kernal thread

[d]

Hi,

Can anyone translate this jargon:

"kernal thread terminated while holding a mutex"

I bought a new dell laptop. The first time I turned it on
it crashed and I got a DOS screen with the above message on
it and additional information that a serious error had
occured and the computer shut down to avoid doing serious
damage. It instructed me to turn the computer off then
restart. I did and the same thing happened. Then for the
next 6-7 times that I turned it on it froze. Finally it
completed setup and has been fine ever since (Three weeks
now).

An error report was generated which I sent to microsoft.
The reply stated that some unidentified driver caused the
problem and to contact the manufacturer. Dell tech support
had me check the driver files for yellow exclamation points
and none were there.

I have one more week in which I can return the computer for
any reason under the dell total satisfaction policy.

Can anyone translate the above message so I have an idea if
what happened indicates that I have a lemon or if some
glitch occured which will probably not bother me again.

Thanks for any replies.

d

[davetest]

On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 18:09:07 -0800, "d"
> wrote:

>Hi,
>
>Can anyone translate this jargon:
>
>"kernal thread terminated while holding a mutex"
>
>I bought a new dell laptop. The first time I turned it on
>it crashed and I got a DOS screen with the above message on
>it and additional information that a serious error had
>occured and the computer shut down to avoid doing serious
>damage. It instructed me to turn the computer off then
>restart. I did and the same thing happened. Then for the
>next 6-7 times that I turned it on it froze. Finally it
>completed setup and has been fine ever since (Three weeks
>now).
>
>An error report was generated which I sent to microsoft.
>The reply stated that some unidentified driver caused the
>problem and to contact the manufacturer. Dell tech support
>had me check the driver files for yellow exclamation points
>and none were there.
>
>I have one more week in which I can return the computer for
>any reason under the dell total satisfaction policy.
>
>Can anyone translate the above message so I have an idea if
>what happened indicates that I have a lemon or if some
>glitch occured which will probably not bother me again.
>
>Thanks for any replies.
>
>d
Hello - mutex is a programming term, and I think it has to do with
a mechanism for providing synchronization to a resource.
You shouldn't have to deal with this in a brand new PC.
It perfectly reasonable that it could be related to a driver.
However, you need a solution. If you can't find it soon,
you should invoke your "total satisfaction policy"
If you got a DMP file created or a STOP error code,
it can be debugged, but it will take a bit more expertise
to do so.
Dave