Re: Linux Crashing

On Fri, Jul 04, 2008 at 12:16:06PM -0600, Scott Walde wrote:
> Keith Brown wrote:
> > Hmm. The only internal hardware change was the power supply. Maybe
> >I'll swap it out for the old one this weekend. I'll disconnect the
> >external usb drive too and see what happens.
>
> I wouldn't rule out bad hardware. You mentioned you upgraded
> Slackware. I assume that means a newer kernel? It is possible,
> theoretically, that an old kernel failed to tickle a hardware problem
> that a newer kernel would. For example, if you're using the generic ATA
> driver on a KT133 chipset, the system might just be stable. BUT, if you
> start using the VIA kernel driver instead, it might just tickle an issue
> between the Creative Labs CT4810 PCI sound card and the VIA PCI chipset
> that makes the system unstable under heavy I/O. That's all just random
> bits picked out of my ass, of course, because Creative Labs insists
> there's no issue with the CT4810 and VIA insists their chipset also has
> no problems. :-( (And, no, I'm not bitter... although I haven't
> willingly bought a VIA chipset since.)

Quite true, this is one of the risks of white-box PC's and upgrades.

I've had similar problems with the following combinations:

- Intel 430FX chipset, Creative Savage 4 Video and Happauge Video Capture
- Asus board with some Via chipset and Matrox G550 Video card with
  Windows 2000.

Try swapping only one component at a time to narrow down the problem.
These kinds of problems with combinations of 3 or more components are
difficult for vendors to test and are quite probable in the wild.
Received on Fri Jul 4 15:42:24 2008