Ubuntu Locks Up

[fleamourian]

Xubuntu seems to run fine on my IBM T21 for the most part. However there have been two crashes so far where it'll lock up with both the num lock & caps lock lights flashing in quick succession.

Anyone else experienced this?

[linko]

Hmm, kernel panic maybe. I don't know the answer, but if it were my machine, i'd start checking for hard drive problems. If there are none, maybe a re-install.

[fleamourian]

Yes it is kernel panic, having to run old kernel as most recent unstable & also hibernation or sleep mode is a no no. As this will lead to more kernel panic. Running Hardy LTS. Jaunty is slower to start up & reliably reproduces kernel panic when entering hibernate & when resuming from sleep.

The disk has started to develop bad sectors but is under Seagate's 5yr guarantee. Only had it since 12/2007 but don't really suspect it as designed to handle some bad sectors (so they told me.) What is the Linux equivalent of CHKDSK?

[ThinkRob]

What is the Linux equivalent of CHKDSK?

fsck, but don't run it on a mounted file system (unless you have a crippling fear of your data... )

[vt102]

Hmm, kernel panic maybe. I don't know the answer, but if it were my machine, i'd start checking for hard drive problems. If there are none, maybe a re-install.

You're right, he's probably kernel panic'ing in X so it freezes during the kernel panic, what he'll want to try is to see if he can get a kdump, (kernel dump) to output to a file local of the disk. There are many ways to do this, all in the click of a google search.