Temperature could indeed be the case. The last time it happened was during heavy load. The fans are spinning, that I checked already. I will add temperature monitoring as well to the logs. Dirt could be, but this machine is not even a year old. I'll check the CPU cooler assembly.

Thanks, Theo Dave K wrote:

This bounced when sent to the list, so I'm copying you directly.

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Dave K davek08054@gmail.com Date: Jan 18, 2007 1:37 PM Subject: Re: [CentOS] Machine all of a suddens freezes. Any suggestions? To: CentOS mailing list centos@centos.org

On 1/18/07, Theo Band theo.band@xanadu-wireless.com wrote:

...

... It freezes and cannot be accessed from the network.... ... My feeling is, this must be a hardware related problem. I inspected the logs under /var/log, but nothing. ... What would be the best approach to debug this problem? What can be the most likely cause?

The first thing I would suspect is some sort of cooling problem. Verify that all of your fans are actually spinning. If the BIOS has the option to always run the fans at full speed, try it for a while (if you can stand the noise). Use a flashlight and check that the airspace between the fins of any heatsinks aren't clogged with dust. If there is room (and power) for additional fans, try adding one.

The last system I had with "random" freezes runs fine now after a replacement CPU fan, an additional case fan, and suitable application of half a can of air-duster.

-- Dave K Unix Systems & Network Administrator Mount Laurel NJ