I have upgraded to intrepid the PC on which I was experiencing the hard lockups. And the lockups have disappeared.
I have also upgraded to hardy a laptop on which I was running gutsy. And the lockups have appeared although by no means as frequently as I was experiencing them on the older desktop. I am experiencing about a couple of hard lockups a week, with the laptop on for most of the day.
I have upgraded to intrepid the PC on which I was experiencing the hard lockups. And the lockups have disappeared.
I have also upgraded to hardy a laptop on which I was running gutsy. And the lockups have appeared although by no means as frequently as I was experiencing them on the older desktop. I am experiencing about a couple of hard lockups a week, with the laptop on for most of the day.
So the problem seems to be really due to 2.6.24.