On Thu, 2005-02-10 at 14:54 -0800, John A. Goebel wrote:

> You can always look in the IPMI sensor data and the SEL via the SP or in the
> platform operating system (try FreeIPMI to get hardware level logging). No
> kernel module needed.
> 
> Also, if this system isn't in production and you have a little time, you get
> get the Knoppix CD and boot into memtest86. It will report most problems with
> RAM.

Knoppix is your friend - I always carry a Knoppix CD for reviving ailing
systems.

Another good distribution to have is Stresslinux
http://www.stresslinux.org
memtest, hardware probing, lm_sensors (for listed motherboards),
cpuburn, bonnie++
And you can put it on a bootable USB stick.