Ubuntu

Intermittent "System Freeze" of Ubuntu 9.04

Asked by ernie

Since my upgrade from 8.10 to 9.04, I have experienced "system freezes". That seems to occur after being logged on for more than 2 hours or so. It has happened while browsing with Firefox or Opera. At the last "freeze", I wasn't browsing -- instead I was simply watching an "avi" video through the Movie Player.

I understand I need to provide more info in order to get help. Since I am a "newbe" with less than 3 months experience with Linux or Ubuntu, I would appreciate it if someone could post what command(s) I need to run in order to provide such info as the devices and drivers on this Toshiba laptop of mine.

I should also add when these "freezes" occur, I get no response at all from the mouse or keyboard -- whatever is on the screen is frozen as well. Hence, I have to press the Power button to shut the system down, and then reboot.

Please help. Thanks.

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luca_ing
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luca_ing (luca-ingianni) said : 		#1

This description is already quite a good start, but as you suspected, it's still not enough to solve this problem.
Perhaps a good start would be for you to post the contents of the file /var/log/messages ; maybe we can find hints there.
Also, continue observing your system to try to find out more precisely which behaviour (if any) triggers the freeze. Did it begin *exactly* with the update?
An interesting experiment would be to reboot your computer, log in, and then *do nothing* for al ong time. For example, just leave it on overnight and see whether it's still alive in the morning.

Luca

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sim-value (sim-value) said : 		#2

The next time when it freezes try pressing the following keyboad shortcut:
Alt + Print + k

If then nothing happens try with this ones

Alt + Print + r
Alt + Print + s
Alt + Print + e
Alt + Print + i
Alt + Print + n
Alt + Print + u
Alt + Print + b

If your system then reboots the kernel itself didnt lock up but something else :)
(Use this sentence to remeber it : Raising skinny elephants is never utterly boring)

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ernie (ernieanglade-yahoo) said : 		#3

Thanks for replying. I will post the content of the "/var/log/messages" file for that time frame when there is another occurence.

I think the entire file may be too big to post here. Am getting a "server not responding" error message when I attempted to do so.

Will also do -- regarding both (1) leaving the system on overnight, and (2) the keyboard shortcuts.

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ernie (ernieanglade-yahoo) said : 		#4

I left the system on overnight with nothing running. And, it didn't freeze. I guess that means some application(s) or combination thereof is causing the problem. I will post the relevant content of the "messages" file at the next freeze. Will also provide results from using the keyboard shortcuts.

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tellos (7ellos) said : 		#5

Hello,

I'm having the same kind of problem since I've installed ubuntu 9.04 (fesh). The system freeze completly from time to time. This time I left my computer on all night, when I used it again, well I think I was just removing torrents in transmission and maybe emptying the trash at the same time. I was forced for to do a hard reboot (hadn't read about alt+print+k yet). So after reboot. I started transmission and FF at the same time and then again system freeze.

I've never experienced that kind of freeze with previous release. When it freeze. My compter goes silent, nothing is runing in my compter anymore. My system is a dell inspiron 8600 with 1+GB intel celron, 512 Ram, ati radeon 9500 (I think), using the opensource drivers, using ext4. Here is my var/log/message infos I hope it can help. I didn't put every thing it was too big, but I tried to find the lines where the problem is.

thank you for your help

May 9 09:20:55 tellos-laptop kernel: [ 29.675870] agpgart-intel 0000:00:00.0: AGP 2.0 bridge
May 9 09:20:55 tellos-laptop kernel: [ 29.675892] agpgart-intel 0000:00:00.0: putting AGP V2 device into 4x mode
May 9 09:20:55 tellos-laptop kernel: [ 29.675930] pci 0000:01:00.0: putting AGP V2 device into 4x mode
May 9 09:20:55 tellos-laptop kernel: [ 29.909345] [drm] Setting GART location based on new memory map
May 9 09:20:55 tellos-laptop kernel: [ 29.909354] [drm] Loading R300 Microcode
May 9 09:20:55 tellos-laptop kernel: [ 29.909404] [drm] Num pipes: 1
May 9 09:20:55 tellos-laptop kernel: [ 29.909412] [drm] writeback test succeeded in 2 usecs
May 9 09:20:59 tellos-laptop kernel: [ 33.321736] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
May 9 09:20:59 tellos-laptop kernel: [ 33.323553] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth1: link is not ready
May 9 09:21:29 tellos-laptop kernel: [ 63.469214] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth1: link becomes ready
May 9 09:21:56 tellos-laptop kernel: [ 90.740051] Clocksource tsc unstable (delta = -226364898 ns)
May 9 09:23:53 tellos-laptop syslogd 1.5.0#5ubuntu3: restart.

