Re: [vox-tech] not sure what to call it

[Samuel Merritt <snmerritt@ucdavis.eMAPSdu>]

On Sat, Apr 13, 2002 at 10:49:32AM -0400, Patrick Stockton wrote:
> I've got a Mandrake 8.2 install that periodically will stop reponding after
> logging in.  It will prompt for username and password and then just sit
> there.  I can't switch between virtual terminals nor give a CTRL+ALT+DEL to
> cleanly shut the system down.  The only thing I am able to do is power cycle
> the box.
> 
> This happens no matter how I'm logging either via the console, graphical X
> via KDM,  remote SSH, or a Webmin login.
> 
> Now even though the login I'm attemping has stopped responding all kernel
> level networking still works because the box still acts as the internet
> gateway for the rest of my client boxes just fine.

I had a similar problem once; it turned out to be my cheap Maxtor hard 
drive that claimed to support DMA, but would hang every now and then.
The symptoms were that the system seemed to be running okay, but any 
process that needed to use the disk for any reason (including being 
swapped in) would hang. CTRL+ALT+DEL wouldn't work because it would try to 
load /sbin/shutdown from disk, and hang. Also, the disk activity LED on 
the front of my case was on solid when this happened. 

If the symptoms persist, try disabling DMA on your hard disk(s) and see if 
the crashes end. Mandrake uses /etc/sysconfig/harddisks for IDE disk 
parameters. 

-- 
Samuel Merritt
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