Testing Hardware with Linux

[JockVSJock]

I've gotten a machine passed down to me, because it doesn't work.

What doesn't work is either the cpu, mb, or hard drive.

Is there anything with Linux where I can benchmark these hardware pieces and see what works and what doesn't work.

thanks

[knute]

So what are the symptoms of this "not working" anyway?

Cause depending upon what is going on, there could be other issues that you hadn't considered yet either.

So, please, enlighten us? :)

[JockVSJock]

I'm really not sure what the problem is hardware-wise is.

This was my parents machine. It was running W2K, and they really don't have the troubleshooting skills to know what is wrong with what.

All I want to do is blow away W2K and install Linux on it and go with it.

So I want to be able to figure out what is wrong hardware wise before I get too far into it.

thanks

[hard candy]

1. Will it boot up?
2. How far will it boot up? At what step of booting up will it stop?
3. If it does bootup, will it load windows 2000? Will it boot up into safe mode?
4. If it does boot up into safe mode, what does system info under accessories tell you? Any conflicts?

[JockVSJock]

Yes it will boot up, and even in safe mode under Winjunk.

What would happen is that it would boot up to the desktop, work for a little bit, and then freeze up, apps would crash.

I had the memory tested, and one stick was bad and the other wasn't any good, so I nexted it.

I wan to test the HD, cpu, and motherboard to see if there are any other problems with these.

thanks

[AnonyPuss]

Originally posted by JockVSJock
I've gotten a machine passed down to me, because it doesn't work.

What doesn't work is either the cpu, mb, or hard drive.

Is there anything with Linux where I can benchmark these hardware pieces and see what works and what doesn't work.

thanks

You could do a search for "Ultimate Boot CD". Just download it, burn it and boot from it. It has HDD tests, memory tests, ect. Can't remember if it has any test for a CPU, but atleast you could narrow it down.

[hard candy]

A live cd (Mepis, Knoppix, Mandrake) booted up and played with for a while will tell you if the memory, cpu, video system are working correctly.
For the hard drive, I would go to the manufacturer's site and get their test suite for the hard drive. Western Digital, Seagate, Maxtor, IBM all have disk tests available to run off a floppy at boot up.

[EnigmaOne]

Keep it simple.

Given your description of the problems you were having, and the discovery of bad memory, it looks like the general problem is resolved.

Tear the system down, clean it up real well--in particular, make sure the processor cooling implementation is functioning correctly--and re-assemble it.
Wipe the hard drive and install your favorite distro.

You can then test the system with the distro itself, or with any of the resources previously mentioned.

Be sure to thank your parents for the gift.

[rdeschene2]

"What would happen is that it would boot up to the desktop, work for a little bit, and then freeze up, apps would crash.

I had the memory tested, and one stick was bad and the other wasn't any good, so I nexted it."

Well bad RAM could CERTAINLY cause that behaviour on its own - and it's not uncommon for RAM to get crummy, but not fail outright.

EnigmaOne's suggestion I think is the best: install a Linux distro to the hard drive and try using it. You can even try installing seti@home on it and let it run continuously -- if you've got a flaky component, it will turn up.

P.S. power supplies are another component that can "sort of die" and lead to really unstable performance.

[JockVSJock]

Originally posted by EnigmaOne
Keep it simple.

Given your description of the problems you were having, and the discovery of bad memory, it looks like the general problem is resolved.

Tear the system down, clean it up real well--in particular, make sure the processor cooling implementation is functioning correctly--and re-assemble it.
Wipe the hard drive and install your favorite distro.

You can then test the system with the distro itself, or with any of the resources previously mentioned.

Be sure to thank your parents for the gift.

I'm thinking that bad memory was the problem, but I downloaded the Ultimate Bootable Disk and will benchmark everything.

Hey, my parents got the new 1.67Ghz AMD Box, I got the 500mhz AMD box, but either way, we are both happy with the gifts!!!