Arch Linux

oblogathon

Member

Registered: 2008-10-23

Posts: 9

Random crashes [Solved]

I've been having a pretty major crash issue lately and am completely lost when it comes to diagnosing it.

The system hangs randomly, accepts no input, whatever sound was playing loops on the last half-second or so, and I'm forced to hit the power button.

I'm running a P4 Dual core 2.6 GHz, ATI X800 with opensource driver, 1GB RAM.

Can you guys help me sort this out? Do I need to sort through my /var/log files after a crash until I can find something indicative of the problem?

Last edited by oblogathon (2009-12-22 18:10:28)

oblogathon

Member

Registered: 2008-10-23

Posts: 9

Re: Random crashes [Solved]

Just has a crash, wrote down the time that it happened and then rebooted, hoping to find something in /var/log. I went through all the logfiles, and there is absolutely nothing indicative of a problem of this sort.

I'm actually running a fairly new arch install, I reformatted a week or two ago and am set up with openbox + tint2 & the works. I can't find anything that might be causing this crash, my only lead is that they seem to always happen while firefox is open - although I certainly can't be sure that's even related as I always have firefox open when using the computer.

lagagnon

Member

From: an Island in the Pacific...

Registered: 2009-12-10

Posts: 1,087

Website

Re: Random crashes [Solved]

Random crashing to me tends to indicate a hardware fault. You can be certain it is hardware by trying a Live Linux CD, stressing the computer a bit and seeing if you still get crashes. If you do it is undoubtedly hardware. I would try that first, as well as running memtest from the Live CD.

---

Philosophy is looking for a black cat in a dark room. Metaphysics is looking for a black cat in a dark room that isn't there. Religion is looking for a black cat in a dark room that isn't there and shouting "I found it!". Science is looking for a black cat in a dark room with a flashlight.

Gumper

Member

From: U.S.A.

Registered: 2009-10-26

Posts: 132

Re: Random crashes [Solved]

I had the same issue with my installation. See here:

http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=85983

What I ended up doing was to disable "kms" and I believe that this fixed my problems. (hopefully). You can find directions on how to disable kms here:

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/ATI … Hard_locks

---

Ready yourselves, ready yourselves
Let us shine the light of Jesus in the darkest night
Ready yourselves, ready yourselves
May the powers of darkness tremble as our praises rise .... Casting Crowns-Until The Whole World Hears.

oblogathon

Member

Registered: 2008-10-23

Posts: 9

Re: Random crashes [Solved]

Disabled KMS for the radeon drivers by adding a line to my grub configuration file. I'll post back here if I still experience issues, but I have hope! Thanks for the assistance, Gumper. I had one hell of a time trying to figure out what was causing this on my own.

Edit:

Problem appears solved.

Last edited by oblogathon (2009-12-22 18:10:18)