2.6.3-4mdk mdk 10 nvidia 6111
All of a sudden, the nvidia module will not initialise, no other error messages in the log file. The module loads ok.

Also, kde 3.2 is going wobbly; kcminit & ksplash crash bringing up kernel error dialog box and message: unable to create kernel pile; signal 11...no debugging symbols found.
Also, kde has lost all my preferences, shortcuts etc.
Also, quitting X, crashed the box 2 times, & total hardwarecrash & reboot

There have been no, repeat no user hard or software changes since the last successful boot (with X).
What can I check? What other info can I give?

Now running generic nv module.

SigHup 11s are usually hardware related.

Two things:

1) Memory strips can sometimes get a bit "flaky" over time in that they loose good continuity.

There may not be anything actually wrong with them.

This can be easily cured by removing the strips and cleaning the contacts with a very MILDLY abrasive substance, such as a pencil eraser.

2) The BIOS may have shifted resource allocations around a bit, causing problems in X and Linux.

Try this:

Reboot your machine and go into the CMOS setup.

There usually is an entry which says PNP BIOS make sure that this reads NO.

Also there is also something which reads something like EXTENDED PCI or Extended PLUG and PLAY.

Set this to "RESET".

Save and exit.

As soon as you see the memory test, turn off your computer by removing the power cord or power.

Now with the power cord removed, press the power button to discharge any remaining current.

Then plug everything back in and boot up your machine.

This latter problem also occurs with Windows, especially with certain video drivers as the I/O mapped address space gets shifted around by the bios.

Thanks for the idea, but if anything, it's even worse now! I'm getting signal 11s often and now and then the box goes down!
I do not understand what I can do, windoze expee functions as always, with no error messages.
Could the problems come from harddisk faults? If so, how to check the disk and find out?(Windows gave no errors during prre linux install check).
Should I reinstall?
I've discovered that during one in two or three bootups, the usb printer is not installed either, is this related? I've tried mounting the correct modules but nothing happens and there are no error messages either??...

Signal 11's are almost ALWAYS caused by memory errors.

Even when you (or I) don't want to believe it I've found out the hard way that this is always true.

I've have had systems with nary a problem in XP, but fail miserably with Signal 11's under Linux.

In all cases Linux was right.

Windows will sometimes run without hitting the affected memory regions as severely.

Now also bear in mind that you may have some paging problems due to either mismatched strips, memory that doesn't suit your system, or even motherboard related problems.

You could try going into the CMOS and cranking the timing values HIGHER (slower) for the memory and see if this cures things.

Often you would not be able to tell any difference whatsoever after doing this, but the system may seem more stable.

Does your system permit you to adjust memory timings?

And if so can you make it "slower"?

E.G

CAS-RAS access to 8 instead of 5,6, or 7? etc., etc.?

Going to look at that tonight, worthwhile trying each one of the two 256mb modules separately?

Yeah it is.

I've seen some damaged motherboards less than a few days old, where in they system would run fine with two memory modules.

A few days on, these would start to fail with two modules installed but not with either one in either slot!

Usually these are memory bus problems.

Also sometimes merely removing and re-inserting the modules reestablishes better (lower resistance) contact and will temporarily or permanently clear up signal 11 errors.

I've tried each one of the two 256mb modules separately, in each of the three available slots. No change.

The cmmos parameters suggested in an earlier post don't exist on my msi 645 ultra-c m/b ami bios. I set the available memory options to slow/safe.
If I have a damaged m/b then I'll stop using linux because I can't afford to change it now. Could I have a defectif h/d? Windows can't find anything wrong, is there a tool that works the linux way, what I means is, is there something that may find out disk errors fatal to linux?

It's unlikely that this is a problem with the hard drive.

Usually signal 11 errors are memory related.

It may be that this is an agp/pci texture memory issue as well as this will look like a memory problem to the kernel.

To answer your question though;

Linux uses your system differently than does windows. As a result marginal systems will produce signal 11's under Linux but may never show problems under Windows, or those same problems may go undetected in Windows, appearing at times as strange Explorer errors, etc.

Yes there is a tool to test the hdd in linux, it is called badblocks.

It must be run with the drive offline, e.g. not mounted under Linux.

This usually requires that you boot from a liveCD to check a normally mounted filesystem.

Anyway I doubt that this is it.

I had Signal 11's on two motherboards and had similiar results. It would work fine under Windows. Linux would always produce signal 11's.

Even after reading up about this, I couldn't really believe that there was something wrong with the hardware, though everything I read about the signal 11's indicated that this was strickly a hardware problem.

On one machine the problems went away when I utilized different memory strips with slightly faster timings.

On the other machine I could not make the problem disappear until I replaced the motherboard with an identical one. After this I had no more problems.

shaking as in video?

Huh?

I have now changed the motherboad and ram. I still get exactly the same error dialogs, (signal 11). I supose it's worh while reinstalling everthing?