for the long post!

Thanks,

Scott

PS:  Why am I doing this???  I don't like things not to work, and I want to have this extra computer for testing purposes.Last edited by Spectre85 on Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:52 pm; edited 1 time in total

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## Spectre85

Just after I posted this, I went to shutdown the compaq computer (shutdown -h now) and it actually froze on shutdown (the first time I've seen this ever)...here are the last few lines before it freezes:

* Stopping syslog-ng ...                                                     [ ok ]

* Deactivating swap ...                                                      [ ok ]

* Unmounting filesystems ...                                              [ ok ]

* Remounting remaining filesystems readonly ...               [ ok ]

[ 3485.754433] System halted.

_

The last line (_) is to indicate the underscore cursor...it just sits there and keeps blinking, but it won't finish doing anything.

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## Hu

 *Spectre85 wrote:*   

> The last line (_) is to indicate the underscore cursor...it just sits there and keeps blinking, but it won't finish doing anything.

 There is nothing left to do.  The system can be powered down.  Normally, you do not see this, because more modern systems powerdown on their own.  This system is either unable to do that, or your kernel is not configured to use whatever powerdown support exists.

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## Spectre85

 *Hu wrote:*   

>  *Spectre85 wrote:*   The last line (_) is to indicate the underscore cursor...it just sits there and keeps blinking, but it won't finish doing anything. There is nothing left to do.  The system can be powered down.  Normally, you do not see this, because more modern systems powerdown on their own.  This system is either unable to do that, or your kernel is not configured to use whatever powerdown support exists.

 

But this is the first time that has happened...it has always powered down completely by itself.  And I've always used the same command (shutdown -h now).  It always has shut off completely by itself.

EDIT:  Ok...nevermind, you are right.  Usually it did always turn all the way off by itself.  But it looks like the last time I re-compiled the kernel and took out everything I didn't need, it changed that behavior.  So now this is "normal" with my new kernel.  Thanks.  But it does still actually freeze at the other points I've mentioned before...

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## pappy_mcfae

Considering the claimed age of the machine, I'm betting you've either got a dying machine on your hands, or some seriously dusty/dirty/smokey/corroded connections inside. Start with the memory first. Use a pencil to rub the contacts clean. It is best to use alcohol to cut the possibility of static discharge damage. Do the same to all PCI/AGP/ISA cards. Be sure all parts are dry before reinstalling.

There is a possibility of kernel issues as well. What kernel version are you using? Do the freezes happen in X, during CLI operations, or both?

Blessed be!

Pappy

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## Spectre85

 *pappy_mcfae wrote:*   

> Considering the claimed age of the machine, I'm betting you've either got a dying machine on your hands, or some seriously dusty/dirty/smokey/corroded connections inside. Start with the memory first. Use a pencil to rub the contacts clean. It is best to use alcohol to cut the possibility of static discharge damage. Do the same to all PCI/AGP/ISA cards. Be sure all parts are dry before reinstalling.
> 
> There is a possibility of kernel issues as well. What kernel version are you using? Do the freezes happen in X, during CLI operations, or both?
> 
> Blessed be!
> ...

 

I really don't think it is a kernel problem directly...since these were happening for several years with Xubuntu which went through many different kernels.  The current kernel is 2.6.30.  I don't have any windows manager or desktop installed right now, so I haven't run this with X.  But when I had Xubuntu, I was only using X and it froze as well.

My parts are VERY clean.  When I pulled this out to test it again, I disassembled EVERYTHING, cleaned things, dusted them, etc, etc.

Anyways...the update did actually finish last night...which is great except that now I don't have a reliable way to make it freeze in this current setup  :Smile:   Perhaps I'll install Xfce or Fluxbox and see how it handles that...

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## pappy_mcfae

It remains a hardware issue, then. Either memory, CPU or mobo. My money is on mobo or memory, as P-III's weren't noted for dying, unless they overheated to the point where they browned the motherboard.

Blessed be!

Pappy

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## LesCoke

Another thing to check regarding the age of the machine is:  the CMOS battery.  I have seen several systems act strange, until the problem was traced to a weak CMOS battery.

Les

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## Spectre85

Hm...I know I tried it before with just one of the other pieces of ram and it still froze...but either I didn't try both pieces by themselves in each slot (i.e. maybe one slot on the mobo is bad), or there were freezes for another reason in the past.  Either way...I took out one of the ram sticks (which sucks, down to 256mb), but now I get no freezes.  I always thought it was the ram...but I know it kept freezing before...weird!

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## pappy_mcfae

I'd vote for a bad slot, and a bad memory module.

Blessed be!

Pappy

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