My original message:
> I have an AlphaServer 1000 running v3.2 which lately I've been unable to
> halt. If I try the normal "shutdown -h now", I get the message "CPU 0:
> Halting... (transferring to monitor)", then I get an exception and a bunch
> of messages scroll by, then the system hangs. My system is set to autoboot,
> so I try to power cycle and get to the monitor prompt by pressing the halt
> button during boot, but it ignores it and continues to boot. The only
> thing I've changed recently is that I added an EISA FDDI card (which seems
> to work fine) and reconfigured the kernel. I tried switching back to my
> original kernel but the problem still occurs. I've also tried reseating
> all cables, boards, and memory.
>
> My two questions are:
> - How do I figure out what is causing the exception? It doesn't seem to
> save anything as far as a crash dump.
> - In the meantime, is there some other trick I can use to get to the
> monitor prompt?
Thanks to everyone who tried to help, but the problem turned out to be even
weirder than I orignally thought. The shutdown command executed fine until
the OS was done halting and the system tried to transfer me to the monitor
prompt; then the system would get the exception and hang. We took the FDDI
card out and everything worked fine, put it back in and the problem returned.
My DEC service rep got to the monitor prompt when the board was out, and
noticed that my console variable was set to graphics even though my console is
a terminal attached to the serial port. He changed the variable to serial and
now everything works fine. Why this didn't cause a problem unless the FDDI
was installed is a mystery to me, but at least it works now.
Thanks again,
Chantelle Keller
Systems Programmer
Academic Computing Services
Ithaca College
ckeller_at_ithaca.edu
Received on Thu Jul 20 1995 - 17:30:27 NZST