# Problems, nothing but problems!



## Renny (Apr 23, 2008)

I've installed many distros till now but nothing has worked(hanging etc),

I tried Vector and Zenwalk but all apps just terminate and close randomly, Xfce keeps getting logged out,

What is the problem? Why is all this happening " 

I dont know what to do,
If atleast one distro had worked I woulda stuck to it, so ppl dont think I just do this distro switching for timepass,

Plz help me, I really want to try linux but all these probs are really making me fedup and exhausted.


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## debsuvra (Apr 24, 2008)

Post your system config and the nature of problem you are having like error messages etc.


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## nileshgr (Apr 24, 2008)

debsuvra said:


> Post your system config and the nature of problem you are having like error messages etc.


Yeah...true

nobody here can help you out without that


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## QwertyManiac (Apr 24, 2008)

When you log out next time, log back in and take the output of "*dmesg | tail*"

Looks to me your PC is dying rather than the distro's work. When my Prescott throws up heat alarms, the CPU auto handles it and throttles my processes down with a neat warning in the dmesg. It closes my applications sometimes or reduces framerates when in a game. Ain't the distro's fault now is it?


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## ray|raven (Apr 24, 2008)

^Quite a possibility. Zenwalk used hang quite a bit a few days before my RAM died.
Thought i broke X , but turned out to be the RAM


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## Renny (Apr 24, 2008)

PIII 700MHz, 256 MB SDRAM, Intel 810 Chipset, 15" CRT, AT keyboard, PS/2 Mouse  

(Using i810 driver of Xorg), 

In both Zenwalk and Vector, X would just logoff randomly, applications would just terminate at random, and even panels would suddenly dissapear,

I tried changing the colour depth to 16bit from 24bit, but it would screw up X completely, meaning all bizarre and random colour lines and patterns would appear on screen,

And sometimes the PC would completely hang and freeze(TOTALLY HANG). nothing would respond(Ctrl+Alt+Bkspace etc.), even if I try activating numlock etc it would'nt work, everything just totally hangs.

And if its a hardware problem how do I find out whats faulty.


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## praka123 (Apr 24, 2008)

seriously dude!  you should stick with zenwalk or some xfce or lesser de/wm's.nothing against,but Gnome or kde will crawl!

do one thing,run a memtest using a ubuntu livecd  also post the o/p of dmesg


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## Renny (Apr 24, 2008)

Dude I'd really love to stick to a distro like Zenwalk  ,

but how can I? Xfce terminates every few minutes, Apps terminate evey few seconds literally  ,

I cant even change the colour depth dude, what can I do? I'm helpless!

I cant run anything, firefox, XMMS, gqview etc. keep closing and terminating,

Is there any good tool to detect bad sectors? And I'll memtest86+ and checkup.


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## QwertyManiac (Apr 24, 2008)

dmesg hardly requires XFCE for you to be whining about..


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## Renny (Apr 24, 2008)

Qwerty why do u keep being rude and sarcastic with me?  

I just mentioned what errors I encounter, 

So I have a reason to whine, and if u faced such probs u would also whine, or maybe ur such a maniac that u would be ecstatic.


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## praka123 (Apr 24, 2008)

@Rahul:seems like a h/w problem to me.sure try *memtest*!

For the time being,forget gnome,kde and heavy DEs.
try fluxbox etcetra.

also,it will be helpful if u paste the dmesg .or attach ur dmesg output(/var/log/dmesg) to *rafb.net/


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## Renny (Apr 24, 2008)

Ya my PC cant handle such heavy stuff,

Will post the output of dmesg and run some HDD and RAM tests.


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## QwertyManiac (Apr 24, 2008)

~Rahul~ said:


> Qwerty why do u keep being rude and sarcastic with me?
> 
> I just mentioned what errors I encounter,
> 
> So I have a reason to whine, and if u faced such probs u would also whine, or maybe ur such a maniac that u would be ecstatic.


If I got problems I don't distro hop, I solve it cause essentially all linux distros are the same and no problem is unique to you and you alone. You just have to look at your dmesg and I even asked for the output of it at the start of the thread though I was also told it was futile to. You just don't respond. Fine, I won't bother you anymore, good luck. 

P.s. And I've had far worse problems than yours. You're just whining cause your X ain't working properly or your processor's throttling or maybe your RAM's trashing, there's much more things that can go worse.


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## Renny (Apr 24, 2008)

Cmon man why all this, we had some misunderstandings, lets put it behind us and move on ,

Let it not be personal, what more can I say,

I agree on one thing, I dont have the patience to solve a prob and stick to one distro, that I'll stop, 

I'll post the output of dmesg tmrw as I'm busy with my studies, and give the results of memtest86+ and check whether my HDD has bad sectors,

Peace!


