Re: [9fans] problems with SCSI card and file server

Re: [9fans] problems with SCSI card and file server

[anothy]

on the first issue:
running "rc -c 'cd' &" didn't result in a process being
left behind. "cd &" did. i accidently blew it up before
getting a debugger on it. but "cd /usr/anothy" hung the
same as "cd", as did "cd /lib".

i agree termination and cabling issues are the most
common SCSI problems, but they're not here. i've found
the cause, however: faulty SCSI controller. replacing it
makes this issue go away. still, it's a strange failure
mode, no?

this hasn't affected the second issue, though. yes, russ,
the floppy motor stays on. i let it run for about 5min.
before rebooting it. the light's solid.
-α.

Re: [9fans] problems with SCSI card and file server

[nemo]

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The (ide) fs kernel I use seems to disklike some floppy units on some
machines; the simptom is like yours. I tried replacing the unit it
dislikes w/ one it worked with on a different machine. It didn't work
either. Thus I think it's the controller on the main board the thing that the
kernel did not like (same floppy unit, same floppy). But I didn't track this
any further, sorry. (both floppy units work properly w/ other operating systems,
so I think it's just the way the fs kernel uses it).

hth



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From: anothy@cosym.net
To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu
Subject: [9fans] problems with SCSI card and file server
Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 15:04:06 -0400
Message-ID: <20010510190831.2A3E8199F8@mail.cse.psu.edu>

two seperate problems: adding SCSI to a terminal and setting up a fs.

1)	i've got an IDE terminal running the current distribution. works great.
i've added a SCSI card (buslogic BT-948). still no problem. but when i
attach disks to that card, the system hangs halfway through booting.

after a bunch of debugging prints, it seems that things are hanging in this
line in init.c:
	execl("/bin/rc", "rc", "-c", ". /rc/bin/termrc; home=/usr/$user; cd; . lib/profile", 0);
it's completing termrc properly - adding "rc" to the end gives me a prompt
from which things like 'cat' work. so i did the rest of the line manually.
it fails on 'cd'. it just hangs. the kernel's still working (mouse moves,
responds to ^t^tp), but cd never returns. skipping that, it'll fail on
'rio' in my lib/profile. does anyone understand what's going on? the
system is an AMD Athlon 1.2Ghz system, ASUS A7V133 motherboard.

2)	i'm trying to build a file server. i've built the kernel, but it hangs
before getting up to config. turning on chat in dosfs.c indicates it's
hanging in getclust (i see the 'getclust read addr 0' line, then nothing).
this is on the above system, but the behaviour is the same with or without
SCSI card and/or disks. 

i then tried the same floppy on another system - a Pentium 100, unknown
motherboard - and it fails very differently: it gets to the normal cpu0:
line, then prints 'cpu0:	100Mhz' five times on a line, for several
lines, before panicing.

confused by the two very different failure modes, i threw the disk into
someone else's Compaq Presario - and it came up fine, dropping right
into config mode (the nvr on the floppy is junk). this isn't useful, as
this system has no SCSI disks (and isn't mine), but might be informative.

so again, i'm confused here. the floppy drive on these systems are all
known to be good - i can read back and verify the entire contents of the
disk - and the floppy itself is aparently fine, as it works on the
compaq. i've also tried getting the kernel via bootp, which doesn't
change the behaviour at all. anyone? help on either of these problems
would be very appreciated.
-α.

Re: [9fans] problems with SCSI card and file server

[Boyd Roberts]

> 99% of problems with scsi drives are cabling or termination.

sure are.

Re: [9fans] problems with SCSI card and file server

[jmk]

99% of problems with scsi drives are cabling or termination.

Re: [9fans] problems with SCSI card and file server

[Russ Cox]

if things are working partially, perhaps you can do

	rc -c 'cd' &

and then run acid to see what the kernel stack for
that process looks like?  another thing to try might 
be an explicit "cd /usr/anothy" which will avoid a getenv.

as for the second problem, is the drive motor still on?

russ

[9fans] problems with SCSI card and file server

[anothy]

two seperate problems: adding SCSI to a terminal and setting up a fs.

1)	i've got an IDE terminal running the current distribution. works great.
i've added a SCSI card (buslogic BT-948). still no problem. but when i
attach disks to that card, the system hangs halfway through booting.

after a bunch of debugging prints, it seems that things are hanging in this
line in init.c:
	execl("/bin/rc", "rc", "-c", ". /rc/bin/termrc; home=/usr/$user; cd; . lib/profile", 0);
it's completing termrc properly - adding "rc" to the end gives me a prompt
from which things like 'cat' work. so i did the rest of the line manually.
it fails on 'cd'. it just hangs. the kernel's still working (mouse moves,
responds to ^t^tp), but cd never returns. skipping that, it'll fail on
'rio' in my lib/profile. does anyone understand what's going on? the
system is an AMD Athlon 1.2Ghz system, ASUS A7V133 motherboard.

2)	i'm trying to build a file server. i've built the kernel, but it hangs
before getting up to config. turning on chat in dosfs.c indicates it's
hanging in getclust (i see the 'getclust read addr 0' line, then nothing).
this is on the above system, but the behaviour is the same with or without
SCSI card and/or disks. 

i then tried the same floppy on another system - a Pentium 100, unknown
motherboard - and it fails very differently: it gets to the normal cpu0:
line, then prints 'cpu0:	100Mhz' five times on a line, for several
lines, before panicing.

confused by the two very different failure modes, i threw the disk into
someone else's Compaq Presario - and it came up fine, dropping right
into config mode (the nvr on the floppy is junk). this isn't useful, as
this system has no SCSI disks (and isn't mine), but might be informative.

so again, i'm confused here. the floppy drive on these systems are all
known to be good - i can read back and verify the entire contents of the
disk - and the floppy itself is aparently fine, as it works on the
compaq. i've also tried getting the kernel via bootp, which doesn't
change the behaviour at all. anyone? help on either of these problems
would be very appreciated.
-α.