Hi John

No, we didn't run "md5sum" on the file. However I did update EMC and Ubunto
from the web after it was loaded. I don't think this is the issue though as
the computer we're currently using was the same old Dell we started with. I
don't recall seeing this problem when we started.

You're correct about the things being common however the other thing is the
boards. Maybe something happened with the boards that is causing it to
crash??

There is no set way to make it crash so I can't describe how to make it
crash.  I can only describe what we do and what we've observed.   Basically
we create a file in SW and use the integrated VM to create the G-Code. We
then post and save it to a flash drive as an .ngc file. After it's saved it
automatically opens up in notepad (windows). We take a quick look and then
close notepad. Then we take the flash drive to the Ubunto machine where we
open the file, edit it manually, and save it to the hard-drive
(home-emc-ncfiles).

We have found that sometimes when we try to load the g-code file into emc
it's very slow  (10  to 20 seconds)to load. Also sometimes when we press
start to run the program it's very slow to start (ie 10 to 15 seconds).  In
the past it's crashed when we've interrupted it during the start up.  We
used to think something was wrong so we tried pressing start again or stop,
pause,... Now we know it will eventually start so we just leave it until it
does.

From now on we'll keep a log of where, when, how,.. it crashes.  In the
meantime I'll just tell you from my memory and what I've been told.
Sometimes it just locks up where we can't do anything in EMC. I don't recall
if we can move the windows around but I'm thinking that we could not.
However  I'm fairly certain we could move the mouse pointer. I'm not sure
about the lights on caplocks and numlock.  Sometimes EMC just closes without
warning. That's what I call a crash. Every time is locks, crashes,... we
have trouble shutting down Ubunto. No matter how many times we try to shut
it down with the mouse (software) it does nothing. We almost always have to
literally pull the plug on the computer.  More recently we've learned that
if you hold the computer shutdown button (physical button on computer) for
long enough a window will come up on Ubunto asking if we want to shut down.
This so far as always works to shut it down.  Most of the time (not always)
when we do shut it down after a problem, Ubunto asks if we want to check the
drives by typing "F". We always  type "F" and it never finds a problem.