Mother board dying?

Unfortunately, I can't give too much info using ls-whatever, I'm using Puppy linux on another computer to write this and have memtest running on the disfunctioning computer at the moment. However, I don't think I need to go into too much detail anyway...

These are the issues, not long ago I noticed that sometimes when I would load up Zenwalk 5.2 that when it would load up X the monitor would black out and the system would freeze, so I would shut the power off to the computer which of course then it would check the computer for errors, in which it would return 2% out of sinc or something like that, I can't really remember. (It hasn't been too bad the past few days)

This time while I was loading the computer after trying to load Puppy linux on it from a USB drive (Puppy was copied over to the USB, which had Slax 6.x.x installed onto it. I've been trying to learn about the boot record using all sorts of different ideas...Anyway, Puppy wouldn't load so I turned the power off).

When I tried to reload Zenwalk 5.2, this time after the fschk was done, instead of telling me that there was 2% wrong, instead it said something about it was a bad block (again I don't remember what exactly was said, but I know those two words were used). The system froze, which now I am running memtest...

Before I turned off the computer, I noticed a slow down of the system. At first I thought it might have been a problem with Opera, so I shut it down, and restarted it through the terminal to see if I could see any problems being shown through terminal. Nothing was shown, but when I tried to close Opera, the system froze. Then I tried to press ctrl_alt_F2, which only the cursor dissappeared and the desktop image and panel were still visible. I tried typing in root and the password, then reboot, nothing happened.

I thought it could have been just that Zenwalk, but at the boot screen I booted up a backup copy of zenwalk on another drive, and it froze as well...

Anyway, before I go and throw this computer out a window with a middle finger salute, I thought I ought to ask before jumping to any conclusions...

Ok, checked on memtest, it looks like it's slowing down, too. Also, it's not showing any errors, or any problems of any kind...

Well, any thoughts? Thanks in advance...

P.S. The boot record is fine.

<Edit> Just tried booting up in it again, this is what it said before it froze "Duplicate or bad block in use"...

Hi,

You are asking for problems when you power cycle your system when you have problems with your 'X' or any other correctable problem. Try to goto another console and use root to shutdown 'X'. Or while in 'X' you could try the 'ctl-alt-backspace' to recover.

You could also look at 'Howto Reboot or halt Linux system in emergency'.

BTW, I would boot the system in single user mode to do your 'fsck' on the filesystem. A good way is to use a Livecd or the install cd to get to a cli and do the 'fsck'. That way you know the filesystem is not mounted.

These links and others can be found at 'Slackware-Links'. More than just Slackware® links!

Thanks...

I found this thread http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...in-use-651929/
and have been following it, but I do have a question about this, though...

I have two Zenwalk installations, one is on sda2 (disk 1) and the other is on sdc1 (disk 3), neither of these are loaded with each other. In order to mount the other I have to manually mount them to a predefined directory. From what I read so far, this doesn't seem like it should have affected the other Zenwalk's boot.

Could someone explain as to why disk 1 would have caused disk 3 to have the same problem? Or is it because the drives are connected through the BIOS thus the BIOS is causing the problems trying to read any disk?

<edit> How can I use the keyboard when the keyboard isn't functioning? I've ran into this fun and exciting problem often, ha ha...

Although MoBos *do* fail, it is one of the least common failures I see (which is quite remarkable given all the electronics that goes onto it).

Things to check for:

1. are the disks overheating?

2. are all the connectors inside properly seated? Some silly people tie them up for purely aesthetic purposes and I've seen connectors half pulled out because some obsessive compulsive just had to tie the cable to the side.

3. is the inside of the computer nice and clean and the CPU fan spinning and the heatsink not clogged with dust? (Just look, don't disturb the heatsink.) What do your sensors say about your CPU core temperature?

