I have a Toshiba Satellite M305D-S4830, which has AMD Dual Core ZM-80s 2.1 Ghz. I run Slackware 12.0. Every once and awhile, my computer hangs right after the desktop boots up(intro sound doesn't even play). I can't do anything. I tried ctl-alt-backspace and nothing. So I'm forced to do a hard poweroff by holding the power button down. Then on reboot, the kernel recommends running fsck on the partition. Right before the x server starting, the computer hangs at Starting sessions manager or something. So, I'm forced to reboot, and at lilo, hitting tab, appending init 3, logging in as root, unmounting the partition, and running e2fsck /dev/sda3. It's a pain in the ass. I have no clue why this happens. When I poweroff my computer, normally I just do it from a konsole by running

sudo poweroff

any ideas as to why this keeps happening? Is my hd going bad already?

Also, slackware is 32 bit right, so it can only detect up to 3 gigs of ram? or does that only apply to windows xp 32 bit?

You might try checking several log files for a clue as to the reason why.

1) /var/log/syslog
2) /var/log/messages
3) /var/log/debug
4) /var/log/Xorg.0.log (and possibly Xorg.0.log.old)

Sometimes these logs will contain useful bits of information, sometimes not.

The reason that the kernel suggests running fsck on reboot is that you didn't unmount the hard drive properly. I have had X windows hang every now and again where I couldn't kill the session with a Ctrl-Alt-Backspace and when I have to do a hard reboot, I will get this request, too.

Check out the badblocks command to check out whether you are experiencing hard drive failure.

The logs are the first things to check of course. Since you say it occurs after X is up, it might be a video card issue. If the error messages also indicate that, you may try booting at runlevel 3 (just pass the number 3 as a boot parameter) and switching to a new driver in xorg.conf. My laptop (with different hardware) also has random freezes (w/ or w/o X) which I can prevent with the "noapic" option. You also may have to disable certain features or modules.

The 3GB is the userspace RAM, if you have 4GB RAM, the remaining part should be allocated for the kernel (and is not listed as free memory).

Can you toggle to another virtual console with Alt-Ctrl-F2/F3/F4, etc.? If you have a second box connected, can you SSH into the problematic box? Either of those options will help you troubleshoot.

Yup, sure is. That is why I always configure by computers with two boot options: one each to support run level 3 and 4. Although written for grub, the following should help you adapt to lilo:

Configuring Slackware for a GUI and a Command Line Startup

The default Slackware kernels support some of the kernel hacks, which includes a way to reboot without using the power button. Press and hold Alt-SysRq and then concurrently and sequentially press r, k, e, i, s, u, and b. Using this hack will provide a more graceful reboot, which will prevent file checking problems during booting.

None of this will immediately solve your lock-up problem but will help you troubleshoot more easily.

True. The solution is to recompile the kernel. Basically you have to set CONFIG_HIGHMEM64G=y in the kernel config file, but using the menuconfig or xmenuconfig front-ends is safer to ensure other options are modified too.

I found this in

/var/log/Xorg.0.log

(WW) AIGLX: 3D driver claims to not support visual 0x68
(WW) AIGLX: 3D driver claims to not support visual 0x69
(WW) AIGLX: 3D driver claims to not support visual 0x6a
(WW) AIGLX: 3D driver claims to not support visual 0x6b
(WW) AIGLX: 3D driver claims to not support visual 0x6c
(WW) AIGLX: 3D driver claims to not support visual 0x6d
(WW) AIGLX: 3D driver claims to not support visual 0x6e
(WW) AIGLX: 3D driver claims to not support visual 0x6f
(WW) AIGLX: 3D driver claims to not support visual 0x70
(WW) AIGLX: 3D driver claims to not support visual 0x71
(WW) AIGLX: 3D driver claims to not support visual 0x72

I edited the lilo.conf to include

append = "acpi=off"

I've rebooted 4 times, so far it hasn't gotten stuck. I"ll let you guys know. However, I noticed there is a side effect. My wireless adapter doesn't seem to function with acpi=off.