[ILUG] A frustrating system (hardware?) failure: any tips on how to resolve

[Michael Conry]

Thanks Michael,
On Sun, Sep 5, 2010 at 1:49 PM, Michael Kennedy <Info at kennedysoftware.ie> wrote:
> I'd guess hardware, and, in my experience, first item is RAM...
>
> Could you try a boot from a "Live-CD", with NOTHING installed to the HDD,
> and with minimal HDD access. Let it run for a few hours. That should isolate
> the OS. And, if it blows up, that would reinforce the hardware theory...
I'll try that later on today
>
> On the RAM, are you using the RAM that came with the MB initially (and,
> presumably, is SURELY the correct type!), or did you upgrade/replace it. If
> in ANY doubt, could you check on what the MB can handle, and the specs of
> the sticks, and ensure they match. If still in any doubt, have you access to
> sticks which DEFINITELY match the MB?
Homebuilt machine, so no RAM that went with Motherboard.

Motherboard is a Gigabyte gam61p-s3. I looked up a memory support list
here: http://download.gigabyte.ru/memory/motherboard_memory_ga-m61p-s3.pdf

The memory modules I have are 2 sets of matching DDR2 667 RAM.  Both
Kingston Value
KVR667D2N5K2/2G (bought at different times, first one set, few months
later second set).  This isn't on the memory list, but KVR667D2N5/512
and KVR667D2N5/1G are.  Also, my memory sets have chips from Elpida
(one set) and Kingston, and chips from these series are listed on the
compatibility list.  So I'm reasonably confident I'm using compatible
memory, but not 100% guaranteed.

Notwithstanding this, the system ran for over 4 years without such
crashes, so it seems to me something changed (fault, software, ???)

Michael