QUESTION: Is there klog output we can easily enable to watch for low level
I/O errors from the diskette? To see why we enter D-wait ... and just stay
there?
Could it be that fd0 and ext2 are fine but some other trouble keeps us in
D-wait?
We use a lot of sneaker net from a Linux server to other Linux boxes
that only have exactly one PPP connection. Application parameter files are
loaded from the server/PC of origin to the target machine using diskettes --
one per application. This means a lot of mount/umount cycles on a diskette.
We cannot seem to get auto-fsck to work either thru tune2fs commands or
using options to mkfs.ext2.
Steve Coile suggested that we try "errors=continue" in fstab. We did,
but the diskette superblock already says that. We added "check=strict" too.
The diskette drives that we have the most trouble with are TEAC units --
slim jobs that usually go into a notebook computer. They are "green drives"
and we initially suspected some idle wind-down/run-up hand shake. TEAC
says, "... the run under DOS ..." and offered little further help.
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Folks,
More "evidence": Make a new file system on a known good diskette.
Mount it with any set of options you like. Write to the diskette
and "... fill that sucker plum full..."
1) The process goes into D wait
2) Sometimes you get a Kernel panic
3) "-t msdos" is worse than "-t ext2" file systems
We wrote a little tester that does mkfs --> mount --> fill --> umount
in a forever loop. The first tester was a script that worked fine 95+% of
the time. The second tester was a C program that wrote 15, 100K arrays to
the diskette [Hmm, 15*100,000 is bigger than 1,440,000] Usually the write
fails, no problem. Sometimes we get D-wait or Kernel Panic.
BTW. It must be a default but all of our ext2 diskettes show
"errors=continue" as the default according to tune2fs. Could it be that
mount is not respecting
the superblock on diskettes? [I could not get automatic fsck, after time or
mount events, to work so I'm suspicious.]
Can someone help me with this and make me a hero?
--- Dan 0;-D
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"In a dragon fight, often times, the bleachers get scorched."
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Daniel M. St.Andre'
Software Development Manager
ASOMA Instruments, Inc.
11675 Jollyville Road
Austin, TX 78759 USA
voice: 512.258.6608 x202
fax: 512.331.9123
ofc email: 76245.125@compuserve.com
home email: grillon@interserv.com
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