Hi all! I need your help. My server doesn't respond any more. Everything crashed. How can I find out if this is a bug or it is simply overloaded? I don't have much running, just KDE with about 10 programs on each of the 16 desktops, and a few background processes. This seems much, but I often have much more stuff running, and it is not even slow. It does respond when I ping it, but won't let me in over SSH. The processor doesn't sound busy, so I suspect that the scheduler has gone away, or there is some bug in the kernel, or some system table is too small. How do I find out what the problem is? (Never had any before.) FreeBSD has always managed the highest loads, even on normal PC hardware. Is it possible to bring the server back without rebooting? I would lose a lot of unsaved data if I had to reboot. I'm running 4.8-STABLE. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Daniela
> Hi all!Hi> I need your help.Ok. You should ask generic questions like this on freebsd-questions@freebsd.org, as its not directly rleated to FreeBSD-STABLE.> My server doesn't respond any more. Everything crashed. > How can I find out if this is a bug or it is simply overloaded?Did you try looking at its console? It probably have lots of pretty messages of whats going on..> I don't have much running, just KDE with about 10 programs > on each of the 16 desktops, and a few background processes. > This seems much, but I often have much more stuff running, > and it is not even slow. > > It does respond when I ping it, but won't let me in over SSH. > The processor doesn't sound busy, so I suspect that the > scheduler has gone away, or there is some bug in the kernel, > or some system table is too small.Hm. What kind of sound does a busy CPU make? :-)> How do I find out what the problem is? (Never had any > before.)Yeah, attach a console and find out whats going on.> FreeBSD has always managed the highest loads, even > on normal PC hardware. Is it possible to bring the server > back without rebooting? I would lose a lot of unsaved data if > I had to reboot. I'm running 4.8-STABLE.When a server responds to ping, but ssh times out etc it often relates to hdd problems. Atleast in my experiences it has been so (dead disk). And if it is hdd problems, and FreeBSD couldnt get the disk to wake up again, you probably already have lost data.> Any help would be greatly appreciated. > Daniela
On Tue, 3 Jun 2003, Daniela wrote:> My server doesn't respond any more. Everything crashed.Did the system wedge hard, or did X just lockup? Does ctrl-alt-backspace do anything? That will often kill X if it's misbehaving. More information about your hardware might also help someone spot potential problems.> How can I find out if this is a bug or it is simply overloaded?You said this has never happened before... Were you running anything or doing anything that might coincide with the crash? Crash may not be the right word... The first thing is deciding if it's really the OS, or some application that's caused the behavior.> I don't have much running, just KDE with about 10 programs > on each of the 16 desktops, and a few background processes. > This seems much, but I often have much more stuff running, > and it is not even slow.What's the load average look like? Are these network or I/O heavy programs, or just "simple" applications?> It does respond when I ping it, but won't let me in over SSH.Can you login locally? Are the consoles unresponsive? Was anything printed on the console, particularly bright-white text? :)> The processor doesn't sound busy, so I suspect that the > scheduler has gone away, or there is some bug in the kernel, or > some system table is too small.If the disk, network, etc. are quiet and the machine in unresponsive to console input... Your only option may be a reboot and a thorough investigation afterwards.> I would lose a lot of unsaved data if I had to reboot.Eek. Save often, regardless of OS. ;) -mrh -- From: "Spam Catcher" <spam-catcher@adept.org> To: spam-catcher@adept.org Do NOT send email to the address listed above or you will be added to a blacklist!