[SOLVED] Mandriva 2008 became unbootable

mbvpixies78 · 12-03-2007, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tredegar

So was I.
Did you miss my post, #13, above?
You list kubuntu as one of your distros. If you have the regular "live CD / install" disk, then the option to run memtest86 is on that disk's boot menu (below "Run or install Kubuntu"). Arrow down to it select it, press return, and let it run for a long time - overnight.
That might, at least, eliminate bad memory.

Parts of your PC (The PSU? Cables ... ) are now 7 years old.
Have you followed jiml8's other advice?

Yes and I'm agreeing, especially when I see mention of DMA in the log. Ok, I'll let Kubuntu's memtest86 run when I leave for work.

Just for the record, I'm using Mandriva now (as we speak-- it's all that's installed). I'm not using Firefox or Amarok anymore, just Konqueror, bittorrent and sometimes an IMer, trying to see if that helps stop the freezes. I feel hopeful because I was actually able to boot up and didn't have to reinstall from scratch the last time everything froze and I had to reset (could it be, despite a frozen screen that the whole <alt><sysrq>etc. combo saved me from curruption?)

Now my external drive isn't mounting and so I can't access it to backup or restore anymore. Hmmm.... I just tried for a third time to copy down the message and now suddenly it is mounting... the error was something about bad superblock, etc., which was happening regularly before.

I'm working on getting a copy of Spinrite and will post more later. Thanks for all the help so far guys. I really appreciate it.

The PSU was replaced and then replaced again, so it's probably about 4 years old. One of the memory cards may very well be from 2000, but the other is from 2006.

jiml8 · 12-03-2007, 03:42 PM

Running memtest won't hurt a bit, though I would recommend you wait until you have disassembled/cleaned/reassembled the system.

Based upon the log files, I would say you have a power supply problem (most likely), or a motherboard problem (less likely). But I wouldn't say that with any conviction until you had disassembled/cleaned/reassembled the system.

edit: I have to amend my statement a bit. I conclude power supply based upon the appearance of sda, and a spurious hdd, and the comments about the existence or non-existence of hdb.

But if I assume there actually is a hdd (cdrom or burner, perhaps) in the system and ignore the comments, just reading the log files, it looks more like a failing HD than anything else. In this case, run full drive diagnostics, change the cable, and proceed through the diagnostic process I previously set out.

mbvpixies78 · 12-03-2007, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tredegar

So was I.
Did you miss my post, #13, above?
You list kubuntu as one of your distros. If you have the regular "live CD / install" disk, then the option to run memtest86 is on that disk's boot menu (below "Run or install Kubuntu"). Arrow down to it select it, press return, and let it run for a long time - overnight.
That might, at least, eliminate bad memory.

Parts of your PC (The PSU? Cables ... ) are now 7 years old.
Have you followed jiml8's other advice?

Tredegar-- Thanks for sharing your perspective on this. I felt like God hated me after I read how Linux is used on something like 2/3 to 3/4 of internet servers and on the space shuttle and the space station, yet I've been getting crapped on by something here pretty consistently.

I used the Kubuntu memory test as you suggested for about 8 1/2 hours and it had 25 passes and no errors. It said ECC was off (don't think the older of the two RAM sticks supports it, if even the newer one does.) Under test type it said standard.

jiml8--I installed and set up smartmontools and am in the process of learning how to use it.

Questions:

I used the advanced setup to get a backup going but it only seems to work if I click backup manually-- it won't do it by itself. I've run across "cron" as something to automate processes but I can't find anything to tell me how to use this with backup to automate my backups. In the backup setup in Mandriva, it let me choose "daily" (because of the crashes) but it hasn't backed up anything by itself at all over the last couple of days. What gives? Somewhere along the line I jotted down:

"Please be sure that the cron daemon is included in your services."

This must be what I need to do? I can't find "cron" in the installer though, just "Cron-like" things such as vixie-cron, d-cron, f-cron, etc., etc., any suggestions?

jiml8 · 12-03-2007, 11:40 PM

All you need to learn about with smartmontools at the present time is the smartctl command. That is the one that will get your drive(s) to report on their health. That report may or may not be conclusive, but under any conditions it will be indicative.

You particularly want to run the long self test on the drive(s) and see what the results are.

