Fedora 11 Server Freezing Up
 

Hi Guys,

After a year of rock solid usage out of my Fedora 11 server, it seems to be freezing/locking up once a day. I suspect some piece of hardware on it might be going, but i'm not sure what.

I ran it through memtest, no errors reported. I also swapped out the OS hard drive (cloned to another drive with clonezilla). That didn't fix it either.

I have looked through /var/log/messages, and haven't seen anything out of the ordinary. Are there other log files that I should be looking at?

What would you do in my situation?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

- brad

Hi

When you say freezing/locking up - what exactly is happening - is the machine CPU or RAM (both) being completely exhausted? Any idea if the machine is dipping into swap?

What hardware are you running? Have you installed any new applications recently?

Also, you've said that this is a server; why are you using Fedora 11 then?

1. Fedora 11 is 2 releases old and will soon be out of support

2. Rather use CentOS or RHEL (if you willing to pay for support) which are much more stable.

Hi alli-yas,

Thank you for the quick response. When I saying locking up, the computer just stops responding. Whatever was on the screen stays on the screen, the mouse/keyboard will not respond, can't ssh in. It almost seems like the box becomes dead to the world. Is there any log file I can check for the CPU/RAM/swap info? I can't get it real time during a lock up.

I have not installed any new applications.

I think I was a little misleading when I used the term server. I used it as a mythTV insallation in my living room. I picked Fedora as an OS to learn on (back around Fedora 5), and have stuck with it, due to comfort level.

I didn't realize I'm already two releases behind! Perhaps this is a good time to upgrade.

Any other ideas or suggestions? I think it may be a hardware prob, as it suddenly has stopped working (with no other changes). After a year of rock solid stability.

From the sounds of hit you're getting a kernel panic for some or other reason.

You've said already you haven't noticed anything untoward in /var/log/messages - run dmesg perhaps and have a look if there's anything funny in there.

In terms of hardware failing, you've already checked your memory; and changed out your disk - leaving only your processor/motherboard that could be the problem - I really doubt this unless you're running the machine in a fairly warm environment that could cause your CPU to fail.

If you check through dmesg and still can't find anything untoward; I'd back the system up and go through the upgrade to Fedora 13 (do a clean install - the upgrade option presents its own difficulties). If you're still having these freezes/lock ups, then you pretty much know that either your MOBO or processor have had it.

Hi.

A few things to try:

1) Boot from a memtest CD and check that your RAM's OK.
2) Check the output from 'sensors' for any temperatures or voltages that look too high/low (you might have to run 'sensors-detect first).
3) Try a different power supply. Most random hangs I've had have been caused by dodgy power.

Dave

Fixed -- Faulty Power Supply
 

Hey Guys,

Turns out it was a bad power supply. Replaced it, and it is back to rock solid. Thanks for the advice!

- brad

set up as a " mythdora" media center you might think of fedora 13 , then in 6 months 14 ( or 12 months fedora 15)

If it is at all connected to the net ( not just the tv cable ) you DO NEED to stay current with fedora , and that can be A LOT of work.