[Techtalk] machine hanging

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

Hi there,

> > I would rather check Memory chips instead, there is no reason that
> > an intense operation (scp is not that intense) or even heavy file
> > manipulation (logrotate) would crash your machine.
> > Instead, all the operations may use up more RAM, and failing to
> > allocate memory for some kernel resources (like usb hotplug) may
> > crash your system ...
> 
> The memory is PC2700 CL2.5 512 M sticks. I feel silly because I don't
> really have more info then that and I don't know what the CP and CL
> acronyms mean. :)

Don't bother, retain mainly the 'PC2700' and the '512Mb' part, the rest
is less important, unless you're into tuning your motherboard's internal
clocking ...
 
> I have some 256M DDR 266 MHz CL2 ECC sticks (so 512 total) PC
> 2100U-20221-Z.  I've just swapped them in and tried to scp something
> off the machine (a scenario, as earlier mentioned, that will hang the
> machine).  It still hangs.  

I wonder how you managed to get the memory module working, if it really
is 'ECC' (stands for Error Checking/Correcting Code), it usually needs
additional motherboard capabilities. Well ...

> Trouble is, I don't know if I've swapped in appropriate memory for
> this machine.  Also don't know if I can just put in one stick (I'm
> used to Supermicro motherboards where you generally need 2 sticks at
> a time -- standard?). 

This 'may' be an issue, however, as long as you have just one lonely
memory module, you should be ok. Actually, having two identical modules
on a memory bank (grouping of memory modules, from the hardware's
view), gets you enhanced performance (DDR : Double Data Rate).

As long as the motherboard didn't squeak, you may assume it found out
how to talk to the memory.

> The motherboard is an ASUS PC-DL 1.05
>  http://www.ctechnet.com/hardware/Asus/PC-DL/asus_pcdl.htm
> 
> I've gotten some info from the above site about the memory - so I
> *think* I'm okay, but... 
> 
> I'm going to see if I can get a knoppix live cd to work -- but in the
> mean time, any thoughts on memory? (I'll report back about knoppix
> soon)