Here is an example output from a HD of mine that is healthy:

Code:

root@Dadsbox:media>smartctl -a /dev/sdd
smartctl version 5.37 [i586-mandriva-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-6 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

Device:                           Version: S7Z0
Serial number:         ZTD05334
Device type: disk
Transport protocol: Fibre channel (FCP-2)
Local Time is: Mon Dec  3 17:15:54 2007 MST
Device supports SMART and is Enabled
Temperature Warning Enabled
SMART Health Status: OK

Current Drive Temperature:     35 C
Drive Trip Temperature:        85 C
Manufactured in week 05 of year 2002
Recommended maximum start stop count:  10000 times
Current start stop count:      526 times
Elements in grown defect list: 13

Error counter log:
           Errors Corrected by           Total   Correction     Gigabytes    Total
               ECC          rereads/    errors   algorithm      processed    uncorrected
           fast | delayed   rewrites  corrected  invocations   [10^9 bytes]  errors
read:          0        0         0         0          0        194.243           0
write:         0       37         0        43         43       1516.689           0

Non-medium error count:        0

SMART Self-test log
Num  Test              Status                 segment  LifeTime  LBA_first_err [SK ASC ASQ]
     Description                              number   (hours)
# 1  Background long   Completed                   -    6799                 - [-   -    -]
# 2  Background long   Completed                   -    6689                 - [-   -    -]
# 3  Background long   Completed                   -    6520                 - [-   -    -]
# 4  Background long   Completed                   -    6351                 - [-   -    -]
# 5  Background long   Completed                   -    6259                 - [-   -    -]
# 6  Background long   Completed                   -    6144                 - [-   -    -]
# 7  Background long   Completed                   -    5975                 - [-   -    -]
# 8  Background long   Completed                   -    5806                 - [-   -    -]
# 9  Background long   Completed                   -    5637                 - [-   -    -]
#10  Background long   Completed                   -    5468                 - [-   -    -]
#11  Background long   Completed                   -    5298                 - [-   -    -]
#12  Background long   Completed                   -    5248                 - [-   -    -]
#13  Background long   Completed                   -    5078                 - [-   -    -]
#14  Background long   Completed                   -    5012                 - [-   -    -]
#15  Background long   Completed                   -    5005                 - [-   -    -]
#16  Background long   Completed                   -    4836                 - [-   -    -]
#17  Background long   Completed                   -    4667                 - [-   -    -]
#18  Background long   Completed                   -    4497                 - [-   -    -]
#19  Background long   Completed                   -    4328                 - [-   -    -]
#20  Background long   Completed                   -    4159                 - [-   -    -]

Long (extended) Self Test duration: 680 seconds [11.3 minutes]

and here is output from a drive of mine that I have just cycled out of service, though it remains in the box spun down. See if you can figure out why (hint: I dropped it on a concrete floor about 3 months ago, and I have run spinrite on it three times - each time gaining some more life - but it is no longer reliable).

Code:

root@Dadsbox:media> smartctl -a /dev/sdc
smartctl version 5.37 [i586-mandriva-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-6 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

Device: IBM      DDYS-T18350N     Version: S96H
Serial number:         4EGB9624
Device type: disk
Transport protocol: Fibre channel (FCP-2)
Local Time is: Mon Dec  3 22:42:16 2007 MST
Device supports SMART and is Enabled
Temperature Warning Enabled
SMART Health Status: OK

Current Drive Temperature:     32 C
Drive Trip Temperature:        85 C
Manufactured in week 08 of year 2001
Recommended maximum start stop count:  10000 times
Current start stop count:      974 times
Elements in grown defect list: 30

Error counter log:
           Errors Corrected by           Total   Correction     Gigabytes    Total
               ECC          rereads/    errors   algorithm      processed    uncorrected
           fast | delayed   rewrites  corrected  invocations   [10^9 bytes]  errors
read:          0        0         0       147       5211        604.149        5064
write:         0        0         0        17         17       1460.409           0
verify:        0        0         0         1          1          2.085           0

