System freeze

edgjerp · 01-21-2005, 06:26 PM

Once in a while my system freezes completely, only resolve is a hard reboot. this happens usually when the computer is working hard, but not always so. a friend told me it is the kernel that freezes, and that it could be a hardware problem. anyone know a way to figure out which component, if any, is bad?

I have a compaq pressario 2100 laptop with amd 2400 cpu, 512 MB ram and Mandrake 10.1 OE.

J.W. · 01-21-2005, 06:34 PM

One likely cause for this behavior would be overheating. What kinds of temperatures do you see? Anything in the low 40's C (110 - 115 F) would be fine; if you're in the mid-50's or 60's C then I'd be willing to bet that heat is almost certainly the culprit.

You should also check RAM by using a utility such as memtest86 -- J.W.

edgjerp · 01-22-2005, 03:49 AM

I read somewhere that AMD's run at higher temperatures, and I certainly hope so, since I never see such low temps. the fan usually stops when the temperature approaches 60 C. most of the time, I have between 60 and 75. if it is supposed to run below 40, there is some major errors in programming.