Hi Michael,

> Greetings.  One of the profs here has got a Dell Optiplex 620 
> running SL
> 4.4.  It has an Intel Pentium D chip that is dual-core-capable, and 
> it has the capability enabled.
> 
> >From time to time the owner has had problems with the system hanging.
> He usually solves the problem with some stupid computer trick, such 
> as cycling the power, etc.  But yesterday he had one of the usual 
> hangs, except that it was one from which he could not recover.
> 
> The problem is very similar to one that was reported on the SL-users
> list not too long ago.  In more detail, the system either has a 
> kernel panic during the boot sequence, or it boots all the way and 
> allows a login, but almost immediately has a "hard freeze" that 
> requires a power cycle to thaw.
> 
> We've run the Dell diagnostic utilities to test processor, memory, 
> and video, but we didn't find any problems.
> 
> The system is running the latest kernel,  but it will not boot reliably
> with any of the four SMP kernels currently installed on it.
> 
> We've tried all of the voodoo that I saw mentioned in the previous
> discussion (run-level 3, no "rhgb quiet" on the command line), but 
> the only thing that seems to work reliably is to boot with the uni-processor
> kernel.
> 
> This is probably an acceptable work-around for the time being, and my
> hope is that when we do a fresh install with SL 5, we'll all be happy
> again.  But I wonder if any of y'all can provide any further insight
> into this.
> 
> Thanks.

You may have also found references on the list archives to:

noapic
apm=off

and other such options to be added to the command line of smp kernels. Try these.

Michael.

> 					- Mike
> --
> Michael Hannon            mailto:[log in to unmask]
> Dept. of Physics          530.752.4966
> University of California  530.752.4717 FAX
> Davis, CA 95616-8677
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