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## Renny (Apr 28, 2008)

I checked my HDD using HDD Regenerator, no bad sectors were found and my HDD is clean,

I ran memtest86+ and no errors were found in the RAM,

I'm unable to post the o/p of "dmesg | tail" bcos whenever I start the terminal X(or Xfce) crashes, I dont know how to copy the output of "dmesg | tail" from the failsafe terminal and virtual terminal(Ctrl+Alt+F2) .


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## mehulved (Apr 28, 2008)

Paste the file /var/log/dmesg to some pastebin.


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## Renny (Apr 28, 2008)

*www.pastebin.ca/1000119


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## mehulved (Apr 28, 2008)

And, also post /var/log/messages.


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## praka123 (Apr 28, 2008)

seems like initramfs image missing?can you post the /boot/grub/menu.lst here?
or if u use LILO,post /etc/lilo.conf


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## Renny (Apr 28, 2008)

Lilo.conf  ,
*www.pastebin.ca/1000130


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## praka123 (Apr 28, 2008)

I hope you are on Zenwalk? as per lilo.conf.
then,lilo.conf seems OK.

can u post the o/p of "fdisk -l" as root(su) ?I think either memory is low or swap not enabled?post your /etc/fstab also here.


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## Renny (Apr 28, 2008)

I have around

/etc/fstab:- 

*www.pastebin.ca/1000158

And how do I post the o/p of "fdisk -l" as I'm unable to run terminal from X, I dont know how to copy its o/p from a failsafe or virtual terminal . 

Checkout my disk structure:-
*img204.imageshack.us/img204/5540/clipboard01al6.th.png


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## abhinandh (Apr 28, 2008)

~Rahul~ said:


> And how do I post the o/p of "fdisk -l" as I'm unable to run terminal from X, I dont know how to copy its o/p from a failsafe or virtual terminal .




```
fdisk -l /dev/sda >>o/p
```
outputs to a file named "o/p" in the current directory


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## Renny (Apr 28, 2008)

^Thanks,




Output of "fdisk -l" :-
*www.pastebin.ca/1000249


Output of "dmesg" :-
*www.pastebin.ca/1000250


Output of "dmesg | tail" :-
*www.pastebin.ca/1000251


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## praka123 (Apr 28, 2008)

> md: linear personality registered for level -1
> md: raid0 personality registered for level 0
> md: raid1 personality registered for level 1
> md: raid10 personality registered for level 10
> ...


^ I think you DONT have any raid setup!but this shows so! 


> Local APIC disabled by BIOS -- you can enable it with "lapic"


"nolapic" option or local APIC disabled?I dont know what is the influence.



> scsi0 : ata_piix
> scsi1 : ata_piix
> ata1: PATA max UDMA/66 cmd 0x000101f0 ctl 0x000103f6 bmdma 0x0001f000 irq 14
> ata2: PATA max UDMA/66 cmd 0x00010170 ctl 0x00010376 bmdma 0x0001f008 irq 15
> ...


^this message was got when I had disabled pata modes/sata modes in BIOS.
check for any PATA/SATA/SCSI options in your bios.enable all options.
"extended mode" is what it is called.
check by restarting the system after changing BIOS options(if any).

boot with below options and see whether any improvements.
I am not experienced with LILO,but you needs the below lines to be added into the kernel line.

```
acpi=off irqpoll nolapic
```

I hope below way will work 

```
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz 
[B]append = acpi=off irqpoll nolapic[/B]
  root = /dev/sda5
  label = Zenwalk
  initrd = /boot/initrd.splash
  read-only
```
If this works OK,report here.
If that fails,
try booting with below options:-

```
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz 
[B]append = acpi=off irqpoll nolapic[/B] [B]apm=on[/B]
  root = /dev/sda5
  label = Zenwalk
  initrd = /boot/initrd.splash
  read-only
```
I think you need to check your BIOS settings.if u got a webcam or mobile/digicam show a screenshot here.we may be able to show pata/sata enable option and other.

there are many random problems found on dmesg !


> RAMDISK: Couldn't find valid RAM disk image starting at 0.


anyways,generate another initramfs image in /boot dir.ask @rayraven to how to generate initramfs in zenwalk.I hope it uses mkinitramfs?


> *eth0: link down*


???? do as "su"  
	
	



```
ifconfig eth0 up
```
Is this a laptop???


> nf_conntrack version 0.5.0 (4096 buckets, 16384 max)
> iwl3945: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/BG Network Connection driver for Linux, 1.2.23ds
> iwl3945: Copyright(c) 2003-2007 Intel Corporation
> iwl4965: Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN driver for Linux, 1.2.23ds
> ...


Do you run wireless lan????

also,@rahul:I have read in ubuntuforums and all about some HP/Compaq laptops etc facing the same problems.sometimes it may be kernel level.
Just post in *ubuntuforums.org and zenwalk forums,gentoo forums.
these all will help you yield a solution.

Also,IRC is a very good help


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## Renny (Apr 28, 2008)

My config:-

PIII 700MHz, 256 MB SDRAM, Intel 810 Chipset, 15" CRT, AT keyboard, PS/2 Mouse 



I dont have any sort of wireless setup, nor do I have a lappy, I dont know why those lines are there,

And I DONT hace any raid setup, how can one have a RAID setup on a PC like mine ,

Also do any many others face issues like this or is it rare?

