Screen freezes - what's going on?

DavidNW · 19-01-2007, 02:55 PM

H,i everyone.

I'm experiencing screen freezes/lock-ups more than occasionally when I'm extracting video file for burning onto a blank DVD and or when I'm restoring my systems via .tgz archive files. These problems seem to have stemmed over the past 3 months for some reason.

I thought it might be defective memory, but I ran Memtest yesterdasy for 9 hours and it returned no errors. Any ideas as to what might be causing the problem. The problem only seems to occur when I carry out the two above-described tasks - the rest of the time everything works fine on both my Linux distros. Any ideas where to troubleshoot next? My own view now is that the problem is linked to the power supply starting to fail.

Cheers,

David

Anti-Trend · 20-01-2007, 04:30 AM

Make sure you're running DMA on all devices. Otherwise, if you're using PIO, it will cripple your system performance by flooding the system buss.

Code:

/sbin/hdparm -i /dev/hd*

... assuming you have IDE devices and that you have the privileges to run hdparm. Please post the results.

DavidNW · 20-01-2007, 08:35 AM

Hi, AT

Here's the output and thanks for replying:

Code:

Password:
root@Home:/home/david# UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 *udma2
bash: UDMA: command not found
root@Home:/home/david#  AdvancedPM=no
root@Home:/home/david#  Drive conforms to: Unspecified:  ATA/ATAPI-4 ATA/ATAPI-5 ATA/ATAPI-6 ATA/ATAPI-7
bash: Drive: command not found
root@Home:/home/david#
root@Home:/home/david#  * signifies the current active mode
bash: David Hardcastle: command not found
root@Home:/home/david#
root@Home:/home/david#
root@Home:/home/david# /dev/hdd:
bash: /dev/hdd:: No such file or directory
root@Home:/home/david#
root@Home:/home/david#  Model=LITE-ON LTR-40125W, FwRev=WS05, SerialNo=
bash: LTR-40125W,: command not found
root@Home:/home/david#  Config={ Fixed Removeable DTR<=5Mbs DTR>10Mbs nonMagnetic }
bash: =5Mbs: No such file or directory
root@Home:/home/david#  RawCHS=0/0/0, TrkSize=0, SectSize=0, ECCbytes=0
root@Home:/home/david#  BuffType=unknown, BuffSize=0kB, MaxMultSect=0
root@Home:/home/david#  (maybe): CurCHS=0/0/0, CurSects=0, LBA=yes, LBAsects=0
bash: syntax error near unexpected token `:'
root@Home:/home/david#  IORDY=yes, tPIO={min:227,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120}
root@Home:/home/david#  PIO modes:  pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
bash: PIO: command not found
root@Home:/home/david#  DMA modes:  mdma0 mdma1 mdma2
bash: DMA: command not found
root@Home:/home/david#  UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 *udma2
bash: UDMA: command not found
root@Home:/home/david#  AdvancedPM=no
root@Home:/home/david#
root@Home:/home/david#  * signifies the current active mode
bash: David Hardcastle: command not found
root@Home:/home/david#
root@Home:/home/david# root@Home:/home/david#

Anti-Trend · 20-01-2007, 10:41 PM

Whatever you posted there, you did something wrong executing the command I suggested; it looks like you pasted the output into a terminal.

That said, I think I've gleaned enough info from that to determine that you are using UDMA2 on both of the devices listed. That's the best that a 40-conductor ribbon cable can do, so you're in OK shape there.

Well, since DMA doesn't seem to be the problem, things can slow down if you try to use a lot more RAM than you actually have, and a dying PSU can cause all kinds of problems for your system (not the least of which is frying all the rest of your hardware). Also, I see that you're using Maxtor HDDs... those can be bad news also, so if you have a dying HDD, it can cause hiccups also.

DavidNW · 21-01-2007, 12:22 PM

Okay, I just retyped the command and this is what it produced:

/dev/hdd:

Model=LITE-ON LTR-40125W, FwRev=WS05, SerialNo=
Config={ Fixed Removeable DTR<=5Mbs DTR>10Mbs nonMagnetic }
RawCHS=0/0/0, TrkSize=0, SectSize=0, ECCbytes=0
BuffType=unknown, BuffSize=0kB, MaxMultSect=0
(maybe): CurCHS=0/0/0, CurSects=0, LBA=yes, LBAsects=0
IORDY=yes, tPIO={min:227,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120}
PIO modes: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
DMA modes: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2
UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 *udma2
AdvancedPM=no

* signifies the current active mode

I'm starting to think it's a harware failure of some kind, so thanks for the input. On another tack, I tried (several times) a few weeks back, to try to install XP on my first HD, but I just kept getting BSOD during the setup - that made me think something was wrong - curiousely though, Linux loads on both drives - no problem.

