Is there anything I can try to do with this?

Or maybe try the nvidia proprietary drivers, see if system is more stable with that

Tried using one memory stick at a time. Same problems. Also tried to induce a freeze by stressing motherboard with a nonconductive probe; nothing.

Presently I am running off the onboard video output with the GPU physically removed. Logically I can't see how reinstalling the GPU and installing the Nvidia drivers could eliminate the problem. I am open to trying it if everybody is out of other ideas.

Put the hardware back together and don't touch it again!

Next time the system "freezes," try Ctrl+Alt+F3 or some other F-key. If you are transported to a command-prompt (Ctrl+Alt+F1 should take you back ...), then you've just identified your problem ... as a software problem.

99.9% of the time, when you have an actual hardware problem, the system doesn't "freeze." It dies. (As in: "four paws up, and 'X's instead of eyes." Time to get a shovel ...)

You probably have an error in your XWindows/XOrg configuration. Or, you might have a sporadic failure in the video hardware.

1 members found this post helpful.

Clicked on Firefox, screen goes to diagonal lines. Ctrl-Alt-F3 does nothing. Also tried Ctrl-Alt-F-1-thtough12.

I saw the nouveau errors from your log output, that's why I suggested to try nvidia drivers, your onboard video has NVIDIA GeForce 7025 chipset so nvidia driver should work with it too...

Maybe there is something wrong in your Xorg conf file also (as sundialsvcs said). Freeze happens only in a X session?

1 members found this post helpful.

Located the NVIDIA driver for the 7025 chipset and have started installation which has become an adventure in itself. I will get back and post results later today or tomorrow.

You may need to blacklist nouveau in /etc/modprobe.d (if nvidia installer does not it automatically)
Just create a file with name like 'disable-nouveau.conf' in /etc/modprobe.d with content:

Already did this. The next complaint from the NVIDIA installer program is:

/lib/modules/3.10.17/build/include/linux/version.h

does not exist or has not been configured. I am using Slackware 14.1 and this file does not exist.

skippy1729,

This Slackware 14.1 user solved his problem with the 304.123 driver for the GeForce Series 7.

https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/t...-geforce-card/

Latest driver is 304.131.

1 members found this post helpful.

Installed NVIDIA 304.123 without problem.

The good news is that Firefox now loads and works smoothly. No freezups after a few hours of normal use.

The bad news is that upon powering up, after logging in, startx goes to a blank screen with the message:

"OUT OF RANGE

Please change your PC input signal resolution."

Ctrl-Alt-F3 takes me back to terminal mode and asks for a login. Startx now takes me to the Fluxbox desktop and all is well. I would actually like to go back to a lower resolution with text that isn't microscopic.

Maybe the easy way is to run nvidia-settings utility to determine your optimal display configuration

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Normally random unpredictable behavior is RAM. But with a CPU that old that is considered missing modern architectures it could be other things. You could try running a 32 bit distro and see if the issue persists. At a minimum do not use nouveau as I had similar issues to yours last time that I did. nVidia has pretty much sabotaged that driver to favor theirs. Under the proprietary nvidia driver I didn't have random crash issues, but I did have other issues.

If you're running from storage that is attached to a usb bus, you might try using a powered usb hub. If you lose access to your storage (it's usb after all) while using your storage, that'll crash a system. And our modern usb sticks can be power hungry little things. Especially on the same hub as a webcam or networking dongle. I find SDHC cards and a reader to be more forgiving in the needy power department while having tolerable IO speeds. Just have a couple at hand and expect the medium to fail every six months +/- six months.

Perhaps nvidia-xconfig can help change your display settings. Using xrandr for non-nvidia gpus can do that too and many desktops like gnome or kde lets you change those settings in a gui.

Actually I use xrandr with nVidia blob and have no complaints.