[mythtv-users] Kernel Panics

[Brian Wood]

On Sunday 19 April 2009 07:57:34 Johnny wrote:
> >> So suggestions would be really welcome!  Thanks!
> >
> > In these cases I always run memtest86. Try that first for a few hours.
>
> I 2nd giving memtest86+ a try. I don't know what all the kernel
> messages mean but you got errors about memory pages and invalid
> opcodes, which certainly could happen with corrupt memory. If your
> memory checks out you may want to check the smart report on your boot
> drive and run badblock (non destructively) on it.

I agree, though memtest and badblock can show errors if the problem is 
actually with the PSU.

Sounds like you are a victim of the "lightbulb effect". Hardware tends to fail 
on powerup. How often have you had a lightbulb fail just as you turn it on, 
as opposed to just sitting there burning away and suddenly failing? The 
latter does happen, but nowhere near as often as at turnon.

In my experience PSU failures are the most common cause of "odd" problems that 
seem to defy analysis. The power supply testers sold for $20 or less are 
pretty much useless, because they do not load the supply, measure precise 
voltage or show poorly filtered inverter hash. They will show up a really 
defective supply that's missing one or more voltages, but an "OK" from one of 
these "testers" does not mean the unit is working fine.

It doesn't help that the PSU is the first place manufacturers seem to scrimp, 
and many supplies are marketed based solely on the aggregate total wattage, 
which is often rated extremely optimistically, if not downright fraudulently.

People don't like spending $100 or more for a PSU, but most would be far 
better off if they did.

-- 
beww
beww at beww.org