Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id ; Tue, 18 Jun 2002 13:20:46 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id ; Tue, 18 Jun 2002 13:20:45 -0400 Received: from mail17.speakeasy.net ([216.254.0.217]:2015 "EHLO mail.speakeasy.net") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id ; Tue, 18 Jun 2002 13:20:41 -0400 Subject: Incredible weirdness with eepro100? From: Joshua Newton To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Ximian Evolution 1.0.7-1mdk Date: 18 Jun 2002 13:20:40 -0400 Message-Id: <1024420841.2631.14.camel@claymore.corona> Mime-Version: 1.0 Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 3905 Lines: 92 I'm posting here as a last resort, having spent about forty hours trying to root out this particular problem. First up, my hardware and software configuration on the problem machine: ABIT KT7A-RAID v1.0 w/ 1GHz Athlon Thunderbird 256MB SDR SDRAM /dev/hda: Maxtor 2B020H1 (20GB, 5400rpm) /dev/hdc: Maxtor 5T040H4 (40GB, 7200rpm) /dev/hdd: Sony CDU5211 (52x ATAPI) eth0: 3Com 3c905B @ 100Mbps/FDX eth1: Intel PILA8470B (eepro100) @ 100Mbps/FDX uname -a: Linux rapier.corona 2.4.19-pre9 #2 Tue Jun 18 11:34:52 EDT 2002 i686 unknown cat /etc/mandrake-release: Mandrake Linux release 8.3 (Cooker) for i586 Okay, the problem, as simply as I can state it: uploading really fast to this particular box works okay for a bit, and then suddenly stops hard. For example, a quick cp(1) across NFSv3 -- from a known working box to the whacked-out box -- yields the following: cp: writing `/scratch/test/chaos12m.sf2': Input/output error A quick check of dmesg(8) turns up zilch, as does a quick tail on /var/log/messages. As I'm watching the lights on the switch, they start off blinking madly, as is proper for a 100Mbps/FDX transmission between machines connected to the same switch, sitting ~6ft apart, and then the lights stop blinking entirely. The behaviour can be repeated across FTP and Samba as well, both with known-working boxen, one running Linux 2.4.18 stock and the other running WinXP with all recent patches applied, both using eepro100 cards. Transfer between these two working boxen (only tested via ftp so far) works beautifully, with the files screaming across at a healthy ~8MB/s. I am pulling my hair out on this problem. I've tried various different kernel versions on this box (2.4.19-pre2-ac2, 2.4.18 stock, 2.4.19-pre2), different drivers (in additional to the stock eepro100 drivers, the official Intel e100 driver gives the same results with both v1.8.37 and v2.0.30), different switch ports (on an Intel Express 520T Switch -- nice hardware), different NICs (I had a spare eepro100, and tried that), different protocols, and on and on. I'm just about at the kicking and screaming stage now. So far, I've found precisely THREE clues to the problem: (1) Downloading files is no problem. This ONLY occurs on upload. (2) The problem is only triggered by certain files being transferred. On the WinXP box, I was trying to transfer across some .wav files I'd produced in the course of running some MIDIs thru wavetable synthesis on the SB Dead! card on the XP box. The first .wav transferred fine, and every other one stopped dead. This was over FTP, and it was repeatable. The second time, I was transferring the Chaos 12MB SoundFont bank from the working Linux 2.4.18 box to the goofy one, and got I/O errors across NFS. If I copied a bunch of other files first, they'd go across fine, and then it would choke on the SoundFont. This was repeatable with both NFS and FTP. (3) Here's the really good clue: if I transfer the SoundFont bank from the good box to the goofy box with scp -- hey, it works instantly! My working guess is that something somewhere in the networking code on this particular machine -- or in both the e100 and eepro100 drivers -- is seeing SOMETHING it doesn't like in certain files, and it's exploding on takeoff. Any assistance whatsoever on this problem would be greatly appreciated. -- "However, Science People like to believe in laws, even when such laws can be circumvented by their own Science. They become most displeased if you suggest it would be more accurate to speak of the Generally Good Idea of Gravity or the Three Useful Guidelines of Thermodynamics." -- James Alan Gardner, /Ascending/ - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/