Revision history for this message
ernie (ernieanglade-yahoo) said : 		#6

I am assuming the wrong status was entered by tellos since the posting provides further descriptions rather than a solution. Thus I am changing the status. Thanks

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ernie (ernieanglade-yahoo) said : 		#7

ltThe system freeze happened again. I forgot about Alt+Print+u, but used all the others to no avail. The following is a partial content of the messages file.

May 9 18:06:39 ernie-laptop kernel: [23383.788975] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=62.48.130.26 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=46 ID=64892 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=11 CODE=0 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=62.48.228.60 LEN=64 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=1 ID=17907 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 9 18:06:43 ernie-laptop kernel: [23387.397430] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=70.74.135.109 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=72 TOS=0x00 PREC=0xC0 TTL=53 ID=55928 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=3 CODE=1 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=70.74.135.109 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=52 ID=30785 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=36695 DPT=16527 WINDOW=5840 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 ]
May 9 18:07:03 ernie-laptop kernel: [23407.507678] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=62.48.130.26 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=46 ID=64761 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=11 CODE=0 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=62.48.228.60 LEN=64 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=1 ID=17908 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 9 18:07:04 ernie-laptop kernel: [23408.188254] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=85.127.80.109 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=240 ID=22733 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=4 CODE=0 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=85.127.80.109 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=49 ID=27557 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 9 18:07:07 ernie-laptop kernel: [23411.594555] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=85.127.80.109 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=240 ID=22741 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=4 CODE=0 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=85.127.80.109 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=49 ID=27558 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 9 18:07:14 ernie-laptop kernel: [23417.945188] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=85.127.80.109 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=240 ID=22775 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=4 CODE=0 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=85.127.80.109 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=49 ID=27559 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 9 18:07:22 ernie-laptop kernel: [23426.419215] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=70.74.135.109 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=72 TOS=0x00 PREC=0xC0 TTL=53 ID=55929 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=3 CODE=1 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=70.74.135.109 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=52 ID=30787 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=36695 DPT=16527 WINDOW=5840 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 ]
May 9 18:07:54 ernie-laptop kernel: [23458.541465] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=88.112.107.86 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=53 ID=52281 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=5 CODE=1 GATEWAY=88.112.103.235 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=88.112.103.235 LEN=40 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=49 ID=4653 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 9 18:08:19 ernie-laptop kernel: [23483.200439] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=24.126.133.38 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=72 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=48 ID=55254 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=3 CODE=1 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=24.126.133.38 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x20 TTL=47 ID=61189 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=60113 DPT=51413 WINDOW=5840 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 ]
May 9 18:08:21 ernie-laptop kernel: [23485.281294] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=88.112.107.86 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=53 ID=52468 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=5 CODE=1 GATEWAY=88.112.103.235 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=88.112.103.235 LEN=40 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=49 ID=4654 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 9 18:08:25 ernie-laptop kernel: [23489.459187] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=68.87.208.106 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=242 ID=27246 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=3 CODE=1 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=71.201.94.138 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x20 TTL=49 ID=13010 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 9 18:08:27 ernie-laptop kernel: [23491.083555] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=32.113.109.137 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=238 ID=14409 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=3 CODE=13 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=194.10.0.69 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=49 ID=15924 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 9 18:08:27 ernie-laptop kernel: [23491.729493] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=163.121.185.170 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=242 ID=1463 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=3 CODE=1 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=41.235.152.208 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=51 ID=15079 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 9 18:08:39 ernie-laptop kernel: [23503.196757] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=32.113.109.137 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=238 ID=14504 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=3 CODE=13 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=194.10.0.69 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=49 ID=15925 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 9 18:16:54 ernie-laptop syslogd 1.5.0#5ubuntu3: restart.
May 9 18:16:54 ernie-laptop kernel: Inspecting /boot/System.map-2.6.28-11-generic

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ernie (ernieanglade-yahoo) said : 		#8

It froze again at around 1:20 PM (eastern). The following is a small subset of the content of the "messages" file prior to the freeze. The was no response from any of the "Alt+Print" shortcuts.

