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Hi folks,
Original post below, solution to the problem described here:
basically it was a 'chase one's tail' story until one of the players gave
way. Or both. I don't know.
Abbott: the OS that we MUST use on the Costello (DELL) computer is FC3. We
have no choice.
Costello (DELL): the only Costello supported OSs are RHEL and WinXP SP2,
the problem comes from the OS not from the hardware. There is no
warranty from Costello if you use an OS that Costello has not approved.
Abbott: but we must follow instructions, and the instructions we receive
are we must run FC3 on our computers.
Costello: then the problem arises because you are using an unsupported
OS. Should the computer operate RHEL or Win XP SP2 you would not have
problems.
(this being repeated several times)
Until finally:
Costello: we can only test your hardware if, even on a temporary basis,
your computer runs Win XP SP2.
...
discussions
discussions
...
Then after some time the computer support company installs an additional
disk with Win XP SP2 on it. Testing is very simple: launch any application
that sends 3-D vectors (3D graphics if you want) to the graphics
board. Immediate result: black screen freeze, and the machine must be
switched off and on again to access it.
Diagnostics: faulty NVidia graphics board, replacement board provided by
Costello, machine goes back to FC3. Machine runs perfectly fine now.
I doubt that the OS was, at any stage, the culprit.
Fred.
On Fri, 17 Feb 2006, Fred. Vellieux wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> We've been having some problems for ages on a Dell bi-pro Xeon Linux box
> running FC3 with PCI express and a NVIDIA Quadro FX1300 graphics
> board.
>
> We're NOT having the problem on the twin machine, also a Dell bi-pro
> Xeon Linux box running FC3, with AGP and NVIDIA Quadro something board
> (obviously not the same board, but I forgot what it's called). That one
> had been bought 12 months earlier therefore we were not able to purchase
> the exact same machine one year later --- unfortunately.
>
> Exactly the same operating system (and version of-) on both machines.
>
> I was next to a user yesterday, who was running ccp4i. Attempt to exit
> ccp4i led to monitor extinction (black screen, as when the monitor gets
> deactivated after some minutes of inactivity on a
> "normal" workstation). Twice I should say, after machine rebooting ccp4i
> was launched again and at exit time immediately a black screen.
>
> The X-server cannot be restarted (cntrl-alt-...), init() as root does
> nothing, but the cpus are all active and the machine can be accessed
> remotely (sftp, ssh). All computations go on normally. It's just the
> monitor that is totally unavailable and cannot be woken up.
>
> The same can take place when users go for coffee for too long and come
> back to find a black inactive screen.
>
> The company that takes care of the computers has not been able to locate
> the cause of the problem (and propose a solution).
>
> We're desperately looking for some information concerning the cause of the
> problem and a solution to it (the machine was bought for graphics use in
> addition to number crunching, and the graphics part is at the moment quite
> useless because of this problem).
>
> Any thoughts, input etc appreciated at this end!
--
s-mail: F.M.D. Vellieux (B.Sc., Ph.D.)
Institut de Biologie Structurale J.-P. Ebel CEA CNRS UJF
41 rue Jules Horowitz
38027 Grenoble Cedex 01
France
Tel: (+33) (0) 438789605
Fax: (+33) (0) 438785494
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
