> So I'll just enjoy my blackbird breakfast--thank you very much--and > think about how to deal with the memory glitch. > > Any ideas what yum or db4 might be doing to trip over this? My system is > stable otherwise, even with a high memory load. Package management has > been completely dependable with this hardware until recently. RAM problems tend to show up with certain applications. I don't know why - gcc shows up some of them very well (and does thrash the caches a lot), db4 corruption is another 'trademark' memory problem. If the box has been stable you may have had RAM go bad (it happens especially with static electrical damage), or contact corrosion has finally made something marginal. Before you run out and just get new RAM give the original memory a wiggle and if you want clean the contacts gently having taken proper static electricity precautions. Otherwise its 'hunt the bad dimm' time. Alan
