Probable Hardware Failure

[Doug Hardie]

On 14 January 2012, at 18:11, _ wrote:

> Memory is a rather broad term. If by memory you mean RAM, you could replace your current RAM with another chip, supposing you have one around.
> 
> An interesting read on "Double Fault" is: 
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_fault
> 
> According to it, that would rather point to a software than a hardware related problem.
> 
> 
> On Sun, Jan 15, 2012 at 1:12 AM, Doug Hardie <bc979 at lafn.org> wrote:
> I have a pretty old desktop that has been around quite awhile.  It has started periodic crashes.  No log messages.  However, the core status files all show "double fault".  I am confident this is a hardware issue, but is there any easy way to determine if its power or memory related?  Those are the primary candidates although memory is also possible.  We really need to replace the entire unit, but that might be a bit more salable if I can present convincing evidence of the cause of the problem.

I doubt if its a direct software fault.  The system is running 7.2 and has been running that for several years without any problems.  Nothing has been changed on it.  However, a memory fault could easily end up in the kernel thus making it look like a software problem.