>
> gosh, i can't figure out how to get my systems to crash either. none
> of them, and i run 5 networked machines, 3 of which are on the internet
> full-time: all using modules and all using kerneld. i've had no
> problems- you'd have heard about them if i was.
>
With 1.3.97 my machine freezed completely once. I suspected a very
strange bug, but I couldn't reproduce. Later I ran Windoze and the
machine freezed again. "Not unusual" I thought and pressed the tiny
red button. The screen cleared, but nothing more happened. I pressed
the button again, and nothing more happened. I began to worry and got
the screwdriver. At that point I suspected the CPU fan.
Opening the case showed that the fan was OK. The processor
temperature also seemed ok (my fingers could stand it). Interestingly
the machine booted again 8-). So I started Windoze again to see what
happens. Accidentially I touched the voltage regulator, and my
fingers immediately drew back; it was really hot.
I have a Pentium 100/SSS with 256kB PBurst Cache all in the Asus
board that has the Triton chipset and the name I can't remember.
Returning to DOS showed that the voltage regulator cools down
instantly. Despite of the fact that this might be a design flaw in
the board, it seems that recent Linux kernels heat up the processor's
voltage regulator more that before.
My excuses that this has not much to do with kernel programming, but
maybe it helps some people that have strange Linux crashes. For me it
was very interesting that the CPU was not the hottest part in my
computer. Maybe I need a second fan for the voltage regulator?
Ulrich