System hang whilst directory listing on SuSE 9.3 GUI console

pdqsw · 10-21-2005, 03:26 AM

I get a regular system hang whilst using the GUI console of SuSE 9.3. It is caused by a directory listing "ls -lR /" or by editing a large file using vi and scrolling down through the file.
If I use the text login I do not have a problem.
Thanks.

btmiller · 10-21-2005, 09:16 PM

How much memory does the system have? If it's not much and you're seeing lots of disk activity, the computer may not be hanging, but just thrashing badly because you're using too much memory. Another possibility is a stick of bad RAM in your system -- I'd suggest running memtest86 if you suspect that to be the case.

pdqsw · 10-24-2005, 01:04 AM

The system has 2Gb of memory. I ran the SuSE Linux boot CD memory test (don't know if this is the one you recommend) for 24 hours without a problem.
Apart from KDE I have also tried using GNOME and this delivers the same hanging result.
I believe that the system is hanging as it no longer responds to a ping from another PC.
Thanks for the suggestions.

pdqsw · 10-24-2005, 03:10 AM

I have replaced the VGA card and the problem has gone away. I was using a fancy card, which I guess Linux could not identify.
Thanks to everyone for their help.