Just wanted to add a few bits of background on Pat's system. When we did the initial Linux install, we had problems getting the embedded NIC to be recognised by Linux and so rather than try the determine-chip-set-search-for-drivers routine, 5 minutes later and disabling the onboard NIC via BIOS and installing a $30.00 Dlink NIC and this issue was solved.
We then had problems getting the onboard video (dont recall chip set, ATI maybe), to run anything but 640x480 at 8bit. This was just unaaceptable so following a BIOS upgrade, we now had the option to choose whether the onboard, or PCI based video was Primary. Unfortunately there is no option to actually disable the onboard video. So far so good, or so we thought. Linux and Windows 2000 Pro installed without any problems and everything works, including all supported video resolutions under Linux. But clearly the system is experiencing some sort of conflict where it will occaisionally lock hard at the log in screen to Win2k as soon as you try to type in the login id. As Pat said, ctrl-alt-del wont even respond. And under Linux, like Pat has said he gets more crashes and hangs in one day than I, and I am sure other clug members, see in a year of running Linux. As I am writing this I am thinking possibly memory? Maybe a suggestion is to run memtest (I think thats what its called, I have not used this but have read some threads here or elsewhere suggesting it). Although Pat is pleased with being able to do most of his work under Linux it would sure be nice if we could collectively bang our heads together and resolve this for him. <hr> <b><font color=blue size=4>Open Enterprise Solutions</font></b> <b><font color=red>Linux & Open Source Solutions for Business</font></b> Johnny Stork, BA Calgary, AB Canada <a href="http://www.openenterprise.ca";> www.openenterprise.ca</a> ------ original message ------ From: Pat Roche <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: CLUG <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sun Feb 02 15:42:11 PST 2003 Subject: (clug-talk) (RH8-Dell D. 2350) crashes I've been using Red Hat 8.0 on a Dell Dimension 2350 (2GH Celeron / <br>512MB RAM) since early January. Bottom-line impression: I love Linux. <br> <br>But there's one problem I'd love to resolve. Linux has crashed while <br>surfing the Web, on average, at least every two hours (during at least <br>50 hours total browsing). <br> <br>Konqueror seems more stable than Galeon and Opera, and all seem somewhat <br>more stable than Mozilla. There's little consistency. Mozilla, for <br>example, crashed on the third page I accessed today (Yahoo News); but <br>when I rebooted I surfed that page and many others for more than an hour <br>without hanging. <br> <br>Meanwhile, I've worked more than 40 hours in OpenOffice Writer and can <br>only recall it hanging once. Evolution rarely hangs and the CD player <br>(kscd) hasn't crashed yet <br> <br>To compare OSes on the same machine, I've spent about 15 hours surfing <br>in Windows 2000 (using Opera, Internet Explorer and Phoenix) and had <br>only two crashes -- a much better average than Linux. In each OS, <br>control-alt-delete won't force a reboot after a crash. <br> <br>I usually work in KDE, but didn't document any improvement during about <br>four hours in GNOME (on Mozilla, Opera, Galeon and Konqueror). <br> <br>Another quirk in Linux: the hard drive sometimes runs for three minutes <br>for no reason. <br> <br>Also, Evolution is very slow (maybe 10 seconds) opening HTML e-mails. Is <br>this normal, or possibly related to my Web-browsing problem? <br> <br>BACKGROUND: Inside the Dell box, there are NO CARDS. Everything -- video <br>controller, network controller, etc. -- is embedded in the motherboard. <br>(Luckily there were three empty slots.) The video controller -- which <br>wouldn't work with Linux -- could NEITHER BE REMOVED NOR DISABLED. <br> <br>As a non-technical person, I was in over my head long before this point. <br>I'm much obliged to CLUG member Johnny Stork for coming up with the <br>various workarounds that enabled me to use Linux my new computer. (I <br>just wish I'd talked to him before buying the Dell.) <br> <br>The workaround Johnny came up for the video controller was to set up a <br>dual-monitor system and to designate the new video card (HIS TNT2 M64 <br>PCI) as primary and the built-in video controller as secondary. (So the <br>original controller which couldn't be disabled is now outputting to a <br>non-existent monitor.) <br> <br>Does anyone have any suggestions? Do I have any options beyond selling <br>the new $800 Dell at a discount to my brother-in-law (who prefers XP) <br>and starting from scratch on another new computer?? <br> <br>Any comments or anecdotes (e.g., your own experience with bundled, <br>brand-name systems, both positive and negative) will be much <br>appreciated. <br> <br>Thanks for reading. Sorry it's so long. <br> <br>Pat <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> --------------------------------------------------- The Webtop Personal Web-based Email System http://www.yourwebtop.com
