I've got a Maxtech laptop (it's a Chicony MP-983 that's resold by
Maxtech as their 783 model) that locks up only when I'm using a
text console. I've never had it lockup when using X, only when
using a text console. The lockups are total system freezes, I can't
switch virtual consoles, the cursor stops blinking, no response to
CTRL-ALT-DEL. The only thing that I can do is power off.
It happens randomly, sometimes during the boot process before I can
get into X, other times I can use the text console for a few minutes
before it locks up. It only seems to happen when text is being
sent to the display or sometimes when doing a virtual console switch.
A recursive directory listing from / (ls -R /) will always lock
it up but not at the same point. Even if X is running, the system
will lock up if I try to use one of the text consoles for awhile.
I've only had problems with the 2.2 kernels. I never had a problem
with the 2.0 kernels. (Redhat 5.2 and Debian run fine, Redhat 6.0 and
Suse 6.1 lock it up, so I believe it is a kernel problem.)
I've never had a problem in other OSes (even under DOS using the same
VGA mode that I assume is used by default under Linux).
I've tried kernels up to 2.2.11 but still no luck. I've tried a couple
of kernel config options, but there doesn't seem to be much related to
virtual consoles (or maybe I'm missing something?)
Any suggestions, or "I'm having the same problem" comments would be
greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Tony Richardson
