Thanks for the answer. Just what I was looking for. Again, the failure was not due to software but most likely dust, dry air. I clean probably every 3 to 6 months, depends on the environment. The mobo wasn't really dirty at all but had enough dust in key areas. "J.Francois" wrote: >This is a strange thread. > >I have a heavily used fileserver as follows: >FreeBSD 4.6-STABLE #3: Sat Aug 17 09:37:14 MST 2002 >CPU: Pentium 4 (1593.54-MHz 686-class CPU) >  Origin = "GenuineIntel"  Id = 0xf12  Stepping = 2 >  Features=0x3febfbff,ACC> >real memory  = 520093696 (507904K bytes) > >I bought it at PC-Club on AlmaSchool/Southern last year and I have had "zero" problems with it. >In that time I have had multiple power outages due to storms and had the UPS run down. >That in itself is a bad thing to have happen to power supplies since I have not enabled >auto-powerdown. >I have had my AC out and the room at over 100degrees-F for extended periods. > >I had my UPS die while I was in Denver and for 2 days the relay in the UPS unit clicked >power on, power off  to all my systems at approx. 2 second increments. This happened last week. >When I finally got home and removed the UPS, they all powered up. > >Now after the above I *know* that all on my power supplies are degraded and I still >haven't experienced any P4 or other processor issues. >I just don't see how any kernel could cause a failure like the one described. >I worked in Component Level Electronics for 6 years and never heard of anything like >capacitors exploding caused by software. > >I do vacuum or use compressed air on all system internals every 30 days. >If I didn't I am sure I would have more outages related to hardware. > > >> >On Friday, September 27, 2002, at 08:53 AM, KevinO wrote: >> > >> >> This sounds like you have a very serious power supply problem. >> >> Electrolytic >> >> caps don't generally explode unless you run them backwards or with >> >> significantly excessive voltage. I strongly suspect the later in this >> >> case. >> >> Probably most everything that was in the box at the time is 'hurt' at >> >> this point. >> > >> >Actually, he might have had the same problems I have had (I have had >> >capacitors blown on two motherboards).  The first time, I forgot to >> >read the documentation and inserted a processor into a motherboard it >> >wasn't approved for (if you care, I inserted a Athlon XP processor into >> >an Athlon motherboard).  The second time this happened, my best guess >> >was that a short occurred because of the massive amounts of dust that >> >collected inside the case.  In both cases, the only damage done was to >> >my pride, pocketbook, and motherboard. >-- >Jean Francois - JLF Sends...This sig is not RFC-1855 compliant! >Getting Facts - $35: >http://www.winface.com/blurb.html >Getting Certs - $40: >http://www.brainbench.com/transcript.jsp?pid=1214021 >Getting Published - Priceless: >http://www.informit.com/isapi/authorid~{6AD44647-E752-4CAB-B911-D3246F294DBA}/authors/author.asp >My Resume: http://www.magusnet.com/resume.txt or http://www.magusnet.com/resume.pdf >"Tell them we are not Gods, but UNIX Admins, which is the next best thing." >You're right. There is no I in team. It's just me and a little t & a... > > __________________________________________________________________ The NEW Netscape 7.0 browser is now available. Upgrade now! http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/