Ext3 users - Feb 2002 - Total lockups using ext3

For several months I have had frequent lockups using 2.4.x kernels. They
began with about 2.4.10 and have continued down to 2.4.17. 

They always occur when I am online, downloading. The moden stops, the
hard disk light is on, and no key works. They never happen with 2.2.20
or with earlier (i.e. pre-ext3) 2.4 kernels, and they never occur on my
laptop with any kernel, including those using ext3.

Since inactivating ext3 (by changing /etc/fstab) the lockups have ceased
to occur.

I therefore conclude that the lockups are due to ext3. I can manage
without it but would like to use it if possible. Any suggestions please?

BTW, this is an Intel Coppermine 600Mhz, with 192M memory.


Anthony


-- 
Anthony Campbell - running Linux GNU/Debian (Windows-free zone)
For an electronic book (The Assassins of Alamut), skeptical 
essays, and over 150 book reviews, go to: http://www.acampbell.org.uk/

Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our
obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come
from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. [Carl Sagan]

Hi,

On Fri, Feb 01, 2002 at 06:10:48PM +0000, Anthony Campbell wrote:
 
> They always occur when I am online, downloading. The moden stops, the
> hard disk light is on, and no key works. They never happen with 2.2.20
> or with earlier (i.e. pre-ext3) 2.4 kernels, and they never occur on my
> laptop with any kernel, including those using ext3.
> 
> Since inactivating ext3 (by changing /etc/fstab) the lockups have ceased
> to occur.
> 
> I therefore conclude that the lockups are due to ext3. I can manage
> without it but would like to use it if possible. Any suggestions please?
Doesn't sound like a filesystem problem --- if the hd remains on, it
sounds very much as if you've got something going wrong in the disk
stack, either in the ide driver or the disk itself giving up.  The
fact that it always happens when the modem is on also suggests that
this is not a filesystem problem.

Try reproducing it with a readable console enabled --- either run in
text console mode (no X), or set up a serial console and use another
machine to capture the output.  "ttywatch" is excellent for monitoring
serial consoles.

Cheers,
 Stephen