[Leaplist] Help! My Ubuntu partially freezes up *after* bootup

[andrei raevsky]

Hi Leapers,

I have not used my computer for 10 days (I was on the road) and upon
my return I started having a problem I never had in the past: Ubuntu
partially freezes up after about 2-5 min after booting up normally
(this never happened in the past).

When this happens I can still move the cursor around, but I cannot do
anything else. Here is the output of /var/log/messages when this
happens:

-------
Mar  2 08:37:14 Ubuntu2 kernel: [  415.399517] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/100
Mar  2 08:37:14 Ubuntu2 kernel: [  415.429024] ata1.01: configured for UDMA/100
Mar  2 08:37:14 Ubuntu2 kernel: [  415.429058] ata1: EH complete
Mar  2 08:37:27 Ubuntu2 kernel: [  427.737016]          res
51/40:08:87:00:88/00:00:00:00:00/e0 Emask 0x9 (media error)
Mar  2 08:37:27 Ubuntu2 kernel: [  427.780650] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/100
Mar  2 08:37:27 Ubuntu2 kernel: [  427.791626] ata1.01: configured for UDMA/100
Mar  2 08:37:27 Ubuntu2 kernel: [  427.791661] ata1: EH complete
Mar  2 08:37:39 Ubuntu2 kernel: [  440.095760]          res
51/40:08:87:00:88/00:00:00:00:00/e0 Emask 0x9 (media error)
Mar  2 08:37:39 Ubuntu2 kernel: [  440.136738] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/100
Mar  2 08:37:39 Ubuntu2 kernel: [  440.162473] ata1.01: configured for UDMA/100
Mar  2 08:37:39 Ubuntu2 kernel: [  440.162504] ata1: EH complete
Mar  2 08:37:51 Ubuntu2 kernel: [  452.465642]          res
51/40:08:87:00:88/00:00:00:00:00/e0 Emask 0x9 (media error)
Mar  2 08:37:51 Ubuntu2 kernel: [  452.506827] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/100
Mar  2 08:37:51 Ubuntu2 kernel: [  452.516793] ata1.01: configured for UDMA/100
Mar  2 08:37:51 Ubuntu2 kernel: [  452.516824] ata1: EH complete
Mar  2 08:38:04 Ubuntu2 kernel: [  464.824415]          res
51/40:08:87:00:88/00:00:00:00:00/e0 Emask 0x9 (media error)
Mar  2 08:38:04 Ubuntu2 kernel: [  464.865910] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/100
Mar  2 08:38:04 Ubuntu2 kernel: [  464.895933] ata1.01: configured for UDMA/100
Mar  2 08:38:04 Ubuntu2 kernel: [  464.895966] ata1: EH complete
-------

This goes on and on and on. The only thing I can do is reboot.

I would just add that this problem only occurs after bootup anywhere
from 1 to 3 times in a row and that after that everything works fine.
I have no reason to suspect a hardware failure.

I have asked the same question elsewhere, and here is the only reply I
have received:

-------QUOTE-------
This sounds like it could be your hard drive. Given that you are able
to boot and shutdown, I suggest going to an X terminal; logging in as
root (su); and entering /sbin/shutdown -r -F "now". This will force an
fsck on the next boot.

If you are dropped to a prompt with messages indicating your disk
needs to be recovered, answer yes to all questions. Please research
this, because I have forgotten exactly what the screens look like if
fsck needs to recover
-------UNQUOTE-------

But why is that be a hard disk problem if the hard disk works
perfectly (except for right after booting up)? do you think that this
is a logical error or a physical one?

Since I never had to use fsck in the past I also wonder whether
answering "yes" to all questions is safe.

Could anyone please explain the messages in the log file and help me
fix this problem?

Many thanks,

Andrei