However, I'll try to find some way of testing the PSU. As for the rest of the hardware 'geting fried', well that's bad news! The PC's quiet old now, so I guess it might be getting near it's end.

David.

19-01-2007, 02:55 PM	#1 (permalink) Top
DavidNW Big Geek Join Date: Feb 2006 Age: 57 Male Posts: 583 Times Helpful: 20 My Mood: Fine Status: Offline My Computer	Screen freezes - what's going on? H,i everyone. I'm experiencing screen freezes/lock-ups more than occasionally when I'm extracting video file for burning onto a blank DVD and or when I'm restoring my systems via .tgz archive files. These problems seem to have stemmed over the past 3 months for some reason. I thought it might be defective memory, but I ran Memtest yesterdasy for 9 hours and it returned no errors. Any ideas as to what might be causing the problem. The problem only seems to occur when I carry out the two above-described tasks - the rest of the time everything works fine on both my Linux distros. Any ideas where to troubleshoot next? My own view now is that the problem is linked to the power supply starting to fail. Cheers, David __________________ "Hell is other people" - John Paul Sartre. Your life is never a wasted if you are happy and content about the person you are. Last edited by DavidNW; 19-01-2007 at 08:12 PM.

20-01-2007, 04:30 AM	#2 (permalink) Top
Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek Join Date: Oct 2003 Age: 27 Male Posts: 4,882 Times Helpful: 538 Status: Offline My Computer	Make sure you're running DMA on all devices. Otherwise, if you're using PIO, it will cripple your system performance by flooding the system buss. Code: /sbin/hdparm -i /dev/hd* ... assuming you have IDE devices and that you have the privileges to run hdparm. Please post the results. __________________ See My Desktop \| Try Linux \| Install Linux \| Visit My Server \| Support Hardware Forums \| Easily rip DVDs in Linux \| Remember Everything

20-01-2007, 10:41 PM	#4 (permalink) Top
Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek Join Date: Oct 2003 Age: 27 Male Posts: 4,882 Times Helpful: 538 Status: Offline My Computer	Whatever you posted there, you did something wrong executing the command I suggested; it looks like you pasted the output into a terminal. That said, I think I've gleaned enough info from that to determine that you are using UDMA2 on both of the devices listed. That's the best that a 40-conductor ribbon cable can do, so you're in OK shape there. Well, since DMA doesn't seem to be the problem, things can slow down if you try to use a lot more RAM than you actually have, and a dying PSU can cause all kinds of problems for your system (not the least of which is frying all the rest of your hardware). Also, I see that you're using Maxtor HDDs... those can be bad news also, so if you have a dying HDD, it can cause hiccups also. __________________ See My Desktop \| Try Linux \| Install Linux \| Visit My Server \| Support Hardware Forums \| Easily rip DVDs in Linux \| Remember Everything

21-01-2007, 12:22 PM	#5 (permalink) Top
DavidNW Big Geek Join Date: Feb 2006 Age: 57 Male Posts: 583 Times Helpful: 20 My Mood: Fine Status: Offline My Computer	Okay, I just retyped the command and this is what it produced: /dev/hdd: Model=LITE-ON LTR-40125W, FwRev=WS05, SerialNo= Config={ Fixed Removeable DTR<=5Mbs DTR>10Mbs nonMagnetic } RawCHS=0/0/0, TrkSize=0, SectSize=0, ECCbytes=0 BuffType=unknown, BuffSize=0kB, MaxMultSect=0 (maybe): CurCHS=0/0/0, CurSects=0, LBA=yes, LBAsects=0 IORDY=yes, tPIO={min:227,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120} PIO modes: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4 DMA modes: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 udma2 AdvancedPM=no signifies the current active mode I'm starting to think it's a harware failure of some kind, so thanks for the input. On another tack, I tried (several times) a few weeks back, to try to install XP on my first HD, but I just kept getting BSOD during the setup - that made me think something was wrong - curiousely though, Linux loads on both drives - no problem. However, I'll try to find some way of testing the PSU. As for the rest of the hardware 'geting fried', well that's bad news! The PC's quiet old now, so I guess it might be getting near it's end. David. __________________ "Hell is other people" - John Paul Sartre. Your life is never a wasted if you are happy and content about the person you are.

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