All's I did was change out the keyboard and now I  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: Hextejas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 01, 2018, 12:51:56 pm
content: get a black screen !!Linux mint 18.2.I changed from a Compaq keyboard with the round connector to a usb keyboard thinking that I could start using the special keys.Well After rebooting I get the Mint 18.2 splash then a black screen. Rebooted got into the setup so the keyboard works, then while booting, I pressed escape and started to see the startup script but it then went to black screen.My next try is to revert to the old keyboard unless you can come up with a better answer.Nope, old keyboard has same issues.I have 2, 2gb banks if ram, so I did a memchk86 and it was unclear if there were errors. Maybe one stick had an intermittent error with test 10 so I put in a new memory stick anyway and it still hung up.Is it possible ( likely ? ) that the power supply is causing this.I am running off of A San Disk, 255gb SSD..Could it be starting to fail and be the cause ?Gonna check the power supply tomorrow.Any ideas

author: kelchm
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 01, 2018, 02:04:36 pm
content: Try swapping the keyboard back. My money would be on a software issue, though.Can you provide more details on the memchk86 results?

author: Hextejas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 01, 2018, 02:30:38 pm
content: This probably belongs in the repair section.As for the memory test, it seemed like an intermittent failure and, had I thought of it, I could have taken a picture of it with my phone. Since it failed again with the new memory stick, I think that I will run it again.Do you know if it makes any difference as to which of 2 slots, the 1 memory stick goes in to ?I think I remember reading that I should use the slot nearer to the cup.Thanks

author: paulca
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 01, 2018, 02:47:06 pm
content: How is your X display configured?If it's configured to autospawn and specifies a PS/2 mouse explicitly it may be failing with "No Such Device". As it's autospawn it will repeatedly start up, fail, repeat, you get a blank screen.If you don't have X, or it's auto config, this is probably not the issue.It can be resolved by booting the Linux in single user mode to prevent X running. The mouse can be tested in a console by using GPM.

author: Cliff Matthews
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 01, 2018, 04:16:23 pm
content: Grab a spare usb stick, throw it into a Windows machine and head over to the pendrivelinux.com site for a copy of Yumi. This will modify the USB stick to make it multi-boot and has a boot-load of add-on tools in the menu to add as boot options (I think the one you need is Memtest86+).Depending on the machine, Memtest may take 30 minutes to fully bit-shift test and otherwise barrel-roll all ram, so be patient.

author: Hextejas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 01, 2018, 07:23:35 pm
content: I'm running a usb bootable, memtest386 4.3.7. NowAs an aside, when I let it boot from the SSD, besides the Linux option, I get a menu option for a memtest86+, v5.something. I ran it up through test 10 and it tested ok.I prefer the usb bootable memory checker which is running now.

author: Hextejas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 01, 2018, 10:39:42 pm
content: Got it running for about 30 minutes and it froze again. Nothing would move except the mouse. And nothing that I clicked on, did anything. I had to use the power button to shut it off.Sigh. What nows, reinstall linux on the non SSD drive and see how long that lasts.Rapidly running out of ideas

author: Cliff Matthews
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 01, 2018, 11:33:20 pm
content: If your pc passed extensive memory tests, it boots, and runs for while, then the mouse pointer moves but nothing responds, that rules out quite a lot... At this point, barring ssd issues, you may have power supply issues of hrat build up when background tasks start mounting (like updates, etc...). I used to use cpu-burn on Windows sometimes.. Linux has programs like this but forgotten much.. Have you heard of tops? Its like a process monitor in a console window that refreshes every second I think. Something like maybe power management processes could be mucking up stuff too..Sorry, this is the stuff that drove me out of IT years ago, but keep typing what you find.. You'll get it working.

author: stj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 02:04:52 am
content: if your mouse works, plugin or re-plugin the usb keyboard, and it should force a re-init of the keyboard.i have seen deep bus-scans hang some usb stuff - not the fault of Linux btw.pretty common with cheap unbranded mice

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 02:13:02 am
content: Do the keyboard and mouse have enough USB power? Is the mouse plugged into the keyboard, or into the CPU?Also, check your logs. usually in /var/log You may have to be root to read some of them.I personally prefer "htop" to plain top.Quote from: Hextejas on February 01, 2018, 12:51:56 pm

author: Hextejas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 04:05:40 am
content: The mouse and keyboard are each plugged into their own port, not USB. Round plug.I had a sensor running and it showed that core 1 got up to 66c max, but at the time that it froze, it was only 38c.The fan is still running and the cover is off so it is getting a lot of air.This was before the latest freeze.I am trying a different flavor of linux, one with a very small footprint. A variant of Puppy linux.I'll try top or htop tomorrow.And did I saw thanks again ?Well, thanks again.

author: paulca
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 08:16:24 am
content: Mouse still moving and nothing actionable sounds like a software crash, most likely in X11 somewhere. Events have halted or something.What about memory? When out of memory and using swap things can run really slow and lock up for seconds at a time./var/log will help as will dmesg. /var/log/syslog, /var/log/messages and have a general poke around the others.You could likely find kernel stack trace in /var/log/messages or /var/log/kern.log (depending on setup).

