GRUB2, invidia, lock ups ....

[xigen]

UGH! Lockup. and then more lockup.

Followed by Grub not allowing the system to boot, or booting to the screen which lets you choose safe mode; which also locked up.

I suspect: Hardware issue

AMD (vinTage 2007)
nVidia gforce 6500
ubuntu 11.04

The system ran very well for the last 2-3 mos. However, after an update I started to have problems.

...

My questions:
1) How can I tell if I have a broken/breaking video card?
2) Could my issues be caused by my motherboard? If so - how do I diagnose?
3) Let's say this is a graphics card issue. What are some linux compatible video cards with HDMI out?

4) It could be bad memory - I will run memtest just in case.

as always - thanks for any/all help.

Cheers,

[xigen]

I checked the memory -- all OK

I then turned off the system, removed the graphics card and did a *lot* of dust removal.

It was the dust.

My guess is that the cooling fins on my graphics card got covered in dust - and the graphics card (nvidia gforce 6500) was over heating.