May 10 13:18:27 ernie-laptop kernel: [ 9877.020103] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=70.118.208.37 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=240 ID=60960 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=3 CODE=13 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=70.118.208.37 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=50 ID=8803 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 10 13:18:27 ernie-laptop kernel: [ 9877.236840] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=205.171.129.101 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=242 ID=0 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=11 CODE=0 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=67.128.15.116 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=1 ID=55922 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 10 13:18:28 ernie-laptop kernel: [ 9878.512627] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=83.50.209.221 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=72 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=241 ID=62283 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=3 CODE=1 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=83.50.209.221 LEN=44 TOS=0x08 PREC=0x00 TTL=47 ID=40275 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=33865 DPT=17492 WINDOW=5840 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 ]
May 10 13:18:39 ernie-laptop kernel: [ 9889.240675] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=205.171.129.101 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=242 ID=0 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=11 CODE=0 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=67.128.15.116 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=1 ID=55923 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 10 13:19:03 ernie-laptop kernel: [ 9913.236169] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=205.171.129.101 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=242 ID=0 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=11 CODE=0 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=67.128.15.116 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=1 ID=55924 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 10 13:19:41 ernie-laptop kernel: [ 9951.188486] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=70.118.208.37 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=240 ID=61186 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=3 CODE=13 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=70.118.208.37 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=50 ID=12072 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 10 13:19:44 ernie-laptop kernel: [ 9954.192811] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=70.118.208.37 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=240 ID=61194 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=3 CODE=13 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=70.118.208.37 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=50 ID=12073 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 10 13:19:45 ernie-laptop kernel: [ 9955.453327] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=60.242.160.250 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=54 ID=3603 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=3 CODE=3 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=60.242.160.250 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=53 ID=54958 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 10 13:19:50 ernie-laptop kernel: [ 9960.184213] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=70.118.208.37 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=240 ID=61210 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=3 CODE=13 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=70.118.208.37 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=50 ID=12074 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 10 13:19:54 ernie-laptop kernel: [ 9964.450749] Inbound IN=eth1 OUT= MAC=00:13:ce:6c:4a:ce:00:14:6c:50:6a:34:08:00 SRC=60.242.160.250 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=56 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=54 ID=3626 PROTO=ICMP TYPE=3 CODE=3 [SRC=192.168.1.2 DST=60.242.160.250 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=53 ID=54960 DF PROTO=TCP INCOMPLETE [8 bytes] ]
May 10 13:22:04 ernie-laptop syslogd 1.5.0#5ubuntu3: restart.
May 10 13:22:04 ernie-laptop kernel: Inspecting /boot/System.map-2.6.28-11-generic

Revision history for this message
luca_ing (luca-ingianni) said : 		#9

Bleh, nothing of use in your respective the logfiles, as I feared. If nobody else has a smart idea, I fear we'll need to guess where to go from here.

It sounds a bit like it might be hardware trouble.
Do you have another OS on this machine (Windows, perhaps)? Is it running well?

You might try checking your RAM, defective RAM chips aren't uncommon but sometimes hard to detect. Your boot menu should give you the choice of Memtest86+, and you might want to run it. Be warned, though, that it needs to be left to run for a long time in order to provide conclusive results (officially at least 24h, I'd say at least overnight (yes, again) ), as memory errors tend to be elusive.

I'm sorry I can't be of more help at the moment, but I'm stuck. I'll continue to try and help you out though.

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ernie (ernieanglade-yahoo) said : 		#10

Am in the process of running the RAM test. Will inform of my findings within 24 hours. Thanks.

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ernie (ernieanglade-yahoo) said : 		#11

After 13+ hours of running the RAM test, 0 errors thus far. I'll keep it running for another 11 hours or so. By the way, this is NOT a dual boot set-up.

If there are 0 errors after 24 hours of running the RAM test, should I try to reinstall 9.04 from a CD this time? (9.04 was upgraded online from 8.10). Also, are there diagnostics/repairs commands that I could use?

Don't know what else to think of.

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ernie (ernieanglade-yahoo) said : 		#12

I am back to square one. The RAM test went on for 24+ hours with 0 errors. Should I order the 9.04 CD and do a complete re-install? I am assuming there could have been a glitch when upgrading from 8.10 to 9.04.

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Best luca_ing (luca-ingianni) said : 		#13

In general, I am not a big fan of reinstalls, since I feel they are not a proper solution to the problem but rather some kind of accepting defeat.

But since we don't have any other approach at the moment, I'd say go ahead and do it. You need a working system after all, defeat or no.
Don't forget to back up all your important data (this might include the configuration data in /etc , btw). Backups are an excellent idea anyway :)

Good luck
Luca

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ernie (ernieanglade-yahoo) said : 		#14

I ordered the CD. Will back-up and reinstall once I receive it. Thanks for helping.

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Akram Nimer (akkqwer) said : 		#15

Hi,

Having the same exact problem (upgraded from 8.10 to 9.04, freeze while mostly playing video with nvidia graphics card) and not opting to back up everything and just reinstall jaunty, I tried disabling the nvidia restricted drivers - no more freezes. This option has its on the resources as there is no longer making use of the GPU but at least sharing this could help fix the problem. Any further needed information is welcome.

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Dave Allen (davidallen131) said : 		#16

My 9.04 hangs periodically. (For the moment I revert to 8.10.) I say hanfs, because if I leave it in peace for a while, it suddenly unhangs, and executes all the keypresses I did in indignation - so I get five copies of the window that should have appeared, etc. I don't know if that helps, but I daren't take 9.04 seriously until its fixed.

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Zeb (zebcarnell) said : 		#17

I have had the same issue on a Dell GX60 with a P4 in it. It freezes and all the messages file shows is a huge void between the last message and the reboot message (which is when I pull the plug).