We have had several 2 year old GX270 machines show random lockups. The diagnostic lights on the back either show all dark or A-Green B-Yellow C-Green D-Green. I suspected it might be a Linux problem, and asked in this list about it. In the end, it is not a Linux problem at all. The symptoms include random lockups/freezes (with the video locked in a snapshot of the screen) or sudden "power-offs" that leave the system fan running but everything else dies. The problem is correlated with mouse usage, and seems sometimes to coincide with using the mouse to stretch a window. This symptom led me down the "what's wrong with USB?" path, but it turns out to be all in the motherboard. The motherboard cannot supply power that peripherals need, so it appears the mouse causes the trouble, but it does not. Today I found out it is caused by a common defect in the motherboards that Dell used in GX270. The phone support person asked me if the capacitor was swolen or leaking, and I did not understand what swelling was supposed to look like. But the technician came today and showed me, and now I'll tell you. He said they were about to burst and would have leaked very soon. Where to check: Look on the motherboard for small black cylinders with silver tops. The cylindrical capacitors are about 1/4 of an inch in diameter and one half on an inch high. The silver tops have an X on edged them. Those silver tops are supposed to be flat or slightly sunken in, not convex (swolen). They are NOT supposed to look like cupcakes baking in the oven, in other words. If you have a GX270 that displays any flaky behavior, I would ask Dell to replace the motherboard. As long as that is hanging over your head, nothing else you fix will give much confidence. -- Paul E. Johnson Professor, Political Science 1541 Lilac Lane, Room 504 University of Kansas
