Le kernel Linux conserve certains messages dans un tampon circulaire. Pour afficher ces messages, entrez la commande dmesg :

$ dmesg
[...]
end_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0
subfs: unsuccessful attempt to mount media (256)
e100: eth0: e100_watchdog: link up, 100Mbps, half-duplex
NET: Registered protocol family 17
IA-32 Microcode Update Driver: v1.14 <tigran@veritas.com>
microcode: CPU0 updated from revision 0xe to 0x2e, date = 08112004
IA-32 Microcode Update Driver v1.14 unregistered
bootsplash: status on console 0 changed to on
NET: Registered protocol family 10
Disabled Privacy Extensions on device c0326ea0(lo)
IPv6 over IPv4 tunneling driver
powernow: This module only works with AMD K7 CPUs
bootsplash: status on console 0 changed to on
  

Les événements plus anciens sont consignés dans les fichiers /var/log/messages et /var/log/warn.