Message-Id: <200502041713.j14HDkjp006327@laptop11.inf.utfsm.cl>
To: jerome lacoste <jerome.lacoste@gmail.com>
cc: Bernd Eckenfels <ecki-news2005-01@lina.inka.de>,
       linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: Huge unreliability - does Linux have something to do with it? 
In-Reply-To: Message from jerome lacoste <jerome.lacoste@gmail.com> 
   of "Fri, 04 Feb 2005 12:28:07 BST." <5a2cf1f60502040328aaf6c9f@mail.gmail.com> 
Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2005 14:13:46 -0300
From: Horst von Brand <vonbrand@inf.utfsm.cl>
Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org
Content-Length: 1770
Lines: 38

jerome lacoste <jerome.lacoste@gmail.com> said:
> Bernd Eckenfels <ecki-news2005-01@lina.inka.de> said:
> >> Could a hardware failure look like bad sectors to fsck?

> > A failure of the bus or a former sporadic error can cause defective fs, but
> > normally you have a read error in fsck no structure error.
> > 
> > Are you using hdparm? is the system perhaps overheating or overclocked?

> no overclock
> hdparm is used but I cannot tell you exactly what the config is (now
> machine has been running memtest for 1.5 hour). I don't think I use
> special option: probably the defaults in my config file (mult_sect 16,
> dma on, write_cache off).

There are combinations of IDE + disk that slowly corrupt filesystems with
DMA on, if the default setting is DMA off _don't touch it_. Not all bad
combinations are catched by the code in the kernel (intel + some Western
Digital disk is what drove me up the wall until I disabled DMA).

What machine is this, what disk?

> overheating: perhaps. The machine is hot and running many hours per
> day (usually 12-16). It s running the fans very often, but it's always
> been like that. I've tried to control the fan, but then the
> temperature goes high very quickly. So I let the fans run.

Wise decision.
-- 
Dr. Horst H. von Brand                   User #22616 counter.li.org
Departamento de Informatica                     Fono: +56 32 654431
Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria              +56 32 654239
Casilla 110-V, Valparaiso, Chile                Fax:  +56 32 797513
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