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I've been running Bodhi Linux 2.0 on my laptop for the past half a year or so and lately it was acting up. Firefox would randomly crash with no error message, and then would refuse to start (instead just crashing immediately). Then other programs started doing the same. So I decided to install Ubuntu instead. I booted from the install CD and selected install, but I got error messages like "file does not match source, possible optical drive or hard disk failure." The installer then crashed halfway through and said "launching desktop so you can try again." or something. However the desktop environment also failed to start (every program just SIGSEGV'd). I'm considering buying a new hard disk to fix this problem, but smartctl gave it a PASS when I checked it the other day.

All of the above sounds like hard disk failure but is that the most likely cause? Is there a way to test this hard disk (I can hook it up to my desktop for testing)? I verified the MD5 sum of the .iso file and burned and verified two different discs with two different burners, so I don't think the disc is the problem (both had the same result).

The thing that makes me wonder is the SIGSEGV. Although I've seen reports that hard disk failure can cause them for certain applications (particularly file management apps).

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In my experience random crashes and SIGSEGV are symptoms of a faulty RAM. Try changing your RAM module(s).

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  • Hmmm I don't have extra laptop RAM just lying around, but I will run MemTest on it when I get home.
    – borrrden
    Jun 12, 2013 at 1:48
  • Sorry! Missed the fact that you were talking about your laptop! Good luck!
    – martintama
    Jun 12, 2013 at 1:50
  • Good call. Memtest bombed with thousands of errors within a few seconds.
    – borrrden
    Jun 12, 2013 at 12:00

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