I have found these forums a valuable aid as I learn Linux. I recently rebuilt a server onto different hardware and it is constantly experiencing lockups (no KB, no mouse , no screen, no network, etc.). There seems to be no pattern to this and it happens at random intervals. I'd like to attempt to troubleshoot this myself first but I am missing the key piece of info to start.

Where does Suse 10.1 keep some kind of log where I can see what happened immediately before the crash? Dmesg is no good because it starts over on boot. I should know where this is but all my other Linux installs have been so stable I never had to look for it Thanks in advance. System info is below, ignore the signature info as this is a different system.

Suse Linux 10.1 (X86_64) Kernel 2.6.16.27-0.6-smp
AMD Athlon 64 3800+
Abit NF-M2 nView MB w/ NVIDIA NForce 430
NVIDIA 7900GS
Maxtor SATA 300 Drives

Random lockups like that sound more like a hardware problem, something overheating or a dodgy new component. I'd recommend that you run memtest (it's on the suse DVD) and see if that finds any errors.

I have run memtest on it twice, as well as CPU burn-in and system stress utilites. Prior to loading SuSE I ran it for 4 days as Windows XP running stress tests on the CPU, RAM & disks. No lockups, no overheats. It wasn't until I went with this installation that this happens which is why I'm sure its not hardware but maybe a loaded module or something causing this. I've had issues with SuSE and ACPI before so I usually turn it off - maybe some part of it is still running. Just need to know what logs to look at to find out.

SuSE x10.1 is (IMHO) plagued with, umm, "issues". I tried to install it (both 32 bit and x86_64) but abandoned it almost immediately. FWIW, I'd only suggest using v9.3, v10.0, or v10.2.

I would have to agree with J.W. I bought the 10.1 version, i installed it which took me at least two days because i ran into so many problems, then i downloaded the 10.2 x86_64 version, and what a change, it's working just great. From what i hear the 10.1 version was released because it "had" to be released, but it wasn't quite stable.But who knows for sure. Many bad reviews for SuSE 10.1. Between Suse 10.1 and 10.2 huge difference. In 10.2 YaST loads much faster. I would recommend a switch to 10.2, but to fix your issue, you can try two things, update your BIOS, and recompile your kernel. Might work.
To check where it went wrong, boot from cd, with init 3 that will take you to the text mode, and open /var/log/messages look around see if you can find your crash.

Good Luck

Also agree here, many problems with 10.1 on X86_64, but openSuse 10.2 was a great install and is working well on 3 machines for me.

That's a problem as 10.2 would absolutely not install on this system, even with very Linux savvy friends helping me. For some reason it really didn't like the hard drives or the 430 chipset - can't install when it refuses to see the drives.

Mattyoly - booting off of the DVD and then looking at the message log is such a great idea and so simple I can't belive I didn't think of it. Aside from these lockups I have no complaints about 10.1 so if I can find the source of the lockups and fix it that may be my best option. Thanks.

I'm glad , it got you somewhere, but when you find the solution, or whatever went wrong, try posting it on here for other users, in case they run into the same problem as you. And when you are trying to install SuSE 10.2, and your drives don't get recoznized, try loading the modules manually. That's by typing manual=1 at boot. It's just an idea, you could try.

Yeah I tried loading the modules manually in 10.2, even went so far as to copy the exact loaded modules from the 10.1 install. No luck. As for my lockup problem I have not had a repeat of it since posting this. The forum msut be good luck.