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anpcre
Asked: 2009-10-11 02:25:26 +0800 CST

Linux Box Freezes - needs Hard Reboot

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I am having this error for quite some time

I am using CentOS 5.3 on which I have a LAMP and a Qmail Server

This also serves for a samba share and ntp server for my intranet

The problem is that the Box suddenly freezes and the other lights in my keyboard (other than Num Lock which is usually ON) starts to flicker

This happens randomly and there is no specific application or command that instigates this

When I am on the GNOME terminal, it feels like a total freeze as i cannot move on to the command line consoles also

Other times, when I leave the machine at say tty1 and it freezes, I see the line as Kernel Panic there

The box is updated with the most current updates using yum

I would like to receive instructions as to how to clear the problems and if required procedures to trace out this activity and find a remedy for this problem

Regards

amRit

linux

3 Answers

  1. What does the kernel panic actually say ?

    My hunch is that it's either bad drivers or broken hardware.

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  2. You could boot with a live cd like GRML and use the memtest+ boot option to check the RAM for errors. If you boot the normal grml OS (debian based linux), there are lots of tools for diag (like cpu burn-in).

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  3. You're going to need to provide a lot more information about the hardware on the system and the details of the Kernel Panic. What kernel are you actually running? (uname -a would be most helpful).

    After you reboot, I would recommend checking the /var/log/messages file and scrolling up from the end past the bootup messages to see what the last entries were in the log prior to the freeze.

    As annoying as it sounds, the easiest solution may be to wait for the 5.4 release in a couple of weeks, update to it, and see if the updated kernel includes a fix for your problem.

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