Help me troubleshoot this problem

[awrobinson-ml at nc.rr.com]

---- JD <jd1008 at gmail.com> wrote: 
>   On 07/05/2010 06:44 PM, awrobinson-ml at nc.rr.com wrote:
> > ---- Rick Sewill<rsewill at gmail.com>  wrote:
> >> On 07/05/2010 06:15 PM, awrobinson-ml at nc.rr.com wrote:
> >>> ---- Geoffrey Leach<geoff at hughes.net>  wrote:
> >>>> On 07/05/2010 03:28:20 PM, awrobinson-ml at nc.rr.com wrote:
> >>>>> ---- Geoffrey Leach<geoff at hughes.net>  wrote:
> >>>>>> On 07/05/2010 01:27:01 PM, awrobinson-ml at nc.rr.com wrote:
> >>>>>>> I am trying to install Fedora on a PC I built. I had Windows XP
> >>>>>>> running on it for more than a year without any apparent problems.
> >>>> <snip>
> >>>>> Hardware:
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Motherboard: BIOSTAR TFORCE TF520-A2 AM2 NVIDIA nForce 520 MCP ATX
> >>>>> AMD
> >>>>> Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Brisbane 2.2GHz Socket AM2 65W
> >>>>> Dual-Core Processor
> >>>>> Video Card: MSI NX8400GS-TD256E GeForce 8400 GS 256MB 64-bit GDDR2
> >>>>> PCI
> >>>>> Express
> >>>>> Memory: A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
> >>>>> Dual Channel
> >>>>> Memory: A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
> >>>>> Dual Channel
> >>>>> (6 GB total)
> >>>>> Hard drive: SAMSUNG EcoGreen F2 HD103SI 1TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
> >>>>> 3.5"
> >>>> <snip>
> >>>
> >> May I suggest looking at the URL:
> >> http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/KernelCommonProblems
> >>
> >> It is where I would start when trying to debug Fedora panic/crash problems.
> >>
> >> > From this webpage, in the "Crashes/Hangs" section, they seem to suggest
> >> setting kernel boot parameters to try to narrow the problem or work
> >> around the problem.
> >>
> >> For more information on kernel boot parameters, the web page says,
> >> "The full list of kernel options is in the file
> >> /usr/share/doc/kernel-doc-<version>/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt,
> >> which is installed with the kernel-doc package"
> >>
> >> I assume one can find the correct kernel-parameters.txt file either
> >> looking in the local file system assuming Fedora is usable -or-
> >> searching the internet for "kernel-parameters.txt"
> >> If one finds it with an internet search, please make sure the
> >> kernel-parameters.txt more or less match the correct version of the
> >> Fedora kernel.
> >>
> >> Having said the above, if you suspect an acpi or apic problem,
> >> the URL: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/KernelCommonProblems
> >> says,
> >> "acpi=off is a big hammer, and if that works, narrowing down by trying
> >> pci=noacpi instead may yield clues"
> >> It also says, "nolapic and noapic are sometimes useful"
> >>

A quick update. I tried the acpi=no option and so far, so good. I have even brought it back into X windows and ran some yum updates to apply some stress. I'll leave it in this state until tomorrow evening just to make sure. Then I'll try the smaller hammers. 

Question showing my ignorance of what acpi is. If pci=noacpi works or does not work, what clues is that giving me?

Thanks!

Andrew