help processor 50% io 50% hi

[Joao Ferreira gmail]

Hello all,

my netbook pc with ubuntu-9.10 after a while becomes irresponsive (no
response to keyboard or mouse events).

In this state top shows 50% iowait and 50% hardware interrupts.

This is a fresh 9.10 install; fully upgraded;

It's a netbook pc based on Intel Atom.

Is there a way to diagnose this, or is this a known issue ? Any boot
time kernel parameters I could add to work around it ?

Thank you

Joao