I'll try posting my BIOS screen in a day ot two ,

You mean Thinkdigit IRC? 

And random problems in dmesg, dude all this stuff is greek and latin to me, how did you manage to learn so much(plz suggest some good books  ).


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## praka123 (Apr 28, 2008)

^try #slackware @ irc.freenode.net
use *mibbit.com change to freenode and type #slackware and ask there question patiently.someone will answer for sure. 

and try with those bootoptions and reply!


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## Renny (Apr 28, 2008)

K so what I must do is enable that pata thing in BIOS,

And in lilo.conf I must replace the Linux part with the first one you've given?


acpi=off irqpoll nolapic
^Where should I add this line?


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## Renny (Apr 29, 2008)

@praka123,

Will compiling a custom kernel solve ALL these problems?


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## praka123 (Apr 29, 2008)

I have already shown:
add this line to your lilo.conf zenwalk section.

```
[B]append = acpi=off irqpoll nolapic[/B] [B]apm=on
```
[/B]save!try!also check in BIOS!I cannot understand why raid etc are detected on ur system 

compiling custom kernel-leave it for now!it has nothing to do here,I think


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## Renny (Apr 29, 2008)

```
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz 
append = acpi=off irqpoll nolapic
  root = /dev/sda5
  label = Zenwalk
  initrd = /boot/initrd.splash
  read-only
```
 OK, and I must add even these lines to lilo.conf rite?

I'll try all this and the BIOS settings and let you know what the results are.


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## Renny (May 18, 2008)

Sorry for bumping this old thread as I didn't want to start another,

Most of the times when X crashes or hangs I get this line always in the log file(/var/log/Xorg.0.log):-


```
(EE) I810: Failed to load module "dri" (module does not exist, 0)
```


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## praka123 (May 18, 2008)

whichever Linux distro are you trying,install "libgl-DRI"  .It is needed for full 3D support.


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## Renny (May 19, 2008)

I'm using only Zenwalk, how do I install it on this distro?

After I install this will X stop hanging and crashing?


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## ray|raven (May 19, 2008)

It comes with the default zenwalk iso, i dont understand why you are unable to load dri.
Post your xorg.conf here


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## QwertyManiac (May 19, 2008)

Do check if the Load "dri" line exists twice in your xorg.conf.


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## Renny (May 19, 2008)

@ Qwerty, the load "dri" exists only once,

xorg.conf:-

*www.pastebin.ca/1022603


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## ray|raven (May 19, 2008)

Dude, where's this part below?



> Load  "dri"



You dont have dri module loaded.Add it.


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## abhinandh (May 19, 2008)

ya as ray said you dont have dri even once in your xorg.conf.add 

```
Load "dri"
```
 in the "module" section.


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## Renny (May 19, 2008)

```
#Option     "DRI"                       # [<bool>]
```

^ Just out of curiosity, whats this line for?

I'll add the line load "dri" to xorg.conf.


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## QwertyManiac (May 19, 2008)

That line's commented, its just part of the documentation you could say.

*www.pastebin.ca/1022634 with Modules appended to, you can also try uncommenting and setting that one to true later, but I don't think its necessary, looks like a device-exclusive setting to me


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## Renny (May 19, 2008)

^ I didn't understand your post buddy!    ,

Is my xorg.conf OK except for the dri part?

And the link you've given, should I use that as my xorg.conf?


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## ray|raven (May 19, 2008)

Yes. He's fixed ur xorg.conf with needed modules.

Use it in place of urs.


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## Renny (May 19, 2008)

Still no luck, I get:-


```
(EE) I810: Failed to load module "dri" (module does not exist, 0)
```

I searched /usr/X11R6/lib/modules and found a file called "dri" .



PS:-
I copied this line from Xorg.0.log after X hung.


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## QwertyManiac (May 19, 2008)

/usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libdri.so is where mine lies. I don't seem to have a dri file under the location you have mentioned.

Could it be the dri lib is not installed? Check your package manager for the package as praka123 had pointed above. (an *eix -I dri* gives me the package xf86driproto installed, looks like headers only though)


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## Renny (May 25, 2008)

Hi,

Finally solved all problems! Changed some bios options and everything works perfect  !

I'm using the distro I tried first. i.e Slackware,

I've been using it since 3 days with not ONE crash or hanging,


The scroll wheel doesn't work, how to fix it?

Only thing is fonts are totally unrecognizable, how to correct them? 

*img377.imageshack.us/img377/2047/snapshot1bm1.th.png


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## praka123 (May 26, 2008)

^enable anti-aliasing.I dont know how u do in kde.but in Gnome,it is go to system>preferences>appearance!font>details>enable correct dpi for ur monitor(96dpi) and in hinting>slight/medium!congos!


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