On Sunday, March 18, 2012 16:12:20, Joseph Apuzzo wrote: > Two questions: > > 1) I use my computer for variable amounts of time 2 - 20 minutes and for no > reason ( as it can just be idling ) it reboots. The one thing I know does > that is a main voltage drop to the CPU. Does it sound like a bad MB or > Power supply? Please note that this box has been un-opened for 3+ years so > there was no recent change ( other then the last Ubuntu update ). Problem > is I can't really do anything before it reboots
Yuck. There are several reasons why this can happen. I used to get this on an old motherboard with the "bad capacitor" problem, but this hardware is new enough that I'm going to assume that's not it. If this is happening only in Linux, one possibility is a watchdog driver module, which apparently causes issues for some. Debian defaulted to blacklisting the iTCO_wdt module for a time specifically. Random reboots is also indicative of bad RAM. Try running memtest -- however note that occasionally memtest won't find the problem and the RAM is still bad, as there are certain memory areas that memtest can't test, like the area the BIOS gets copied into and run from. Power supply is another common possibility. Swapping out the power supply is a common suggestion. I've never tried it, but attaching a DVM and trying to catch a low voltage condition might be possible. Motherboard component failure is a possibility. That's harder to diagnose, although sometimes it's obvious if there is component discoloration or physical distortion such as the "bad capacitor" expansion. > 2) I am not going to put $$$ in to 5+ year old hardware. What is the > current must have Intel chipset / CPU ( not looking for top of the line ) > Want to continue exploring Programming via Virtualization so I'm thinking > Intel 4 core with a new nvidia GPU. So I'm looking for mother board chip > set and nvidia recommendations, since I really think it's time for a new > system ( well that is parts Power, MB, CPU, Memory, GPU ) I think you're good enough with hardware research that you'll find your own answer for this, but what I will say is "don't go cheap". There's usually a small price difference (like maybe $40) between a motherboard that is mediocre and one that is awesome. Avoid onboard video, know what ports and features it comes with, and make sure to look through the user reviews before purchasing. -- Chris -- Chris Knadle [email protected] _______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) Vassar College Apr 4 - An Intro to Chef May 2 - Git Jun 6 - June 2012 Meeting
