From owner-freebsd-questions Fri Jun 7 14:53:04 1996 Return-Path: owner-questions Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) id OAA26293 for questions-outgoing; Fri, 7 Jun 1996 14:53:04 -0700 (PDT) Received: from relay-2.mail.demon.net (disperse.demon.co.uk [158.152.1.77]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) with SMTP id OAA26057 for ; Fri, 7 Jun 1996 14:51:57 -0700 (PDT) Received: from post.demon.co.uk ([158.152.1.72]) by relay-2.mail.demon.net id aa11266; 7 Jun 96 22:47 +0100 Received: from jraynard.demon.co.uk ([158.152.42.77]) by relay-3.mail.demon.net id aa20287; 7 Jun 96 22:47 +0100 Received: (from fqueries@localhost) by jraynard.demon.co.uk (8.7.5/8.6.12) id UAA13732; Fri, 7 Jun 1996 20:43:08 GMT Date: Fri, 7 Jun 1996 20:43:08 GMT Message-Id: <199606072043.UAA13732@jraynard.demon.co.uk> From: James Raynard To: root@localhost.nconnect.net CC: questions@freebsd.org In-reply-to: (message from Randy DuCharme on Fri, 7 Jun 1996 00:27:54 GMT) Subject: Re: Segmentation Fault ?? Sender: owner-questions@freebsd.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk > I keep getting the message "Segmentation fault (core dumped)" message and apps keep crashing in X. What does this mean and what do I do about it? I get it repeatedly using the Chimera web browser, and the xdtm s > hell. This means that the program tried to access memory that is not available to it and the kernel killed it. (Unlike certain other operating systems, Unix will not allow programs to misbehave in this way). It can be due to an error in the program - but this is unlikely if it's a program that's widely used. A more likely cause is a hardware problem such as a bad SIMM, or perhaps a faulty motherboard. The other possibility is an error in the operating system - but this is *extremely* unlikely unless you're running -current (the development version). The first thing I would do is get hold of a couple of spare SIMMs and try swapping them around. Also check you have the right speed SIMMs for the CPU, the bus speed is correctly set, etc. (it has been known for vendors to take short-cuts in these areas). Another thing you can try is a less aggressive cache setting in the BIOS - but write the current settings down on a piece of paper first! Hope this helps. -- James Raynard, Edinburgh, Scotland | http://freefall.freebsd.org/~jraynard/ james@jraynard.demon.co.uk | jraynard@freebsd.org