I forgot to mention that the problem has nothing to do with the kernel being tainted (due to VMware server). I installed VMware server after being faced with the crashes, to give the Java user a "sandbox" which s/he could crash without taking down the real server. Only then I discovered that VMware server has a memory limitation to 3600MB (I guess because it's not a 64bit application). I see exactly the same crash with a non-tainted kernel. Kay -- Kay Diederichs http://strucbio.biologie.uni-konstanz.de email: Kay.Diederichs at uni-konstanz.de Tel +49 7531 88 4049 Fax 3183 Fachbereich Biologie, Universität Konstanz, Box M647, D-78457 Konstanz