ok, Kirk, I'll double check what you got here aginst what I was typing. I think your right on the kernel mem ifno, but I thought Linux didn't need this. Oddly enough it just started happening. I wonder if its something to do with this chip set. Hmmmm, will try the line and see what the results are. I was planning to take the box down and have them look over the bios settings. My wife isn't good with this stuff and I can't remember where all the various items are in the ami bios. Haven't had one in years and they've changed quite a bit. The dell has an award. tnx