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 02:08:46 pm
content: Does Xorg.0.log say anything?Check your mouse polling interval?

author: Naguissa
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 04:45:52 pm
content: Try boot up a livecd or live usb. If it boots and gui works, youl linux on ssd is corrupted.Enviado desde mi Jolla mediante Tapatalk

author: paulca
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 05:37:50 pm
content: Quote from: Naguissa on February 02, 2018, 04:45:52 pm^^ This. It's a great way to rule out the hardware.

author: Hextejas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 05:38:49 pm
content: I thought that I had it but the beast just hung up again.The original power supply tested ok, but the 12v was reading 11.1 so I replaced it.I also replaced the suspicious memory stick with the new one.It ran for about an hour before freezing.Curious, I dropped the mouse onto the keyboard and it froze.During the hour of running, i was running htop and i stressed it so as to cause a heatup. I could hear the fan kick into high gear as the temp got to 70c.I am going to take a look at the aforementioned logs.

author: Hextejas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 05:43:53 pm
content: Quote from: paulca on February 02, 2018, 05:37:50 pmAnd so I thought, but I have reinstalled linux 3 times.Linux Mint, and Puppy.I am leaning toward an intermittent hardware problem but I don't know what device it could be. CPU maybe.

author: paulca
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 05:59:33 pm
content: What CPU?Older CPUs used to all be happy 85*C, I have seen a video of an AthlonXP glowing orange hot before it finally stopped processing. Some newer CPUs don't like over 65*C. My octo-core will overheat and randomly lock up when it needs it's heatsink and fan needs cleaned out of dust again. Although I'm talking about once in a blue moon under 100% load it will randomly lock up.If the system overclocked or overvolted?

author: Cliff Matthews
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 06:22:00 pm
content: It is not HTOP that is stressing the CPU, but it could be a newly installed distro's propensity to update from assigned repositories (again, heat related unpacking files). Did I miss where you stated what mobo this was? or machine model? Many generic mobo BIOS will allow some control over thermal management (eg CPU temp/fan control or clock throttling) so you could clear the CMOS ram, install a fresh coin-cell, check for dried heat paste on the cpu and only then resume the OS testing. Even name brand PC's will have some ID's on the mobo that allow you to identify them (eg: HP has used Foxcon and MSI if memory serves..)

author: Hextejas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 06:28:41 pm
content: CPU is Pentium dual core E5400 @2.7GHz.No over clocking or voltage.Its an eemachine from a few years ago.Re \var\log.at the 1st freeze I looked at it and the last entry showed this 17:29:22, nothing unusual.BUT after freeze 2 the entries gofrom 16:03:39 to 18:02:19.I thought this file was an "append" style, so where did the prior entries go ?Other curiosity, that after freeze 1, the fan was still running.also, after it freezes, a normal pushing of the power button does nothing, I have to hold it for about 5 secs.And this is from the message file after freeze 2======================Feb 2 16:03:39 CorkyPC user.err kernel: nouveau 0000:00:10.0: bus: MMIO write of 00000000 FAULT at 00b020Feb 2 16:03:39 CorkyPC user.err kernel: nouveau 0000:00:10.0: bus: MMIO write of 00000000 FAULT at 00b010Feb 2 18:02:19 CorkyPC syslog.info syslogd started: BusyBox v1.23.1=====================Dont know if it is significant

author: Hextejas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 06:31:03 pm
content: And this is right now.Dont know if it is significent but it scares me when I see a fault.================Feb 2 18:12:18 CorkyPC user.err kernel: nouveau 0000:00:10.0: bus: MMIO write of 02240001 FAULT at 00b010Feb 2 18:12:18 CorkyPC user.err kernel: nouveau 0000:00:10.0: bus: MMIO write of 02240001 FAULT at 00b010Feb 2 18:12:18 CorkyPC user.err kernel: nouveau 0000:00:10.0: bus: MMIO write of 02260001 FAULT at 00b020Feb 2 18:12:23 CorkyPC user.err kernel: nouveau 0000:00:10.0: bus: MMIO write of 02ea0001 FAULT at 00b030Feb 2 18:12:36 CorkyPC user.err kernel: nouveau 0000:00:10.0: bus: MMIO write of 00000000 FAULT at 00b030Feb 2 12:26:15 CorkyPC user.err kernel: nouveau 0000:00:10.0: bus: MMIO write of 03090001 FAULT at 00b030Feb 2 12:26:17 CorkyPC user.err kernel: nouveau 0000:00:10.0: bus: MMIO write of 00000000 FAULT at 00b030

author: paulca
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 06:33:38 pm
content: Google the fault.

