[Novalug] need help: server freezing -- How to troubleshoot - Diagnostic tools

[Paul D. Bain]

Richard Ertel wrote:
> gkrellm appears to be a graphical application. my server is
> console-only. are there any daemon-type cpu monitors that can write to
> a log file, to be checked after a lockup?

	Uh, top, perhaps? And it may not hurt to use free, too.

	Indeed, the entire sysstat package (e.g., iostat, vmstat) might be 
useful. There are plenty of tools that generate diagnostic information, 
I simply cannot remember them anymore. My system administration 
knowledge has atrophied due to non-use.

> On Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 08:59, Jay Hart <jhart at kevla.org> wrote:
>> The only thing I saw was this:
>>
>> Oct 22 17:38:09 fileserver kernel: [   29.076525] ata3.00: failed to set max
>> address
>> (err_mask=0x1)
>>
>>
>> Don't know if it has anything to do with anything (though it might).
>>
>> I'm wondering if maybe somehow your CPU is being heavily taxed and its
>> "appears" for all intent purposes your box is locked up.
>>
>> Install gkrellm and monitor the CPU usage (visually) to see if your CPU
>> utilization spikes.
>>
>> In summary (following Jerry W suggestion):
>>
>> 1. Install gkrellm
>> 2. Monitor CPU utilization
>> 3. Report findings to list
>>
>> Jay
>>
>>> Jay, here is my /var/log/messages. ugh it's big.
>>> i was running the system with just the two raid-1 drives last night
>>> (oct 22), then it locked, so i powered it down and went to bed. turned
>>> it back on this morning (oct 23) around 6am. anyone looking at this
>>> log should start there and work backwards to the previous boot, i
>>> guess.
>>>