Re: [GLLUG] desktop freezing??

Sat Dec 1 09:56:21 EST 2007

Testing the memory isn't a bad idea.  I've got MicroScope which has many different tests (walking bit, etc) for memory and the system in general.  It wasn't frozen when I got home last night but I went out and got a new PS last night anyway.  An AIG 400W PS.

Gonna change it out now.  Have to cut all my zip ties :(  

Think I might go pick up some of those round ide cables since I'm in there anyway.  Give myself a little more room.

Wish me luck.

Benjamin Cathey
System Administrator
Cathey Company
4917 Tranter St.
Lansing, MI 48910 USA
Phone:     517.393.4720
Fax:       517.393.4225
Toll Free: 800.333.1972
"Service is Our Profession"

----- Original Message -----
From: Richard Houser
[mailto:rick at divinesymphony.net]
To: Karl Schuttler
[mailto:rexykik at gmail.com]
Cc: linux-user at egr.msu.edu
[mailto:linux-user at egr.msu.edu]
Sent: Sat, 01 Dec 2007 00:54:23
-0500
Subject: Re: [GLLUG] desktop freezing??

>->> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
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>->> 
>->> The higher efficiency stuff is quite a nice bonus too.  I just picked up
>->> a couple Antec Earthwatt series power supplies and my newest build pulls
>->> 34 to 52 watts (most commonly floating around 40) from the wall during
>->> normal desktop tasks.  Hardware is a 4000+ AM2 on an Epox Nvidia based
>->> board (including graphics), 4x1GB DDR2 sticks, 120MM case fan, and a
>->> 400GB WD sata drive.  Under light loads, I think that's actually more
>->> power efficient than my laptop (and a heck of a lot faster in all cases).
>->> 
>->> In fact, I really don't get the whole high-wattage power supplies thing
>->> anymore.  My gaming rig only pulls somewhere 120 watts from the wall if
>->> I intentionally throw a ton of miscellaneous tasks at it to
>->> intentionally strain every bit of hardware.
>->> 
>->> 
>->> 
>->> If you think memory could even remotely be a cause, it's worth it to run
>->> memtestx86 on it.  I just finished running it on that new build (testing
>->> 4GB takes a little time) and there really is no substitute for the time
>->> savings.
>->> 
>->> Karl Schuttler wrote:
>->> > You can get a decent power supply these days for 30, 40 bucks. Just
>->> > throw a little money at the problem and see if it fixes it. If it
>->> > turns out to be not the case (gadunst), you'll have a powersupply
>->> > handy for when one of the ones you have being used dies in the next
>->> > six months.
>->> > 
>->> > On Nov 29, 2007 9:30 AM, Sean O'Malley <picasso at madflower.com> wrote:
>->> >> It sounds like your power supply might not be big enough to handle the
>->> >> bigger drive. It could be a bad board or bad caps, etc. and stuff that
>->> has
>->> >> already been mentioned.
>->> >>
>->> >> To throw some other things out on the "possibility" list because they are
>->> >> "odd" errors.
>->> >>
>->> >> I had an issue with a series of USB 1.1 cards where one port put itself
>->> to
>->> >> sleep it was after like 30 minutes, and you could be in the middle of
>->> >> typing something, and just flat out went to sleep. my keyboard and mouse
>->> >> were connected to it, so basically it felt like the windowing system
>->> hung.
>->> >> By switching the USB ports the keyboard and mouse were it fixed the
>->> issue.
>->> >> It was literally a hardware issue and I had to send the card back. It was
>->> >> a whole chipset series that was bad which was OEM'd to various venders.
>->> >> (the black screen maybe because the card went to sleep, the system thinks
>->> >> it is there and is trying to talk to that device, but it is timing out.)
>->> >> This might appear if you switched where the usb cables were plugged in
>->> >> while adding/swapping out the drive. You might try swapping around the
>->> >> cables.
>->> >>
>->> >> If it isn't enough power to the USB devices, as the USB bus can only
>->> >> handle 500mA of current per controller, you might try a powered USB hub
>->> if
>->> >> none of your devices are actually powered. Most 4-port usb cards are two
>->> >> controllers with a two port hub so ports 1-2 use controller A, and 3-4
>->> use
>->> >> controller B.  If you switched cables around, the current draw per
>->> >> controller also changed.
>->> >>
>->> >> Along the sleep issue lines, sometimes drives will put themselves to
>->> >> sleep. You might be trying to access say a screen saver on a drive that
>->> >> went to bed on ya and the system can't wake it up. This is a usually a
>->> >> scsi issue.
>->> >>
>->> >> It could be memory issue usually those are only consistant errors during
>->> >> startup on linux, where you are loading programs in memory exactly the
>->> >> same way everytime. An easy way to test this is to swap memory card
>->> slots.
>->> >> It may not have appeared before because you wen't actually USING that
>->> >> memory. IE you loaded a driver for a worm drive into the bad ram.  Since
>->> >> you added a bigger drive, the in memory cache may have increased thus
>->> >> shifting where everything is/was loaded in memory.
>->> >>
>->> >> A similar issue is where your drivers are loaded on your drive. You might
>->> >> be using a "new" driver that was written to a bad sector on the drive.
>->> >>
>->> >> Most of this stuff shows up in the logs in one form or another.
>->> >>
>->> >>
>->> >>
>->> >>
>->> >> On Wed, 28 Nov 2007, Michael Rudas wrote:
>->> >>
>->> >>> Benjamin Cathey wrote:
>->> >>>
>->> >>>> As far as Power Supplies go - the more wattage the better, correct?
>->> >>>>  The system will only draw what it needs, right?  Or am I remembering
>->> wrong?
>->> >>> Mostly right.  The efficiency and power factor ratings of
>->> >>> higher-wattage PSs is kinda variable, but differences are (usually)
>->> >>> minor, especially for quality units.  A 400W PS would not be overkill;
>->> >>> an 800-watt one would.  I still think the PS is the problem, but check
>->> >>> the caps, as well.
>->> >>>
>->> >>>> I figured Linux would have a message somewhere if the problem was
>->> overheating though.
>->> >>> It was only a suggestion based on experience.  Linux can't read ALL
>->> >>> thermal-monitor ICs, unfortunately -- but the BIOS can.
>->> >>>
>->> >>> ~~ Mikey
>->> >>> _______________________________________________
>->> >>> linux-user mailing list
>->> >>> linux-user at egr.msu.edu
>->> >>> http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user
>->> >>>
>->> >>
>->> >>
>->> >> _______________________________________________
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>->> >>
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