Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 09:27:08 +0100 From: Matthew Seaman <m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk> To: Jesse <jesse@206underground.net> Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: error messages Message-ID: <20020821082708.GA20860@happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophi> In-Reply-To: <NOECKMIGOKIAJEHEMEBNGENPCEAA.jesse@206underground.net> References: <NOECKMIGOKIAJEHEMEBNGENPCEAA.jesse@206underground.net>
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On Tue, Aug 20, 2002 at 09:43:16PM -0700, Jesse wrote:
> Have recently begun to see these errors being reported from
> a machine. My question is, does this point to a software or hardware
> problem?
> Aug 20 19:00:56 *.*.net /kernel:
> Aug 20 19:00:56 *.*.net /kernel: Fatal trap 12: page fault while in kernel
> mode
> Aug 20 19:00:56 *.*.net /kernel:
> Aug 20 19:00:56 *.*.net /kernel: Fatal trap 12: page fault while in kernel
> mode
If these sort of errors have begun to appear spontaneously and not as
a result of updating the OS or kernel or modifying hardware, that
usually indicates a hardware failure of some sort. There are three
main root causes:
i) Over heating: particularly of the CPU. Can be caused by: air
vents becoming blocked with dust, fans stopping or slowing down
due to worn bearings. Can be caused by the CPU's heatsink
being knocked loose.
ii) Power supply not producing sufficient output --- if this is
happening spontaneously, rather than as a result of adding more
hardware to the machine, then it's quite likely that the power
supply is going to fail altogether fairly soon.
iii) Bad memory or CPU or other chips. The only really sure way to
diagnose this as definitely the problem is to swap out the
components. If you have more than one memory stick, try taking
one stick out, and see if you still get the same problem.
Cycle through all the memory sticks in turn in this way: if you
still get failures after going through all the memory then
clearly, the problem lies elsewhere. Swapping out motherboards
or CPUs is more involved.
However, before getting the screwdrivers out, you can try some
software diagnostics. memtest86 is pretty good as these things
go: http://www.memtest86.com/ and it works with all operating
systems and just about any IA32 hardware. If it finds a
problem, then it's almost always right, but if it gives a clean
bill of health, it can occasionally be wrong.
Cheers,
Matthew
--
Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 26 The Paddocks
Savill Way
Tel: +44 1628 476614 Marlow
Fax: +44 0870 0522645 Bucks., SL7 1TH UK
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