hardware problems?

[Shon Martin]

Dear Marrq:
	Hi. I work at a college, and had to support Linux/Win 95 machines
for a while. My advice for hardware problems is to do whatever your
hardware vender recommends. I'm not sure about Gateway, but Dell hands out
a floppy disk with diags on it. 
	You can't fault a company for being suspicious of software
problems. The diags tend to be dos floppy disks with tests on them. If
that fails, then you don't have to even bring up Linux to the vender.
Hope it helps.
-Shon

On Sun, 23 May 1999, Marrq wrote:

> Date: Sun, 23 May 1999 01:12:38 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Marrq <marrq@ack.caltech.edu>
> To: linux-vortex-bug@cesdis1.gsfc.nasa.gov
> Subject: hardware problems?
> 
> Hiyas,
> 	I think that I have a hardware problem, but have no clue as to how
> to possibly track it down.  I have a 3c900 revB ethernet card, and this is
> causing my machine (dual PII 266mhz, 64M, Super Micro P6DLE motherboard) 
> to opps like crazy.  I have the oppses and the output after running it
> thru ksymopps at http://ack.caltech.edu/~marrrq/opps/ .  The output from
> vortex-diag is at http://ack.caltech.edu/~marrrq/opps/vor/ .  The oppses
> seem to be in fairly different places to me.  I suspect the motherboard
> (this is the third one I got (the other two were beyond dead on
> delivery)), however I would like to know the best route to track this
> down.  Note, that the ethernet card works perfectly in my pentium system
> (generic system bought from gateway in late 1995), and if I move the
> kernel the pentium was running (no modules capability) to the PII system,
> it will opps.  My typical test case which I use to get my machine to opps
> is to have to processes, one ncftp putting a copy of /proc/kcore to my
> pentium (on the same hub), one getting a copy of kcore.  The opps will
> occur with only one process transfering, however having multiple processes
> running triggers it quicker (usually before both have moved 5Mb). 
> Question, if everything was working correctly should I have busmastering
> disabled or enabled in the bios?  I've tried it in both configurations and
> get the oppses either ways.  I am sending this to this list because the
> card triggers it, and you might be familiar with the code areas.  If I
> should send this to someone else/some other list, please let me know.  It
> should be noted that my system is rock solid if I don't use the 3com card
> and instead use a generic ISA NE2000 card (however not using the 3com card
> isn't an option (well, it is, but the point being that I want to get
> working hardware, rather than buying something new, and finding out that
> it is the motherboard that's bad, and having passed warranty deadlines)). 
> If more info is needed, please ask.  Many thanks in advance... 
> 
> 	-marrq
> 
>