author: Hextejas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 06:51:05 pm
content: Did google it and the booger froze as I was reading it.I can type a bit but it is getting irritating.Dated 2016-01-16System Arch Linux with Linux 4.8.4 and xf86-video-nouveau 1.0.13Kernel crashes after spamming MMIO write fault errors.,,,,,,and more,,,,,,I can't understand why this is popping up now. Seems like an old error that should have been fixed a long time ago.

author: Naguissa
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 07:04:10 pm
content: Seems graphic card trouble. May or may not be fatal error. Google it...Enviado desde mi Jolla mediante Tapatalk

author: Cliff Matthews
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 07:19:43 pm
content: Does this mobo have video on board? If so, put in a cheap graphics card, if you are using a card already, flip over to mobo video instead. Also, use small live-linux running from your yumi-usb instead of from the ssd you already had doubts about.

author: Hextejas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 07:56:00 pm
content: Yes it has an onboard video and I think I need to figure out how to do nomodeset=0 permanently.Is that an x.org command ?I had another freeze doing the same thing that I was doing last time.Trying to drag a window to make it smaller.Unfortunately I don't have any cheap video cards laying around.

author: Cliff Matthews
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 08:06:43 pm
content: Try that window drag with just one ram module installed. This is called Bit-blit moving and it can really show-up timing issues between the the two modules. If you are stuck with only those two, swap them and the mobo bios may use only the parameters from the first one (I know it's a stab, but you've gotten this far..) :-) Keep smiling!Also, if you can slow down the ram clock try that too.

author: Hextejas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 08:13:02 pm
content: There is just 1 ram stick in there, and it's the new one. I wish I could stick it in deeper. 😠Moving on,,, I just booted from the Linux cinnamon 18.2 cd and was in the process of installing google chrome, and bingo.Back to linux puppy at least it loads fast and I think that it can run from the usb.

author: Cliff Matthews
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 08:18:04 pm
content: Yes it can boot live distros. See here:https://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/#Supported-Distros

author: Naguissa
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 08:18:39 pm
content: Quote from: Hextejas on February 02, 2018, 07:56:00 pmIt's a kernel boot parameterlook for: /etc/grub/<look here>Must be a file with boot parameters.Google about reconfiguring GRUB in your distro...Enviado desde mi Jolla mediante Tapatalk

author: Hextejas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 08:46:55 pm
content: Quote from: cdev on February 02, 2018, 02:08:46 pmIt says a lot but I copied the bits just before and after rebooting.Code:[ 18.434] (II) Module exa: vendor="X.Org Foundation"[ 18.434]compiled for 1.18.4, module version = 2.6.0[ 18.434]ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 20.0[ 18.434] (II) EXA(0): Driver allocated offscreen pixmaps[ 18.434] (II) EXA(0): Driver registered support for the following operations:[ 18.434] (II) Solid[ 18.434] (II) Copy[ 18.434] (II) Composite (RENDER acceleration)[ 18.434] (II) UploadToScreen[ 18.434] (II) DownloadFromScreen[ 18.434] (==) NOUVEAU(0): Backing store enabled[ 18.434] (==) NOUVEAU(0): Silken mouse enabled[ 18.434] (II) NOUVEAU(0):  Associated with NV40 texture adapter.[ 18.434] (II) NOUVEAU(0):  Extension initialized.[ 18.434] (==) NOUVEAU(0): DPMS enabled[ 18.434] (II) NOUVEAU(0): RandR 1.2 enabled, ignore the following RandR disabled message.[ 18.434] (--) RandR disabled[ 18.438] (II) SELinux: Disabled on system[ 19.936] (II) AIGLX: enabled GLX_MESA_copy_sub_buffer[ 19.936] (II) AIGLX: enabled GLX_ARB_create_context[ 19.936] (II) AIGLX: enabled GLX_ARB_create_context_profile[ 19.936] (II) AIGLX: enabled GLX_EXT_create_context_es{,2}_profile[ 19.936] (II) AIGLX: enabled GLX_INTEL_swap_event[ 19.936] (II) AIGLX: enabled GLX_SGI_swap_control and GLX_MESA_swap_control[ 19.936] (II) AIGLX: enabled GLX_EXT_framebuffer_sRGB[ 19.936] (II) AIGLX: enabled GLX_ARB_fbconfig_float[ 19.936] (II) AIGLX: enabled GLX_EXT_fbconfig_packed_float[ 19.936] (II) AIGLX: GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap backed by buffer objects[ 19.936] (II) AIGLX: Loaded and initialized nouveau[ 19.936] (II) GLX: Initialized DRI2 GL provider for screen 0[ 19.961] (II) NOUVEAU(0): NVEnterVT is called.[ 19.961] (II) NOUVEAU(0): Setting screen physical size to 508 x 317

