2nd crash

[RedSeal]

i recently updated to newest kernel (2.6.17-1.2187_FC5.) everything seemed ok until day before yesterday i got on for just a few minutes before going to work and then shut down unit. i came back in a few minutes and it wasnt shut down and there were a bunch of error messages. i didnt have time to fool with it and it seemed locked up anyway so i just did a hard reset. when i got back on later that night the os didnt load. keep getting VFS: can't find ext3 filesystem message, couple different errors, and kernel panic, which locks up unit. i've tried for several hours now to at least salvage my data on the drive figuring i can just re-install os, but nothing works. currently, as im typing, im using a knoppix cd to try and correct, but im not hopeful. this same thing happened just a couple weeks ago and i just cut my losses and re-installed. i dont mind re-installing but dont want to lose data again. im certainly not an expert at linux, just started using fc 5 about a year ago and love it (not having to worry about viruses, spyware, etc.) all attempts so far to access partition result in bad superblock errors, etc....any tips?

[bob]

It's a shame that you didn't keep your prior kernel so that you could boot into it and see if the problem was just with the kernel or with the machine. I have to be honest, this is sounding like your hard drive may be involved and would suggest you check that out before reinstalling. There's going to be a tool on your drive manufacturer's website for diagnostics. Might be worthwhile to run memtest86 on the ram too.

[RedSeal]

i wish it were that simple (bad hdd), but the first time it happened, a couple weeks ago, it was on a different hard drive. i tried booting into previous kernel, but i think it was removed when i installed newest kernel (via yumex.) im beginning to accept the fact that im screwed and will need to start over....................again. i actually think the problem is hardware, my motherboard. ive tested hardware using offline hardware diagnostics and the onboard video memory test keeps failing. i've replaced all components in unit, except mobo and processor. im gonna continue to limp along until next month when i get my new intel core 2 duo bundle.