Non-medium error count:        0

SMART Self-test log
Num  Test              Status                 segment  LifeTime  LBA_first_err [SK ASC ASQ]
     Description                              number   (hours)
# 1  Background long   Completed                   -   17163                 - [-   -    -]
# 2  Background long   Completed                   -   17047                 - [-   -    -]
# 3  Background long   Completed                   -   16940                 - [-   -    -]
# 4  Background long   Completed                   -   16879                 - [-   -    -]
# 5  Background long   Completed                   -   16789                 - [-   -    -]
# 6  Background long   Completed                   -   16711                 - [-   -    -]
# 7  Background long   Failed in segment -->       5   16547           8872320 [0x4 0x3e 0x3]
# 8  Background long   Failed in segment -->       5   16528           8872320 [0x4 0x3e 0x3]
# 9  Background long   Failed in segment -->       5   16455          19267914 [0x4 0x3e 0x3]
#10  Background long   Completed                   -   16433                 - [-   -    -]
#11  Background long   Failed in segment -->       5   16401           9440525 [0x4 0x3e 0x3]
#12  Background long   Failed in segment -->       5   16233           9440525 [0x4 0x3e 0x3]
#13  Background long   Failed in segment -->       5   16065           9440525 [0x4 0x3e 0x3]
#14  Background long   Failed in segment -->       5   15897           9440525 [0x4 0x3e 0x3]
#15  Background long   Completed                   -   15729                 - [-   -    -]
#16  Background long   Completed                   -   15561                 - [-   -    -]
#17  Background long   Completed                   -   15510                 - [-   -    -]
#18  Background long   Completed                   -   15342                 - [-   -    -]
#19  Background long   Completed                   -   15277                 - [-   -    -]
#20  Background long   Completed                   -   15269                 - [-   -    -]

Long (extended) Self Test duration: 680 seconds [11.3 minutes]

mbvpixies78 · 12-04-2007, 12:17 AM

That sucks-- looks like you barely got to use it before it broke. Both are having read problems which makes me think either the surface of the disk is losing its capacity to take and maintain a charge or else the read head has problems, unless it's something else between the head and the ribbon cable.

hdb came back with read errors:

Code:

smartctl version 5.37 [i586-mandriva-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-6 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 60 family
Device Model:     Maxtor 5T060H6
Serial Number:    T6H48Q2C
Firmware Version: TAH71DP0
User Capacity:    61,492,838,400 bytes
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   6
ATA Standard is:  ATA/ATAPI-6 T13 1410D revision 0
Local Time is:    Tue Dec  4 00:07:48 2007 CST
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status:  (0x00) Offline data collection activity
                                        was never started.
                                        Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status:      ( 114) The previous self-test completed having
                                        the read element of the test failed.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection:                 (  30) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities:                    (0x1b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
                                        Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
                                        Suspend Offline collection upon new
                                        command.
                                        Offline surface scan supported.
                                        Self-test supported.
                                        No Conveyance Self-test supported.
                                        No Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities:            (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
                                        power-saving mode.
                                        Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability:        (0x01) Error logging supported.
                                        No General Purpose Logging support.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time:        (   2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time:        (  37) minutes.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     0x000a   253   252   000    Old_age   Always       -       12
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0027   198   183   063    Pre-fail  Always       -       11994
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   253   253   000    Old_age   Always       -       1504
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   246   175   063    Pre-fail  Always       -       18
  6 Read_Channel_Margin     0x0001   253   253   100    Pre-fail  Offline      -       0
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x000a   253   252   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
  8 Seek_Time_Performance   0x0027   251   247   187    Pre-fail  Always       -       41473
  9 Power_On_Minutes        0x0032   211   211   000    Old_age   Always       -       413h+45m
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x002b   253   252   223    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x002b   253   252   223    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   249   249   000    Old_age   Always       -       1867
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0008   253   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0008   242   063   000    Old_age   Offline      -       11
198 Offline_Uncorrectable   0x0008   252   252   000    Old_age   Offline      -       1
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x0008   199   199   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate   0x000a   253   252   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
201 Soft_Read_Error_Rate    0x000a   253   246   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
202 TA_Increase_Count       0x000a   253   251   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
203 Run_Out_Cancel          0x000b   253   252   180    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
204 Shock_Count_Write_Opern 0x000a   253   252   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
205 Shock_Rate_Write_Opern  0x000a   253   251   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
207 Spin_High_Current       0x002a   253   252   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
208 Spin_Buzz               0x002a   253   252   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
209 Offline_Seek_Performnce 0x0024   253   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
 96 Unknown_Attribute       0x0004   253   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
 97 Unknown_Attribute       0x0004   253   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
 98 Unknown_Attribute       0x0004   253   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
 99 Unknown_Attribute       0x0004   253   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
100 Unknown_Attribute       0x0004   253   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
101 Unknown_Attribute       0x0004   253   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0

