Re: [gentoo-user] Any way of tracing kernel freezes?

[Thomas Mueller]

Excerpt from Frank Steinmetzger:

> I found my old USB Gentoo which has memtest installed (and which I used
> for my first test also). I let it run for two passes, both successful.
> So the RAM seems fine.

> > Temperature? - check for dust puppies clogging the heatsinks, cooling etc.

> It's a netbook with a 6.5 Watt CPU. I'm going through the big emerge
> again right now (3.5 hours in), and it never goes above 66°. Besides, the
> freezes also happened when I didn't do anything heavy. Just surfing
> (though Firefox can also be heave for an Atom ^^).

> Anyhoo, I'm running 3.8.13 again now. I didn't have my config anymore,
> so I oldconfig'ed it from 3.9. Let's see whether it's more stable. If
> yes, hm... I can't really report this to the kernel devs: "My netbook
> freezes since 3.9, that's all I know. Here, have my configs." :-I

Is your temperature of 66° F or C? 

System temperature or surrounding room temperature?

I have an old computer whose fan has quit as happened once before.

CPUs generate considerable heat, I see system temperature and realize the fan is much more critical than whether the room temperature is a chilly 20 C or sweaty (for humans) 35 C.

I don't use that old 2001 computer much, am getting ready to put together a new computer from parts to run FreeBSD and Linux, likely Gentoo; otherwise I'd order a Socket A fan.

When I do use that old computer, I open the case and prop a hair dryer to run at low, ambient-temperature air pointed at the CPU.  This keeps the CPU down to 47 C according to the BIOS/CMOS screen.  This is cool for the CPU if not for us humans.


Tom