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Date:      Mon, 11 Feb 2002 17:15:36 -0700
From:      "Charles Burns" <burnscharlesn@hotmail.com>
To:        dwinkler@ala.net, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: random reboot problem
Message-ID:  <F28DWJQSB2GxU8gpqiL0001f502@hotmail.com>

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>I am having a reoccurring problem with a FreeBSD 4.2 Release install where
>my server will randomly reboot from time to time. Normally the machine will
>run for a week or two at a time, sometimes 3, without an occurrence, but I
>will
>now and then get messages in my logs about problems with one of the drives.
>When the machine comes back up, it requires a manual fsck to fix the drive
>and bring the server back up again. When it occurs, there are no log 
>entries
>about the problem that I can find.

[...]

>Any information on a fix for this problem, or where to check beyond
>replacing
>hardware ( have replaced drives in the 4.3 machine with no effect ) would
>be greatly appreciated.
>
>Here is the information from the machine that might be helpful in tracking
>down
>the problem.

[...]

FYI, the only time that I have actually seen a random rebooting problem with 
FreeBSD involved RAM. You can test to see if that is the case using the 
program available here:
http://www.teresaudio.com/memtest86/

Certain Athlon-compatible motherboards are very poorly made, which may be 
the cause. COuld you post the manufacturer, model, and preferably the 
chipset used (eg VIAKT133, AMD750, etc). There are certain problems with VIA 
chipsets and certain motherboards which may possibly be a cause. Some 
manufacturers somewhat consistantly produce poor boards, such as PCChips 
(and their 50 or so other names, noteable ESC and Elitegroup).

It may possibly be an overheating CPU, but this is quite unlikely 
considering that Athlons generally just lock up rather than rebooting when 
they overheat, and that they can get *very* hot before malfunctioning. If 
the system has a flimsy heatsink or poor contact between the heatsink and 
chip, such as with cheap paste or a thermal pad, it might be worth spending 
a few seconds checking out.

I use the same SCSI card that your system has, so I know that it works quite 
well. I have heard of some problems in newsgroups about using the 64-bit 
version in a 32-bit PCI slot. I doubt it is the drives, too. As you said, 
you replaced tham, and IBM's SCSI drives are very well made.

Sorry I don't have anything specific, but I hope these help a bit if you 
haven't already considered them. There's always the classic "update the 
firmware on everything" response that you have probably taken care of as 
well.

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