SMART Error Log Version: 1
Warning: ATA error count 11214 inconsistent with error log pointer 5

ATA Error Count: 11214 (device log contains only the most recent five errors)
        CR = Command Register [HEX]
        FR = Features Register [HEX]
        SC = Sector Count Register [HEX]
        SN = Sector Number Register [HEX]
        CL = Cylinder Low Register [HEX]
        CH = Cylinder High Register [HEX]
        DH = Device/Head Register [HEX]
        DC = Device Command Register [HEX]
        ER = Error register [HEX]
        ST = Status register [HEX]
Powered_Up_Time is measured from power on, and printed as
DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes,
SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It "wraps" after 49.710 days.

Error 11214 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 13697 hours (570 days + 17 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was in an unknown state.

  After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  -- -- -- -- -- -- --
  04 51 05 01 00 00 b0  Error: ABRT

  Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  a1 00 05 01 00 00 b0 88      02:55:54.512  IDENTIFY PACKET DEVICE
  c8 00 08 28 00 00 f0 08      01:15:39.920  READ DMA
  c8 00 08 90 9f 28 f7 08      01:15:39.920  READ DMA
  c8 00 08 10 a1 28 f7 08      01:15:39.920  READ DMA
  c8 00 08 20 a0 28 f7 08      01:15:39.920  READ DMA

Error 11213 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 13695 hours (570 days + 15 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was in an unknown state.

  After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  -- -- -- -- -- -- --
  04 51 05 01 00 00 b0  Error: ABRT

  Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  a1 00 05 01 00 00 b0 00      00:05:44.752  IDENTIFY PACKET DEVICE

Error 11212 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 13651 hours (568 days + 19 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was in an unknown state.

  After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  -- -- -- -- -- -- --
  04 51 05 01 00 00 b0  Error: ABRT

  Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  a1 00 05 01 00 00 b0 88   1d+01:44:50.272  IDENTIFY PACKET DEVICE
  c8 00 08 38 00 00 f0 08   1d+01:38:03.696  READ DMA
  c8 00 18 08 00 00 f0 08   1d+01:38:03.696  READ DMA
  c8 00 08 00 00 00 f0 08   1d+01:38:03.696  READ DMA
  c8 00 02 3f 00 00 f0 08   1d+01:38:03.696  READ DMA

Error 11211 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 13651 hours (568 days + 19 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was in an unknown state.

  After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  -- -- -- -- -- -- --
  04 51 05 01 00 00 b0  Error: ABRT

  Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  a1 00 05 01 00 00 b0 88   1d+01:37:31.280  IDENTIFY PACKET DEVICE
  c8 00 08 08 00 00 f0 08   1d+01:33:24.112  READ DMA
  c8 00 08 18 a0 28 f7 08   1d+01:33:24.096  READ DMA
  c8 00 08 18 a1 28 f7 08   1d+01:33:24.096  READ DMA
  c8 00 08 18 a1 28 f7 08   1d+01:33:24.096  READ DMA

Error 11210 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 13651 hours (568 days + 19 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was in an unknown state.

  After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  -- -- -- -- -- -- --
  04 51 05 01 00 00 b0  Error: ABRT

  Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  a1 00 05 01 00 00 b0 88   1d+01:32:55.888  IDENTIFY PACKET DEVICE
  c8 00 08 00 00 01 f0 08   1d+01:29:06.000  READ DMA
  c8 00 08 00 40 00 f0 08   1d+01:29:06.000  READ DMA
  c8 00 18 08 00 00 f0 08   1d+01:29:05.984  READ DMA
  c8 00 08 00 00 00 f0 08   1d+01:29:05.984  READ DMA

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining  LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error
# 1  Extended offline    Completed: read failure       20%     13699         73195319
# 2  Short offline       Completed: read failure       60%     13699         73195319

Device does not support Selective Self Tests/Logging

hda completed the short test without error, but I'm running the long test anyway and will post results.

