Linux trouble-shooting notes

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Linux won't recognize a device?
Often the cause is a IRQ conflict or lack of available IRQs. Check the BIOS to see if a IRQ is reserved, and try unreserving one.
While running a window system, system sometimes won't respond after a screensaver starts?
Try to login from another host and kill the screensaver process. OpenGL screensavers in the "xscreensaver" package will cause that problem if the X driver doesn't support 3D properly (such as ATI Rage 128).