linux hangs

wasn't sure where to post this, but it has to do with a linux issue so this seemed appropriate.
anyway i just recently installed red hat linux 9, and the install and setup was flawless, but whenever im cruising AO with mozilla and i have Gaim (instant messenger) running, linux sometimes hangs, im not sure if its a sound issue or not but i was wondering if anyone else has had something similar to this happen, im running athlon XP 1900, 256MB DDR pc2100 ram, 20 gig western digital 7200 rpm HDD, geforce 4 Ti4600, onboard ac97 sound card, mother board is MSI k7t266 pro2. any help is greatly appreciated. thx :rolleyes:

When you say linux hangs, exactly what do you mean? Can you do anything or does the entire system freeze, or are only certain programs affected.

DeafLamb

sorry i didn't clarify, when i say hangs i mean everything freezes, can't move mouse or anything, im forced to turn off the power, and reboot.

Check the computer cables, I had this happened to me before when I tried to use aMSN, check the cables in the computer, and clean it as best you can, make sure everything is nice and tight and secure.

-MB

try testing your memory or if the fans are working properly, does it frezzes only with those programs or even if youre not using them ? ? ? ?

GraphicTron is right, try checking the system memory, most of the time system hangs occur due to bad memory sticks....Also, this might be an outlandish idea, assign some more swapspace if you feel adventurous, you shouldn't have to with 256 megs of system ram, however, it doesn't hurt :)

when your linux box hangs, did you notice the NumLock and/or CapsLock led(s) blinking ??

that would mean it's a kernel panic (blue screen of linux ;))

Also when your system hangs, try pressing ALT + CTRL + 'F2' . This should bring you to another virtual console (remember linux is multi-user) If this works then it might just be your Graphical interface that is freezing up. If this is the case login as root, and use the 'ps -A' command to list all current process. Find the Login on tty1 and use the 'kill 1234' command where 1234 is the PID of tty1 login.

The reason X maybe crashing could be due to your original suspecion of sound server crashing, your video hardware could also be configured incorrectly.

Just an Idea, Hope this helps.

DeafLamb

it freezes sometimes when im using terminal too, i have had some memory problems with this motherboard for a long time though, i think its time for a new one. i never noticed the numlock lights blinking though, i'll try adding some more swap memory, and checking all the connections. thanks again for your help

[edit]
well gnome is my GUI im using right now, would it be wise to try using a differen't one like KDE? or should i try working out the problems with my sound first? if it is a sound problem is it possible to get different sound drivers, and where can i find them, im assuming i should just look on the manufacter's website

Deflamb may be right. The same thing was happening to me. My problem was caused by X crashing because of a nVidia driver that was screwed up. Once I re-installed X stopped crashing.