Re: Kernel-2.4.2x arbitarily reboots

[Kent West <westk@acu.edu>]

glenn wrote:

> Hi 
> can anyone tell me where I might start troubleshooting this problem.
> Im finding debian  kernel-image packages higher than 2.4.18bf24 and
> lower than the 2.6 are causing my system to reboot. 
> They appear to boot up find, everything is good, then perhaps 30sec to 1
> minute later the machine just reboots.
>
> The sensible thing would be to go with 2.6, but I have a list of other
> problems with that, so I'm happy to be happy with 2.4.2x-something
>
> Can anyone give me a hint how I workout what causes this?
> Thanks
> Glenn
>
> heres more information:
> * Reboots regardless of gdm/X being started
> * 2.4.18 doesn't reboot it, neither does win xp
> * I download and tried installing from the netinst, the full iso image,
> and floppy and they all caused my system to reboot (seemingly)
> arbitarily
> * I installed a minimal woody from cd, then set my apt to unstable and
> dist upgraded along with new kernel - working my way back to 2.4.20
> before I found one that didn't cause a reboot. 2.4.20 seemded dreamy,
> everything work, but after (deliberately) restarting my system, this
> problem of rebooting was back
>
>
>  
Open up the side of your case and aim a floor fan so that the air blows 
into your box and see if the problem goes away.

If that doesn't make a difference, start pulling out expansion cards 
(nic, sound, video if you have an on-board option, etc) and see if that 
makes a difference.

I know you think your hardware is fine since 2.4.18 and XP works, but my 
gut instinct is that you have a hardware problem that these two OSes 
simply aren't "hitting".

You might also check in your BIOS and see if you can slow down the 
CPU/bus/etc a notch or two, and see if that makes a difference.

Swap RAM sticks around, or take out a stick.

"apt-get install memtest86" and configure it in lilo.conf and then run 
it for a couple of hours. (WARNING: Not 100% conclusive)

--
Kent