Re: debian crashes server (can't use debian ? :-( )
benedict.verheyen@pandora.be said:
> could startup my pc and experience the crash while booting. Indeed they
> saw the same. They checked everything and said that my hardware is just
> fine.
most likely there is a hardware problem. Linux doesn't just shutdown
without a reason :)
> Then they installed win98 on it to see if it would crash in win98. It
> didn't :-(
win98 is a piece of shit OS, and doesn't stress the hardware nearly
as much as a linux installation does(or perhaps even a NT4 install or
win2000)
> This server had Suse 7.2 before i installed Debian Woody on it and i
> remember that i had the "occasional" crash too altough it only happened
> about two or three times.
what kind of crash? your being very vague.
> Any other stuff i can try out?
> If not, what distro would be good for a server install? Slackware? Red
> hat? Suse?
you need to determine the cause of the problem. you can start by
telling the list exactly what hardware you have(If you have before,sorry
I didn't see it). What kernel your running, if you compiled your own
kernel or not. What modules you have loaded('lsmod'), whether or not
your running X(most servers do not run X). Under what circumstances does
the crash occur(or is it random), how often does it occur. What messages
if any show up on the screen at the time of crash. What messages if
any show up in the logs. Have you run any tests on the hardware itself,
if so what did you do specifically, what did these people at the
computer shop do specifically. Is there any questionable hardware in
the system(e.g. like a stick of ram you found under the couch).
Are you overclocking? How many fans in the system? What kind of power
supply? Is the machine connected to a UPS? a surge supressor? What
is the temperature of the room the machine is running in?
one of my co workers was having a machine crash quite often, it
was an older box, all it took was some heat sink grease between the
heat sink and cpu and it fixed it. I had another machine, dual p3 with
a gig of ram, which I cannibalized from 2 other systems(which ran fine
for 2 years straight). It crashed non stop. Even after running memtest86
for more then 2 weeks 24/7 it detected no errors. I replaced the ram
and the crashes immediately stopped. Further memory testing(1 stick at
a time) revealed problems on the ram.
I've had crashes by having too much load on the power supply(e.g. 6
hard disks on a 300 or 350 watt power supply). Upgrading the power
supply(450 watt) fixed it. I've had a piece of shit ABIT BP6 motherboard
which crashed due to a design defect(bad voltage regulator I think).
I've had another piece of shit Asus A7A266 which would cause immedate
and total filesystem curroption immediately upon unmounting a filesystem.
A co worker said that my rev of board had a bug and they were being
recalled(I didn't participate in the recall the original is on a shelf).
it may be as simple as a piece of hardware that doesn't have full
support under linux. Most server hardware is supported, its the
desktop stuff where things may get flakey. such as AGP(esp on VIA
chipsets).
one thing I highly reccomend is setting up a serial console, and connect
the console to a 2nd computer, have terminal emulation running on the
2nd computer all the time, and have the software log the output from
the serial port. So when/if the next crash occurs you may see some info from
the port. run a google serach for linux serial console for the HOWTO.
You'll need a null modem cable to do it.
good luck.
nate
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