author: Hextejas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 08:49:51 pm
content: Thank you Naguissa, I need a break, a shower, and a scotch, in no particular order.

author: Hextejas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 10:39:00 pm
content: Re the onboard video card and it's memory, does memcheck36 check it, along with the main memory ?

author: stj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 11:28:48 pm
content: Quote from: Hextejas on February 02, 2018, 10:39:00 pmno, memcheck86 and memcheck86+ only test system ram.i dont actually know of a program that will do bit-walking etc on the video-ram.you would think there would be lots - but i'm not aware of any.maybe it cant be done without going through the gpu??

author: Naguissa
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 11:30:57 pm
content: Quote from: stj on February 02, 2018, 11:28:48 pmUsing nouveau may be an old nvidia. Usually these cards use shared RAM.Enviado desde mi Jolla mediante Tapatalk

author: Cliff Matthews
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 02, 2018, 11:44:12 pm
content: Since memtest86+ runs in text-mode, don't worry about the little it could miss. If anything that 2/8k segment will sit below 1meg and I doubt any 32/64 bit OS makes constant use of it. We still don't have an ID on the Mobo do we? Is the northbride a 945 chipset, etc.. worthwhile knowing also if a quicky bios update could be done...

author: Hextejas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2018, 04:15:36 pm
content: Its an EE Machines MCP 73VT-PM with onboard NvideoI let it run overnight with 2 instances of a GPU test running. It ran for 12 hours before freezing.Stoopid me had the sensors running behind the video displays so I could not read much of them.I saw the heat at 41c and the top 2 processes at, hmmm, 3% maybe.I think that I might try and see if I can find an older video card

author: Cliff Matthews
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 03, 2018, 06:01:31 pm
content: Does it look similar to this?If so, there's a badcaps related thread you may want to browse (Re: check_exception's and fake Sanyo SE cap's..)https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=32388

author: Naguissa
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2018, 08:29:21 pm
content: Clean all fans and grills and substitute all thermal paste, including GPU. Then try again.Enviado desde mi Jolla mediante Tapatalk

author: Hextejas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2018, 08:35:58 pm
content: Quote from: Cliff Matthews on February 03, 2018, 06:01:31 pmThat's it and I just came back from the computer store with a new video card. The techie there suggested running the mem test over night so that is what's running now. I took a look at the bios and the ability to disable the video is grayed out.Don't know if me inserting the new card will work.Thanks for the link on the caps.

author: Cliff Matthews
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 03, 2018, 09:13:54 pm
content: The bios enumerates rom signatures of new equipment on boot (you'll see that option available) and if drivers exist, you could use a 2nd display.

author: Naguissa
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 04, 2018, 12:54:20 am
content: Oh, I was thinking abot a laptop because integrated graphics...Enviado desde mi Jolla mediante Tapatalk

author: Hextejas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 04, 2018, 05:14:50 pm
content: Well, I am holding my breath. It's been running for about 1.5 hours now.This is what I have done.I let the mem check run overnight and there were no errors.I put in a new video card, GeForce 210, 1024mb ddr3, and so far, so good. One curious thing about it was that it didn't let me use the HDMI connection. It complained that the VGA connection was not connected. I reconnected via VGA and it took off.If this does not solve it, I am gonna replace the mobo.Thanks for all the Sterling help.

author: stj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 05, 2018, 08:33:12 am
content: if you still get problems, check the caps in your psu.

author: Hextejas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 05, 2018, 11:18:47 pm
content: Still running and I put the covers back on.Gonna call this a win thanks to y'all (<----- Texas Talk)have fun.

author: bson
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 07, 2018, 09:52:15 pm
content: Graphics card - nouveau is the nvidia driver. Try removing the graphics card, cleaning the connectors with alcohol or vinegar (using something lint free, dampened not soaking wet), and reseating it. The easiest way to lower the price point of a PC is to skimp on the mechanical assembly, and low end PCs competing purely on price will have very flimsy cases. When you swapped cables it's plausible it flexed and you unseated the graphics card...