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Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes

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>On Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:11:39 +0100, Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid>
>wrote:
>On 2026-06-09, TheLastSysop wrote:
>
>> One small habit that has saved me a lot of time is taking a quick snapshot of
>> the system before I start "fixing" it.
>>
>> Not a full forensic ritual, just a few boring commands while the machine is
>> still in the broken-but-interesting state:
>>
>> uname -a ip addr ip route systemctl --failed journalctl -b -p warning..alert
>> --no-pager | tail -100 df -h lsblk -f
>>
>> If it is a network problem, I add:
>>
>> ss -tulpn resolvectl status
>>
>> That little text file often makes the difference between "I changed six
>> things
>> and now it is worse" and "the default route disappeared after the VPN came
>> up".
>>
>> Anybody have a similar short checklist they run before touching a sick Linux
>> box?
>
>"[ ] Run memtest86+."

Good addition. If the symptoms are random freezes, compiler/browser crashes, or
mysterious filesystem damage, I would put a memory test ahead of most software
archaeology.

Two other low-effort hardware checks I like before changing the install:

    smartctl -a /dev/sdX
    dmesg -T | egrep -i 'mce|edac|ecc|i/o error|reset|nvme|ata'

The exact device name varies, of course. A sick disk or marginal RAM can make
every package manager, journal, and desktop component look guilty.

-- 
TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null>
"I survived the great rm -rf / rehearsal and all I got was this .signature."

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A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-09 20:28 +0000
  Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-09 22:47 +0200
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-09 20:52 +0000
      Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes not@telling.you.invalid (Computer Nerd Kev) - 2026-06-10 08:33 +1000
        Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-09 22:54 +0000
        Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-10 09:13 +0100
          Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 08:50 +0000
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes 🇵🇱Jacek Marcin Jaworski🇵🇱 <jmj@energokod.gda.pl> - 2026-06-09 23:27 +0200
      Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-09 22:07 +0000
        Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes 🇵🇱Jacek Marcin Jaworski🇵🇱 <jmj@energokod.gda.pl> - 2026-06-10 02:24 +0200
          Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 00:26 +0000
            Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-10 01:06 +0000
              Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 01:10 +0000
  Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-10 00:26 +0000
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 00:39 +0000
  Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-10 09:11 +0100
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 08:16 +0000
  Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-06-10 04:13 -0400
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 08:17 +0000
  Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes jayjwa <jayjwa@atr2.ath.cx.invalid> - 2026-06-10 10:07 -0400
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 14:10 +0000
      Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-06-10 19:55 +0000
        Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 20:18 +0000
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-11 03:19 +0000
      Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-06-11 01:49 -0400
      Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-06-11 06:51 +0000

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