[Samba] Re: kernel oops generated by smbfs module

John Welch
Wed, 27 Apr 2005 15:23:04 -0000

> Greetings,
>
> I have run into a kernel oops that I can generate at will, and that
> hangs my machine. The machine is running Gentoo Linux, 2.6.11 kernel
> and gcc 3.3.5. I can post more information if needed.
>
> The problem arises when I mount an SMB share from a 2000-series Snap
> server (network appliance); software version 3.4.804, hardware 2.0.3.
> The mount is fine, and can sit for a long time. However, as soon as I
> start doing ls in directories on the mount, or tab-completing
> filenames (i.e. short reads), I get a kernel oops. This invariably
> happens within 20 seconds of starting to do this.
>
> I have tried two separate NICs (one tulip-compatible card and a 3com
> 905B) both of which have the same problem. The machine hangs whether
> or not smbfs is a module (although running it as a module makes the
> source of the oops more obvious).
>
> I have never debugged the linux kernel before. What information do you
> folks need from me? I have at least one of the oopses in
> /var/log/messages, and can generate more of them. I read some of the
> kernel documentation but found it a little bit confusing, which is why
> I'm asking here.
>
> Regards,
>
> -- Erik Osheim


Sorry, I don't have an answer for you.  However, I can tell you that I
have experienced the exact same problem with two Snap servers (model
4100), using Fedora Core 2/3, kernel 2.6.? through current 2.6.11.  One
of the Snap servers is running software version 3.4.803, but the other
was recently upgraded to version 4.0.855 and the problem still exists.
Mounting as a cifs file system, as someone suggested, doesn't really
help, at least not for me.  I don't get the hard lockups like I do with
smbfs, but as soon as I try to browse beyond the root directory of the
share the process just hangs; although other applications still
function.  This seems to be a kernel 2.6 issue, as I have used similar
mounts on RedHat 7-9 and Fedora Core 1 systems without any problems.  I
ended up having to use NFS.  If you ever find a solution I would be
interested in hearing about it.

John Welch