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lmegliol
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djinnZ
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 Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 10:50 am Post subject: |
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on some of my old PCs the boot will fail why the ide controller or the network card are damaged.
Or you can measure (with a tester) the tension output. After long time some crappy power units need to be substituted.
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Dagger
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| Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 12:06 pm Post subject: |
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I would recommend to test your memory (memtest86) a bit more
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Last edited by Dagger on Tue Dec 11, 2007 1:42 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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energyman76b
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| Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 1:19 pm Post subject: |
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three passes are not enough.
I would go down the PSU route too.
Oh, and when you are replacing stuff - try replacing the kernel too. 2.6.17 is acient - and lots of bugs and holes have been fixed...
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lmegliol
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| Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:40 pm Post subject: |
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Exactly how many passes am I looking for on the memtest? Last time I checked it was at over 12 with zero errors.
The PSU? Really? Can someone explain the logic behind this one, because apparently my imagination is running short today?
As far as the kernel goes, yeah I know it is old. But unless there is a hardware problem, would an older kernel that has exhibited no problems since installation just suddenly start causing problems?
What about a CPU failure? Does this sound like something that could be the cause? |
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energyman76b
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| Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:04 am Post subject: |
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| lmegliol wrote: | Exactly how many passes am I looking for on the memtest? Last time I checked it was at over 12 with zero errors.
The PSU? Really? Can someone explain the logic behind this one, because apparently my imagination is running short today?
As far as the kernel goes, yeah I know it is old. But unless there is a hardware problem, would an older kernel that has exhibited no problems since installation just suddenly start causing problems?
What about a CPU failure? Does this sound like something that could be the cause? |
12 memtest passes are ok. 20 better, 100.. you can't have enough.. because sometimes even after 1000 passes some error might slip through
The PSU: it does contain caps. And caps become weak - the warmer the faster (they loose some of their capacitance). This results in fluctuating voltages, voltages becoming too low or th PSU is not be able to provide enough amperes anymore. If that happens, your computer becomes extremly crashy - because jumping around voltages or voltages dropping below the tolerances (or going to high to compensate for missing amperes), is something delicate electronics don't stomach well.
I had several cases where a weak PSU was the cause of a lot of problems. New PSU, problems gone.
CPU failure is extremly rare (except when you are overclocking Intel P4). And CPU failure is usually catastrophic...
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Kernel & Hardware
