On Fri 10 Apr 2009 16:39:06 NZST +1200, Aidan Gauland wrote: > for full information), and has no fan to fail. Is there a way to test the > card for heat damage (or any kind of subtle damage)?
No there isn't. Not for heat damage, and not for anti-static damage. If the card doesn't have a fan, and doesn't have heats sinks clogged with dust, then it doesn't have heat damage. If it is subtly damaged, the symptoms you get are unreliability. Same as for old age. > And, John, how could the motherboard battery affect the video? Not likely, but it's always worth a shot to at least clear the cmos and reload factory/safe/whatertheycalledit defaults. Replace the battery only if it has < 2.9V or so, but do rub the clip contacts off and wipe the battery hard with a cotton cloth, then insert it without(!) leaving fingerprints (or lint). Skin grease corrodes metal surfaces over time. The real reason you want that battery to work is so that it doesn't gain funny settings while you power the box off (and to keep the time if you don't use ntp). Tracking down unreliability issues is difficult. Faults that only occur sometimes are hard to find. Pretty much all has been said. power supplies can lose uumph, unless you have an electronics workshop, swap it with another one and see if problems disappear. As you tried different distros I agree that it is most likely a hardware and not a software fault. Volker -- Volker Kuhlmann is list0570 with the domain in header http://volker.dnsalias.net/ Please do not CC list postings to me.