The thing that doesn't make sense is that I'm still having freeze-ups without even using hdb. I must admit I haven't had a freeze-up at all in the last 24+ hours, which is really unusually long, however, I haven't been using the computer at all like normal-- I haven't been playing any music (which really sucks), nor using Firefox, nor burning any of my CDs back onto the hard drive-- just konqueror browser, kopete, bittorent and sometimes the Konsole. Should I start using it like normal to see what happens?

jiml8 · 12-04-2007, 12:37 AM

Quote:

That sucks-- looks like you barely got to use it before it broke.

Yeah, only about 6 years of 24/7/365.

Your hdb is showing failures in the media (those self test read errors). Either run spinrite on it (and then monitor it closely for awhile to make sure that the recovery holds), or replace it. Given that it is a Maxtor with 13,699 hours on it, I'd just replace it if it were me.

mbvpixies78 · 12-04-2007, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jiml8

I'd just replace it if it were me.

Is there a particular brand you'd recommend? I'm going to take it out of the computer and just use hda, with sda for backups for now though.

jiml8 · 12-04-2007, 08:37 AM

I would rate Hitachi Deskstar drives as "avoid", and Maxtor has had more than its share of trouble over the last few years. Beyond that, I don't have an opinion; I don't generally use consumer-grade drives. Presently Seagate seems to have the best warranty.

mbvpixies78 · 12-04-2007, 12:45 PM

Ok, I looked at the results from the smartctl thorough test for hda and it turned out fine. I'm looking into alternatives to kaudiocreator and will see if anything freezes me. I'll look to taking out hdb and cleaning out the dust bunnies and such soon.

mbvpixies78 · 12-05-2007, 08:57 PM

I bought a new Seagate 320 GB external USB hard drive for storing backups, music, etc, and it won't mount.

I wanted initially to mount it to a folder called /backup but when I tried to change the mount point in the GUI (Mandriva), it said to pick a mount point beneath /media. I tried to mount it to /media/backup and it says:

"The mount point '/media/backup' is already occupied"

When I go into Konsole and become root, I try mount -a and it says:

"mount: mount point /backup does not exist"

I go to / and type "md backup" and it creates a dir and I try mount -a and it says:

"mount: special device /dev/sda1 does not exist"

So I look up the name of the drive, find out it's sdc1 and type "mount /dev/sdc1 /backup" and it works. I'm able to access the external hard drive and it show the backup files on it.

Questions:

Why is it that / is not the same as / on hda1 even though hda1 is mounted to / ? Hda1 doesn't have a folder named /backup but if I type "/" in the address bar, I get something quite similar looking to hda1's contents, but with /backup. ??? If I right-click the icon for my external drive, it has /media/backup designated as the mount point and if I try just “/backup” it gives me the message about the mount point having to be below /”media”. But in Konsole, didn't I just mount it to “/backup” and not “/media/backup?” Please explain this to me.

Why is fstab not automatically mounting my external hard drive during boot up? Here's my fstab file:

/dev/hda1 / ext3 defaults 1 1
/dev/hda6 /home ext3 relatime 1 2
/dev/sdc1 /backup ext3 defaults 0 0
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/hda5 swap swap defaults 0 0

I have one other question as well, regarding RAM-- I have two sticks of RAM in two of the three available slots on my motherboard. The motherboard's DIMM slots are laid out like this:

(A2) (A1) (B1)

It's spaced like that, and the A2 slot is blue while A1 and B1 are black. I have a Kingston in A1 and Crucial in B1. Here are the specifics on these from the stickers attached to them:

Kingston KVR400/256R 2.6V, 256 MB and some other numbers (it has 8 chips and they're only on one side, so I assume this is a SIMM stick)

Crucial PC2100U 256 MB DDR 266MHz CL2.5

Could the fact that these memory sticks are different manufacturers and one is a SIMM and the other a DIMM be causing any of my freezing issues? Would I be better off just getting rid of the Kingston module and sticking with the Crucial one until I can afford another Crucial stick?