4. power supply problems are one of the most common computer problems; are you using a laptop/desktop or what? Did you add on peripherals lately (new HD, DVD drive, graphics card, etc). If you can consistently reproduce the problem by doing something which requires more power (like 3D acceleration via graphics card) then the most likely problem is a power supply. If the power supply is too small, such problems can disappear if you disconnect various peripherals (like all the unneeded HDs). If the power supply is just dying, then erratic behavior may persist with or without the extra peripherals.

Originally Posted by pinniped Although MoBos *do* fail, it is one of the least common failures I see (which is quite remarkable given all the electronics that goes onto it). Things to check for: 1. are the disks overheating? 2. are all the connectors inside properly seated? Some silly people tie them up for purely aesthetic purposes and I've seen connectors half pulled out because some obsessive compulsive just had to tie the cable to the side. 3. is the inside of the computer nice and clean and the CPU fan spinning and the heatsink not clogged with dust? (Just look, don't disturb the heatsink.) What do your sensors say about your CPU core temperature? 4. power supply problems are one of the most common computer problems; are you using a laptop/desktop or what? Did you add on peripherals lately (new HD, DVD drive, graphics card, etc). If you can consistently reproduce the problem by doing something which requires more power (like 3D acceleration via graphics card) then the most likely problem is a power supply. If the power supply is too small, such problems can disappear if you disconnect various peripherals (like all the unneeded HDs). If the power supply is just dying, then erratic behavior may persist with or without the extra peripherals.

Thanks pinniped...These are a few things I never thought writing about when posting problems, something for me to try and remember next time. I did check those, though, and even cleaned the ram right after starting this thread.

Well, after going through that thread I posted in my last post, the computer is running just fine now. However, I think I'll leave the last question open for answering, though. I'd still like to know how the 3rd disk was having the same problem. Also, a new question, when I was running fsck it was showing that the Opera cache directory was the major problem area, could it have had something to do with creating a new user? I don't see how that would have caused such a problem, but eh, what do I know, . Might have even been that Opera has a bug, and then should I mention it to the people who work on Opera?

However, thanks for everyones help.

If you have power supply problems, all sorts of weird things can happen - anything from sporadic errors to mysterious reboots.

Originally Posted by pinniped If you have power supply problems, all sorts of weird things can happen - anything from sporadic errors to mysterious reboots.

After reading that, my cranial memory loaded the appropriate files...I think it's the same darn problem I had with my old HP 511w...Well, time to scrounge around for another power supply...

ᏙᏳ ᎦᎵᎮᎵᎦ, ᏍᎩᏍᏕᎸᎢ, ᏩᏙ.
Thanks for your help...

Hi,

Just remember power cycling to get out of what you might seem is the only way out can create larger problems. When actually other methods such as alternate terminals to control the process. Or for 'X' the link with the sys-req that I suggested. Powering off should be the last resort. The process could be in the write mode to disk therefore corrupting the filesystem thus requiring maintenance.

Originally Posted by onebuck Hi, Just remember power cycling to get out of what you might seem is the only way out can create larger problems. When actually other methods such as alternate terminals to control the process. Or for 'X' the link with the sys-req that I suggested. Powering off should be the last resort. The process could be in the write mode to disk therefore corrupting the filesystem thus requiring maintenance.

I'm not that much of a noob that I don't know about the terminals, but thanks for your help Onebuck. I've tried ctrl_alt_f2 and even ctrl_alt_bksp (in an attempt to restart X), but they didn't do anything. Sometimes when I would have problems such as that back when I was checking out the different distro's I could just press ctrl_alt_f2, and even though I couldn't see the screen I could still type in root and my password then type in reboot to reboot the system, without seeing a single thing. However, there have been times that the keyboard just would not respond...For later reference, though, would the sys-req that you mentioned work even if the computer will not go into the terminal, even if I can see it or not?


Anyway, though, I am pretty sure it is the power supply. I can't remember 100%, but I do believe this is the same trouble I had with an older computer when it's power supply started going bad. However, I had win XP at that time, which probably makes it difficult to know exactly how linux would react to the same problem as windows. Only way to tell if that's the prob is just to replace it.