Hi all,
I've recently uploaded version 1.2.1 of VA-CTCS, VA's test suite for
stressing hardware, to the locations mentioned at the bottom of this
e-mail. Please read README.FIRST if you are not familiar with this
software -- this system loader has been known to damage marginal hardware,
including catching system power supplies *ON FIRE*, and neither VA Linux
Systems nor myself will be responsible for any damage caused.
What's new in this version since 1.1.7? Here is a summary:
- Lazy Developer Installation method:
tar -zvxf ctcs-1.2.1.tar.gz
cd ctcs-1.2.1
./newburn
-- and CTCS takes care of compiling itself and checking your system
for required binaries, etc.
- Many new modules:
Included in VA-CTCS is Robert Redelmeier's CPU/Memory stress
testers, the BYTE benchmarking suite, crashme, as well as some
new VA authored modules (such as the Fast kernel-compile test)
- New command line options to "newburn" with -h to get help.
- Enhanced memory tester checks for error consistency and provides context
for memory failures.
- More compatibility with non-Red Hat distributions and the 2.4 kernel
series.
- Some work started to make CTCS more friendly to non-x86 platforms, but
there are still issues.
What is VA-CTCS?
VA-CTCS consists of a test iterator, a collection of test modules, and a
test generator. The main test program, "newburn", detects your hardware
and comes up with a custom combination of tests designed to beat on your
system and its peripherals, modified by your parameters. VA
Linux Systems has released VA-CTCS under the GPL.
Why is VA-CTCS useful for kernel developers?
CTCS is useful for:
- Use as a generic system loader
- Iterating your own test code and recording failure data for you
while you concentrate on debugging
- Bashing at the filesystem/buffer cache layer with the data and
block test modules
- and much more..
If you've ever spent a lot of time scripting tests to report time to
failure, number of iterations, record all of it to a synchronous logfile,
etc, you'll find CTCS to be handy. Besides, as you know, when a system is
thrashing lots of obscure problems can come out of the woodwork..
Where is VA-CTCS?
VA-CTCS has a SourceForge project:
https://sourceforge.net/project/?group_id=5317
The latest version is available via FTP:
ftp://ftp.valinux.com/pub/software/Cerberus/ctcs-1.2.1.tar.gz
-- Jason T. Collins Software Engineer VA Linux Systems- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 23 2000 - 21:00:21 EST