I opened up the chasis and cleaned it with compressed air and a vacuum. I reseated my card (I actually only have an AGP video card now-- I removed this old DVD decoder card I used to have to have back when my processor was only 500 Mhz). When I reconnected everything and pushed the start button, everything powered up briefly and then just stopped. This used to happen a lot with the power supply even back when it was new, but if I turned the switch on the back of the case to off and waited a bit, then it would work. Tonight it didn't work no matter what I did so I went to a local office supply place and got an Antec 500W power supply and the computer started up fine. The old one was a 350W Antec probably from 2001.

tredegar · 12-06-2007, 04:09 AM

Quote:

I bought a new Seagate 320 GB external USB hard drive for storing backups, music, etc, and it won't mount.

Well, eventually you did manage to get it to mount!

Quote:

I go to / and type "md backup" [Step1 - See below] and it creates a dir and I try mount -a and it says:

"mount: special device /dev/sda1 does not exist"
So I look up the name of the drive, find out it's sdc1 and type "mount /dev/sdc1 /backup" and it works.

Questions:

Why is it that / is not the same as / on hda1 even though hda1 is mounted to / ?

It is the same.

Quote:

hda1 doesn't have a folder named /backup but if I type "/" in the address bar, I get something quite similar looking to hda1's contents, but with /backup.

Yes it does, you created that directory in Step1 above

Quote:

If I right-click the icon for my external drive, it has /media/backup designated as the mount point

Correct. Kubuntu will automatically create a mountpoint in /media when an external disk is plugged in, and then mount the disk there.

Quote:

But in Konsole, didn't I just mount it to “/backup” and not “/media/backup?” Please explain this to me.

Either you create the mountpoint and give the mount command, or you should let the system do it for you. From the konsole, you can mount a disk anywhere, but if you just let the system do it, it'll be mounted under /media

Quote:

Why is fstab not automatically mounting my external hard drive during boot up? Here's my fstab file:

Because of the line: /dev/sdc1 /backup ext3 defaults 0 0
Your disk isn't always at /dev/sdc1, it depends on what order things are plugged in. When you get better with linux you can play with "udev rules" to make disks and whatnot always appear in the same place. Right now I suggest you just use KDE's default behaviour.

Better to remove that line from fstab , and just let the system take care of it for you.

Try this: Boot to KDE with your external drive unplugged. Then plug in the drive. Wait a few seconds for it to be recognised. A window opens, asking you what to do with the new drive. Choose "Open in new window" [OK]. The drive is mounted, you see the contents in konqueror, probably in /media/domething, and icon for the drive is put on your desktop.

Now close the konqueror window that is showing you the external drive's files.
R-click the drive's icon on the desktop and choose "Safely remove". Wait a moment, and the drive is ready to be unplugged.

So what I am suggesting is that you let linux / KDE / udev etc handle the mounting and mountpoints. In the "old" days you had to mess around with creating mountpoints and mounting things manually, but things have improved, and it can all be handled automatically. Obviously, if the system is mounting the disk automatically, and you are also trying to do it manually, things will get in a muddle and you'll see messages like "already mounted" or "mountpoint occupied".

Your RAM Questions:

Generally it is advised that banks of RAM are the same. You need to consult your MoBo's documentation to find out what will, and will not work. If you have lost this documentation, try your MoBo's manufacturer's website for a PDF manual. Read it carefully.

Quote:

Could the fact that these memory sticks are different manufacturers and one is a SIMM and the other a DIMM be causing any of my freezing issues?

Yes, maybe, consult your MoBo Docs.

Quote:

Would I be better off just getting rid of the Kingston module and sticking with the Crucial one until I can afford another Crucial stick?

Maybe, it is worth a try.

Pleased that you have de-dusted and replaced the PSU - it sounds as though that was going bad.

mbvpixies78 · 12-11-2007, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tredegar

Well, eventually you did manage to get it to mount!

It is the same.

Yes it does, you created that directory in Step1 above

Correct. Kubuntu will automatically create a mountpoint in /media when an external disk is plugged in, and then mount the disk there.

Either you create the mountpoint and give the mount command, or you should let the system do it for you. From the konsole, you can mount a disk anywhere, but if you just let the system do it, it'll be mounted under /media

Because of the line: /dev/sdc1 /backup ext3 defaults 0 0
Your disk isn't always at /dev/sdc1, it depends on what order things are plugged in. When you get better with linux you can play with "udev rules" to make disks and whatnot always appear in the same place. Right now I suggest you just use KDE's default behaviour.

Better to remove that line from fstab , and just let the system take care of it for you.

