Linux Format forums

[GregS]

I seem to have a persistent hardware(?) problem...I am encountering regular freezing (both mouse and keyboard, can't even REISUB) and I cannot locate a source of the problem.

This has manifested since about Fedora 9 (IIRC the last distro that worked flawlessly; I upgraded about 12 months after it ceased to be supported as it was getting flaky (which begs another question: why does every distro I've used fall on it's sword once it is out of support???).

I have tried Fedora 10 & 11, but neither would work with my nvidia card; several other distros from the montly DVD, some of which sort-of worked and others wouldn't even install, finally settling on Ubuntu (nothing after 9.04 would work reliably) which did at least configure the nvidia card and work OK.

Now that has recently ceased to function (malloc errors with XSane, several users getting black screens on login to KDE 4.x) and of course no longer maintained so unable to update or add software.

I have tried CentOS and Mint from recent coverdisks, but now I'm getting persistently the same problem that caused me to drop Fedora (I'd been exclusively using Red Hat since RH 9) in the first place.

I have been using Fedora fro the coverdisks fairly seamlessly on a Toshiba laptop for some years (now on 15) without problems, although I don't use the wireless modem fitted.

Computer specs are ASUS P7P557 board, Intel Core i5 650@ 3.20GHz dual-core processor, 4 GB RAM and nVidia G92 [GeForce GTS 250]; and bog-standard keyboard and optical mouse (replacing PS2 ball mouse which I first thought may have been the problem).

I'm nearing wit's end; I have tried a swag of mainstream distros and (of those that would install) all have manifested about the same fault, some immediately and others after a period of acceptable performance.

It would seem, therefore, to be hardware-related, but I'm not in a position to swap out components to find out which may be the culprit.

I have also considered a hardware-customised distro such as Gentoo, but I don't have enough knowledge about the inner workings of Linux to be able to configure it. I got most of the way through the how-to in LXF139 and decided it wasn't for me.

I don't mind the CLI - been using it since CP/M - but the esoteric arcana of config file editing is beyond me without a detailed, step-by-step 'Dummies' reference to work from and what I have seen from the available information convinces me that I have neither the secret sign nor the handshake...

Is there any suitable diagnostic tool that may help identify the problem?

Would a simplistic distro like Puppy be more bullet-proof.

Any suggestions?
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Updated 14 Jan:
Changed out PS2 keyboard and rodent for USB types (had only PS2 to check with previously) and problem seems to have been solved(?) - looks like the PS2 connector on the motherboard has a fault?!

[Dutch_Master]

Did it occur to you that it might be a hardware issue? Does the mainboard have onboard graphics? If it does, give it a whirl. Otherwise, try Debian Stable and roll in your own kernel (it's not that difficult, honest!) and the nVidia drivers. Mind, do get the latest stable kernel from the kernel.org guys (3.1 and up), don't bother with the 2.6.32.whatever sources in the Debian repo's!

[GregS]

[Dutch_Master]

Here's a quick guide for building your own kernel, based on a Debian 6 (Squeeze) system, or derivative (Ubuntu, Mint, etc).

First, install the build-essential package. Next, create a text file containing the following: (HINT: copy/paste!)

[supermine290]

First off it does sound like a hardware issue. I have had issues with Nividia cards and there are some tricks/proper ways to get them working on certain problematic distros. It in all honesty almost sounds like your motherboard is starting to fail. Since you said you switched keyboards and mouse and it did not fix your issue.

So unless you want to roll your own kernel there are things you can check before you go out and buy a new motherboard. The first thing you can do is right after it flakes can you get the keyboard and mouse working if you reboot? If you can't reboot (A hard shutdown then power up not just the reboot command) with them unplugged and then do that again with them plugged in to see if you can get them working again. If you can right after it run this command.

[GregS]

[Dutch_Master]

I'd suggest re-seating the various components on your mainboard first, before rushing out for a new mainboard. And it wouldn't hurt blowing the dust way with a can of pressured air either... If you have more then one stick of memory, try removing one to see if the stability improves. If it doesn't, swap the memory sticks (one out, the other in). As memory sticks are cheaper then a new mainboard, get yourself one (of an arbitrary size, say 1 GB) and try with that. Next in line is the PSU: if it fries, it may take the internal components with it by spiking a high voltage on the internal power lines. If you have another PSU available, swap it to see if that results in a stable system again (mind, it could be too late anyway!)...

If any or all of the above scares you, find yourself a decent computer shop that offers such a service and have it checked over. Or perhaps a local computer club, even if they only 'do' Win-OS...

As for the script: it's pretty much "ready to run", just install the required packages (build-essential and libncurses5-dev). Oh, and comment out (or remove) the 'make oldconfig' line, then remove the # in front of the 'make menuconfig' line to have a somewhat newbee friendly interface for configuring the kernel

[nelz]

You don't build a kernel from scratch, you start with the existing configuration and tweak it. But trying to do this on flakey hardware is asking for massive hair loss. A modified kernel won't fix broken hardware.

Run memtest overnight, give all components a yank and spank as DM suggested. If the problem persists, try a different PSU. Dodgy power supplies can not only cause random hardware problems, they also cause hardware damage. Cheap PSUs are never a wise investment.
_________________
Unix is user-friendly. It's just very selective about who it's friends are.

[GregS]

[GregS]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I have opened the case, de-dusted (not much) and reseated boards (only the Nvidia card to seat); pulled the memory chips and run them each singly, no change.

dmesg shows the following (edited,but I've left in the bits that appear pertinent especially keyboard and mouse, sorry if it is a bit big):

[winterfeld]

Just spotted your post. I have been trying to install Centos 6.2 64 bit for the past week. I have tried the full twin DVD version, DVD and CD live versions and the minimal install. I also tried the magazine LXF156 cover disk 32 bit version. All installed properly in partition sda11 on the first hard disk. They recognised a 1 terabite ntfs external usb harddisk and made a good job of all the other hardware.

However both the mouse and keyboard die after 5 minutes or less, or when I change user to root (immediate response). The mouse is a short lead usb cable attached to a ps2 cable and port and the keyboard is usb on an extender cable (the keyboard was a freebe with my Linux Format Subscription about 5 years ago. German with lots of useless keys). All this hardware otherwise works without problem under windoze 7 and XP but Centos is a dead duck. I had been looking forward to making it my core system as it has the Long term Support.

It also has an odd habit of dumping the boot into the boot partition and not in root which is a nightmare as grub2 does not like it. That boots all my other systems, the bootloader being derived from LinuxMint 12.

So do not go changing the system board as I did for another usb problem. Nightmare. I smell a rat with power and heat control, although no problem with linux mint and suse. I do not understand what is going on with the solution in the previous posts......