Starting with kernel 2.6.25.6-55.fc9.i686 I started to see problems where the machine would boot, login was possible but any activity (eg. starting a web browser) would cause the system to become completely unresponsive. There was a gradual degradation with the system monitor showing the load average creeping up, eventually the mouse pointer would stop moving and the caps lock light would not respond to caps lock. Power off was the only way out. At first I suspected the hard disk because it is old and over spec for load cycles. However the system is stable under Windows for several hours of web surfing, software updates etc. The system also works fine booting from USB with Fedora 9 live image and mounting the hard disk manually. I hope this rules out hardware failure of the hard disk. I managed to pick up a newer kernel, and using dmesg in a text console got the following (transcription from photo): ata1: device not ready (errno=-16), forcing hardreset ata1: soft resetting link ata1.00: configured for UDMA/100 ata1: EH complete [drm] Num pipes: 1 ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x2 frozen ata1.00: cmd c8/00:80:de:b7:04/80:00:00:00:00/e6 tag 0 dma 65536 in res 48/00:00:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout) ata1.00: status {DRDY} ata1: port is slow to respond, please be patient (Status 0xd0) NB some of the hex values above may be inaccurate! Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): First seen problems: 2.6.25.6-55.fc9.i686 Error messages from later kernel: 2.6.25.9-76.fc9.i686 Problems also exist in a recent rawhide kernel (sorry don't have the screen shot to hand with the exact version) How reproducible: 100% Steps to Reproduce: 1. Dell Inspiron 6000 with Fedora 9 previously working 2. Upgrade to affected kernel with yum, reboot 3. problem reproduced after login with medium load (eg. start web browser) Actual results: Load average climbs, system becomes unresponsive as disk access stops Expected results: Continued reliable disk access Additional info: Laptop has optional Radeon x300 graphics (using default Fedora driver) Disk is probably Samsung Spinpoint M MP0804H
I have since investigated further and had problems when running the kernel from the live CD. I now suspect the disk is faulty and have ordered a replacement. If windows works it may be because the partition with Windows on it has hardly been used.
closed/notabug the problem was resolved by replacing the hard disk. Although the disk made occasional unusual noises (clicks and screeches) it didn't show SMART errors, and still works in a USB enclosure. Cheers!