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There is magic on the keyboard - incarnated in the SysRq (i think
this stands for system request, long thought to be a holdover from
the begining of time).<br>
You can use it, along with others to get messages to the kernel, if
it hasn't panicked; for example when GoogleEarth locks up the
X-Server and your screen transitions from the desert of Nevada to
all black as just happened to me.<br>
<br>
Using the key combination Alt + SysRq, and while holding these keys
down, press these keys in sequence with a delay of several seconds
between each key press r e i s b<br>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<h3>"Cleanly Restarting Your System</h3>
<p>Used in sequence, some of these actions can be used to
cleanly end processes, flush data to disk, unmount all file
systems, and restart your computer. To perform this process,
press and hold the Alt + SysRq key combination and – while
holding the Alt and SysRq keys down — type the following keys
in order, pausing for several seconds in between each key:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>reisub</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The mnemonic “<strong>R</strong>aising <strong>E</strong>lephants
<strong>I</strong>s <strong>S</strong>o <strong>U</strong>tterly
<strong>B</strong>oring” is often used to remember this
sequence. Here’s what each key does:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>r</strong> – Puts the keyboard into raw mode,
taking control of it away from the X server.</li>
<li><strong>e</strong> – Sends the terminate signal to all
processes, asking them to end gracefully.</li>
<li><strong>i</strong> – Sends the kill signal to all
processes, forcing them to end immediately.</li>
<li><strong>s</strong> – Flushes data from your cache to disk.</li>
<li><strong>u</strong> – Remounts all file systems read-only.</li>
<li><strong>b</strong> – Reboots your computer.</li>
</ul>
"<br>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br>
Here is the link to the full document of Alt+SysRq's many charms and
spells:<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/sysrq.txt">https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/sysrq.txt</a><br>
<br>
There's always something new to discover!<br>
<br>
Peter Richards<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe. - Albert Einstein</pre>
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