Appendix A. Problems and Common Errors
This appendix lists some common problems and error messages that users have run into. You will learn how to figure out what the problem is, and what to do to solve it. You will also find proper solutions to some common problems.
How to Determine What Is Causing Problems
When you run into problems, the first thing you should do is find out which program/piece of equipment is causing problems:
If you have one of the following symptoms, it is probably a hardware (like memory, motherboard, CPU, or hard disk) or kernel problem:
The keyboard doesn’t work. This can normally be checked by pressing Caps Lock. If the Caps Lock light doesn’t change you have to replace your keyboard. (Before doing this, you should try to reboot your computer and check all cables to the keyboard.)
The mouse pointer doesn’t move.
The machine doesn’t answer to a remote machine’s pings.
Different, unrelated programs don’t behave correctly.
If your system rebooted unexpectedly (a faulty user-level program should never be able to take down your system).
In this case you should start by checking all your cables and run some diagnostic tool to check your hardware! You should also check if there are any patches, updates, or service packs for your operating system that could likely solve your problems. Check also that all your libraries (like glibc) are up to date.
It’s always good to use a machine with ECC memory to discover memory problems early!
If your keyboard is locked up, you may ...