amilo-forum.de

[Bluweasel]

Hallo Amilo people!

My Amilo Pro V2030 (bought 2006) is still working well every day. Except for one very annoying problem.

The problem: The machine regularly freezes (hangs) completely. A complete system lock-up, requiring a hard reboot.

When: It can happen when any program is running. It is normally during a processor-intensive task (a Flash video for example), but sometimes not.

To reproduce: Can't reproduce it. It's quite random. But it started when I upgraded the Linux distribution, including a newer kernel. It's not because of overheating: I've dusted and re-oiled the fan.

Could this be a BIOS problem? Perhaps I should try flashing the BIOS to a newer version? I've never done that before, is there a step-by-step guide?

Sorry to write in English, mein Deutsch ist nicht so gut.

All help really appreciated!

B

[siphon]

My first guess would be defective Ram. Try leaving out one module at a time, and then observe whether the freezes disappear, or not. You could also run memtest, but it is known for not detecting defective Ram consistently.
Also check the fitness of your hard disk with hdtune to rule out signs of failure.

[Bluweasel]

Thank you very much siphon. I will try each of these tips and report back in a few days.

Thanks again.

[Bluweasel]

So...

• took out RAM module 2: problem still present
• took out RAM module 1: problem still present
• ran full memtest (again) from Ubuntu boot CD: no defects detected
• ran the basic hard drive test (fsck?) from Ubuntu boot CD: no defects detected
• ran "e2fsck -c -f" (full test with search for bad blocks) from boot CD: system freeze 2 minutes into the test!

So: RAM seems okay, no defects detected on basic HDD test but the full test can't even finish because it provokes a system freeze. One thing to add. When the freeze happens, the hard drive light is always lit.

Should I risk buying a new HDD or is there something else I should try first? (Remembering that the problem only started when I upgraded the OS.)

Thanks again for advice.

[tomate]

Hey, you should first check the temperatures of your system with HWMonitor ( http://download.chip.eu/de/HWMonitor_2078050.html ). Perhaps the cooling isn´t working caused by dust.

[siphon]

Well, a bad HDD obviously explains the freezing issue. My guess is that simply replacing it does the trick.

[Bluweasel]

Thanks tomate and siphon.

Firstly: I installed a temperature monitor tool (not HWMonitor because I'm not on Windows). What it shows:

• processor temp starts at 38C (when machine turned on) and goes no higher than 54C (average is less)
• HDD temp starts at 25C and goes up to 38C

These figures look correct. The fan area is not hot to the touch. The inside is fully dusted and the fan is well-oiled.

Secondly: I installed Smartmontools and ran the full test (28 minutes) on the HDD, which is SMART-compatible. It found nothing: no defects, no bad blocks. Disk perfect.

I'm really reluctant to spend lots of money replacing the "perfect" HDD if I'm just going to get the same problem. Would you recommend anything else I might try first? Anything? I shouldn't try flashing the BIOS perhaps? Would you know how that is done?

Thanks again, I appreciate you guys taking the time to help.

[Bluweasel]

Bump. Does anyone know how to flash the BIOS on this machine?

[siphon]

http://support.ts.fujitsu.com
Navigate to your model and download the flash-iso for the bios and burn it to CD.
Then set CD to 1st boot device in the Bios, and perform the flash.