Try this: Boot to KDE with your external drive unplugged. Then plug in the drive. Wait a few seconds for it to be recognised. A window opens, asking you what to do with the new drive. Choose "Open in new window" [OK]. The drive is mounted, you see the contents in konqueror, probably in /media/domething, and icon for the drive is put on your desktop.

Now close the konqueror window that is showing you the external drive's files.
R-click the drive's icon on the desktop and choose "Safely remove". Wait a moment, and the drive is ready to be unplugged.

So what I am suggesting is that you let linux / KDE / udev etc handle the mounting and mountpoints. In the "old" days you had to mess around with creating mountpoints and mounting things manually, but things have improved, and it can all be handled automatically. Obviously, if the system is mounting the disk automatically, and you are also trying to do it manually, things will get in a muddle and you'll see messages like "already mounted" or "mountpoint occupied".

Your RAM Questions:

Generally it is advised that banks of RAM are the same. You need to consult your MoBo's documentation to find out what will, and will not work. If you have lost this documentation, try your MoBo's manufacturer's website for a PDF manual. Read it carefully.

Yes, maybe, consult your MoBo Docs.

Maybe, it is worth a try.

Pleased that you have de-dusted and replaced the PSU - it sounds as though that was going bad.

I've had a few freeze-ups, very few, since I dusted out the hardware, removed the faulty hard drive and replaced the power supply, but they've been quite manageable.

Question:
The freeze-ups are of the order that they usually happen when I'm ripping and encoding my CDs onto the hard drive and listening to music through Amarok. Several times, everything's frozen and then I have about 1/2 second of normal operation and then everything freezes again and 1/2 second of normal operation, over and over like this until I open the cd-rom drive at which point everything returns to normal. I got away from kaudiocreator and started using grip because I thought it was kaudiocreator doing this but apparently not. Does this behavior give you any ideas what is causing this? I suppose it could be the Kingston/Crucial SIMM/DIMM memory combination, but since I can't afford to fix that right now, I was hoping there'd be something else I could try.

tredegar · 12-12-2007, 03:22 AM

Quote:

I suppose it could be the Kingston/Crucial SIMM/DIMM memory combination

Quite likely.

Or, if your system is slowing to a crawl, but not exactly crashing, you may not have enough memory and are having to use swap. If this is the case, your hd light will be very busy when the system freezes/pauses. Try and replicate this situation, then open a terminal and check how memory is being used with free

mbvpixies78 · 12-12-2007, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tredegar

Quite likely.

Or, if your system is slowing to a crawl, but not exactly crashing, you may not have enough memory and are having to use swap. If this is the case, your hd light will be very busy when the system freezes/pauses. Try and replicate this situation, then open a terminal and check how memory is being used with free

Here's how it looks when everything's working fine:

$ free
total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 516044 509676 6368 0 9604 301652
-/+ buffers/cache: 198420 317624
Swap: 4305380 196 4305184

And here's how it looks while freezing:

]$ free
total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 516044 444556 71488 0 1588 166684
-/+ buffers/cache: 276284 239760
Swap: 4305380 196 4305184

mbvpixies78 · 12-12-2007, 02:27 PM

I've had two freezes today. During the first, the hard drive light came on only during that <1 second period, occurring every 3 to 4 seconds where I could move the mouse cursor and press working buttons, etc. I didn't have to look at the hard drive light to know when this period occurred because I have my computer connected to my stereo, which is on and I heard a very faint bit of quiet static just for that brief period when the hdd was running. The second time it froze, I again heard the faint bit of static but the hdd light did not come on this time at all, even faintly.

My audio is onboard (ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe motherboard), integrated into the southbridge-- I wonder if this freeze-up is being caused by something on the motherboard itself.

I priced motherboard/cpu/memory combos at mwave because it just doesn't make sense to buy more RAM when it may not solve the problem and newer, faster RAM is hardly any more expensive than what I'd need for the motherboard I have, so I may look, eventually after my bills are paid, to replacing the motherboard as was suggested earlier.

My other concern is heat. Although it's pretty cool in this room year around as it is the lower floor of a split-level (probably around 65 F), The fans I bought for my case turned out to be really weak at pulling air and I haven't found any replacements yet. Anyone know of a decent online vendor for affordable but decent chassis fans? Is there a linux command or application that will tell me what the temperature of my motherboard and cpu is?