[2024-feb-29] Sad news: Eric Layton aka Nocturnal Slacker aka vtel57 passed away on Feb 26th, shortly after hospitalization. He was one of our Wiki's most prominent admins. He will be missed.

Welcome to the Slackware Documentation Project

This is an old revision of the document!


I don't want to interfere with your well written article, so I will ad some things here that should be considered to be added to the article. Of course this is open for discussion.

1. Additions to the Common Symptoms section: - RAM: Additional symptoms are kernel panics and segfaults in various programs without recognizable pattern

- PSU: Additional symptoms are unrecoverable system freezes (SysRq combos not working, no possibility to SSH into the system)

- HDD: Additional symptoms are clicking noises and constant spinup attempts

- CPU: On multicore CPUs kernel panics can occur when only one core is not working correctly

Additions to the Diagnostics section:

- RAM: Maybe it should be added that it is, especially on new system, mandatory to check the BIOS to make sure that the RAM is driven within its specified parameters. Some motherboards have problems to detect the correct parameters in AUTO-mode.

- PSU: I would recommend to alter the last sentence before the warning from “ and wait for the warnings or sudden shutdown/reboot.” to “ and wait for the warnings or sudden shutdown/reboot/freezes.”

- CMOS battery: Batteries are toxic way and shouldn't just be thrown away but brought to the appropriate collection point (or box) that exist in many countries.

Genral Additions: The whole topic about overheating systems seems to miss. It should be added:

- Symptoms: Slow downs, sudden shutdowns, freezes

- Diagnostics: Use lm_sensors or other monitor programs to check the temperatures while doing load-tests, check the fans and heatsinks for dust, check the heatsinks if they are proper mounted (esppecially on self-built machines and machines that were recently moved), check for dry thermal paste, check the case if there is proper airflow

- Solution: Clean the system, reseat the heatsink, apply a fresh layer of thermal paste (good article with information about that: http://www.techpowerup.com/printarticle.php?id=134), make sure that there is proper airflow, with adding fans if necessary

There should also be added a disclaimer at the beginning of the article to prevent lawsuits:

- before working in the machine the user should take care of the usual things, like removing the power plug, grounding himself, using proper tools, …

- we are not responsible for any damages that occur during the diagnostics and repair process

- it is always better to let a professional do that work if the user feels himself not proficient enough before accidentally damaging hardware

Sorry, I don't know anything about this Wiki stuff, so I sign it now. — Tobias Eichmann 2012/10/09 10:32

I have implemented as many of these as I can, and I will give credit to the one who suggested this once they sign their comment. The main one I did not implement is checking the BIOS for RAM parameters. My mobo does not have such an option, so I don't know how to do it, and I'm not sure it is safe unless you know what you are doing. Maybe it is better to update the BIOS instead. — Johaan Strojandogg 2012/10/09 10:20

Usually only OEM boards, like the one from Dell or HP, lack these options. On mainboards that the end-user can buy they are sometimes hidden in the over-clocking menus. But you are right, most of the time a BIOS update will fix such problems. — Tobias Eichmann 2012/10/09 10:32

My PSU has failed and I have added more info to these sections. — Johaan Strojandogg 2012/11/22 07:10

My mobo may have failed, and if I can confirm it, I will add random symptoms + memtest passes = mobo failure. — Johaan Strojandogg 2013/01/16 09:45

Technical Jargon

I suggest we remove some “technical jargon” or otherwise colloquial terms such as “mobo”. Why not use motherboard instead? — Gerardo Zamudio 2013/01/22 08:39

Agreed. Eric — Eric Hameleers 2013/01/22 13:12
Replaced all instances of 'mobo' with 'motherboard' and linked SysRq REISUB for clarity. — Gerardo Zamudio 2013/01/23 11:02

Sorry about the jargon, I just tend to use it without realizing it. I removed two things I added to the motherboard section, because I cannot confirm that my motherboard is dead, so it was not reliable information. — Johaan Strojandogg 2013/01/25 02:41

 talk:howtos:hardware:hardware_diagnostics ()