Random program crashes in Linux, is fedora not stable?
 

Sometimes when I run programs and interact with them for a while, they would automatically quit on me. I tried running them in a console to see the error messages and I get segmentation faults. These random crashes happen rarely...more than rarely. Among the programs that crash are: Unreal Tournament 2004, Xcdroast, tuxracer, and chromium b.s.u.

Please help! I thought linux was stable!

well, fedora is experimental by nature... it will never be as stable as slackware, debian, or red hat enterprise, as it's a testing-ground for technology that will eventually go into red hat's enterprise line...

are you up to giving another distro a shot??

=)


i recommend slackware from experience, and suse from all the great reviews it's been getting...

Well, I had tried redhat 7.2. But it also did the same thing.

Another distro? Hmmm. Maybe, but I want one that's free.

Do you think it maybe a bug of the programs that I am running instead of linux itself?

It could also be bad hardware. I had a Linux system that crashed frequently -- turned out to be a bad memory module. You might try running memtest86 on your system. BTW you can download pretty much any distro (there are a couple exceptions) for free -- linuxiso.org and now http://iso.linuxquestions.org are places to look.

it sounds like you are having some hardware issues..... download redhat 9 from a mirror after replacing your memory.... that might fix your problem. i had a similar issue and it turned out to be bad/faulty memory.


hope i could help!!!!!!!!!






:Pengy:

i'm not sure what it could be, being that the crashes are happening randomly...

you've verified that the hardware is okay, right??

i don't think it's due to bugs in your programs as it would be happening to everyone...

if it's not a hardware issue, it's most likely a software configuration or compatibility issue...

what video drivers are you using??


slackware's free, you can get it here:

http://www.slackware.com/getslack/


and here's the official guide:

http://www.slackware.com/book/


does chromiumn also crash if you play it on knoppix?? in other words, have you tested to see if a live linux cd also crashes?? couldn't hurt...

it's most likely a hardware issue. I had a similar experience with Fedora Core and one or two apps in Slackware and the problem turned out to be a faulty memory module just like one of the posts above.

yeah you should really check your memory:

http://www.memtest86.com/

burn the ISO and boot it, it's less than 1mb... if you manage to pass 3 consecutive tests, you can be sure it's not your memory, at least...

it also checks your cpu's cache memory...

I tried memtest86 and it ran fine. I am also having random problems with my Windows installation, except its a lot more severe, the whole system restarts. it happened when I switched out my motherboard. At first I also thought that it was a memory problem, but I removed the PC133 from my PC100 and the problem was still there.

I tried RedHat 7.2 before I switched out my motherboard (and when Windows didn't have any noticeable problems) and it still had those problems. Could it be my motherboard? I have an Intel CC820.

As for video drivers, I have NVIDIA 6106 with support for 4k stacks kernels. Compiled my own kernel interface using the installations file. Then I edited my xorg.conf file (removed load DRI and changed my driver label to nvidia).

What are live cd's? What's so good about knoppix and the like?

live cds are good for these situations cuz they let you test without having to modify anything...

if you're having weird problems in windows also, this is likely to be a hardware issue...

check you bios configuration, if it's fine, start replacing parts with "known-goods"...

you might have a faulty motherboard on your hands...

also, what was that about removing pc-133 memory from a pc-100??

=)

I put PC133 memory along with a PC100 memory on the same motherboard. Didn't work out that well. I removed the PC133 stick, the problems decreased but it was still there.

I did have a known-good hardware configuration when I tried RedHat 7.2 though. And it still did that.

The problem is that these random program crashes only happen to the programs I listed in my first post. Only those programs and none else.

Segmentation faults are caused by software bugs aren't they?

they are caused when a program is unable to reach a space in memory that's it's supposed to... yes, usually this is due to bugs, but not always... i'm a little uneasy about blaming this on bugs in those programs, as they'd all have to independantly have the SAME BUG... it would be more probable for it to be a bug in a component "higher-up" that all those programs are using... however, if so, i'd expect it to be affecting other linux users by the busloads, and apparently it's not, so i'm thinking the issue is probably something a little more specific to your situation...

i'd ask for you to give us an overview of your hardware, to verify linux compatibility, etc... but right now this would only help up to a point, as you've also had issues with windows...

is your motherboard all-integrated?? if not, disconnect as many parts as you can (modem, sound, cd-rom, etc...) and test without them to see if you still crash...

Quote:

The problem is that these random program crashes only happen to the programs I listed in my first post. Only those programs and none else.

in that case, booting from a Knoppix cd and playing Chromium would be GREAT way to be sure if you have a hardware or software issue (although it's very likely to be hardware, really, but to be sure and stuff)...

from my experience, these are relatively resource-intensive programs.. hell, i cant even run tuxracer
UT2k4 i know is a bear, and cd burners often require a lot of power to run w/o creating a coaster. As for the other one, i'm not sure exactly what it is. that aside, look to your hardware, as these could be memory leaks, or you may just need more RAM

My computer specs are (yes, my computer is obsolete):
Pentium III 600 with 256 MB of SDRAM.
Motherboard: Intel CC820 with integrated Ensoniq sound card.
Video card: Geforce 4 MX 440-SE 64 MB of DDR-RAM.
Linksys Network card.
Creative Blaster CD-RW RW8432E

Right now I have narrowed it down to two things: the motherboard or the video card. On Windows XP, problems started happening when I replaced the motherboard, BUT only after I installed the latest NVIDIA drivers for my video card. Everything worked fine with the crappy XP drivers.

The random program crashes happens at times when my computer is very busy or I have just exited a resource-intensive program.

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I really appreciate your help guys.:)