Weird thing at boot time...

Alexvader · 01-20-2010, 03:31 PM

Hi Forum..

This has never happened before...

At boot time, before entering Runlevel 3 the HDD will go mad when mounting tmpfs on /dev/shm...

Code:

EXT3 FS on sda1, internal journal
EXT3-fs: mounted filesystem with ordered data mode
/dev/sda1 on /boot type ext3 (rw)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw)


-------------------------------------------

INIT:Entering runlevel 3

...........................

It will go on and on at the tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw) until i press ctrl-C...
then I will stop whatever it is doing, let the hdd rest a bit, and resume normal boot...

This is not very normal... is it..?!

What can i do to prevent this from happening...?

BRGDS

Alex

Jeebizz · 01-20-2010, 03:52 PM

Well after you control+c out of it and booting continues, what does the syslogs say? Also out of curiosity, what happens if you boot / with your install disk?

Alexvader · 01-20-2010, 04:01 PM

Hi JeeBizz

These are the last msgs...

Code:

Jan 20 21:15:27 iskandhar kernel: eth1: Broadcom BCM4315 802.11 Wireless Controller 5.10.91.9
Jan 20 21:15:27 iskandhar kernel: hda_intel: azx_get_response timeout, switching to polling mode: last cmd=0x204f0d00
Jan 20 21:15:27 iskandhar kernel: NVRM: loading NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module  180.29  Wed Feb  4 23:39:47 PST 2009
Jan 20 21:15:27 iskandhar kernel: Clocksource tsc unstable (delta = -174940755 ns)
Jan 20 21:16:49 iskandhar kernel: IRQ 16/nvidia: IRQF_DISABLED is not guaranteed on shared IRQs
Jan 20 21:17:01 iskandhar kdm_greet[3648]: Cannot load /usr/share/apps/kdm/faces/.default.face: No such file or directory
Jan 20 21:17:39 iskandhar python: [3819]: warning: CUPSEXT could not be loaded. Please check HPLIP installation.
Jan 20 21:33:26 iskandhar kernel: sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
Jan 20 21:33:26 iskandhar kernel: sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through

Do not have my install disk around...

and to complicate even further this is an encrypted setup in LVM....

Jeebizz · 01-20-2010, 04:05 PM

This might have something to do with it, but I would also like a fresh pair of eyes/fingers confirming this:

Code:

Jan 20 21:15:27 iskandhar kernel: hda_intel: azx_get_response timeout, switching to polling mode: last cmd=0x204f0d00

I don't know what is polling mode and why, but perhaps also your disk is not configured for dma?

What is the output of hdparm -l /dev/hda ?

Alexvader · 01-20-2010, 04:19 PM

Code:

root@iskandhar:/home/alex/trunk/pkg# hdparm -i /dev/sda

/dev/sda:

 Model=TOSHIBA MK3252GSX, FwRev=LV011C, SerialNo=Z7POF00WS
 Config={ Fixed }
 RawCHS=16383/16/63, TrkSize=0, SectSize=0, ECCbytes=4
 BuffType=unknown, BuffSize=8192kB, MaxMultSect=16, MultSect=16
 CurCHS=16383/16/63, CurSects=16514064, LBA=yes, LBAsects=625142448
 IORDY=on/off, tPIO={min:120,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120}
 PIO modes:  pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
 DMA modes:  sdma0 sdma1 sdma2 mdma0 mdma1 mdma2
 UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 *udma5
 AdvancedPM=yes: unknown setting WriteCache=enabled
 Drive conforms to: Unspecified:  ATA/ATAPI-3,4,5,6,7

 * signifies the current active mode

root@iskandhar:/home/alex/trunk/pkg#

This had never happened before...

Why now...?

Code:

root@iskandhar:/home/alex/trunk/pkg# hdparm -I /dev/sda

/dev/sda:

ATA device, with non-removable media
        Model Number:       TOSHIBA MK3252GSX                       
        Serial Number:      Z7POF00WS                               
        Firmware Revision:  LV011C                                  
        Transport:          Serial, ATA8-AST, SATA 1.0a, SATA II Extensions, SATA Rev 2.5, SATA Rev 2.6
Standards:                                                                                             
        Supported: 8 7 6 5                                                                             
        Likely used: 8                                                                                 
Configuration:                                                                                         
        Logical         max     current                                                                
        cylinders       16383   16383                                                                  
        heads           16      16                                                                     
        sectors/track   63      63                                                                     
        --                                                                                             
        CHS current addressable sectors:   16514064                                                    
        LBA    user addressable sectors:  268435455                                                    
        LBA48  user addressable sectors:  625142448                                                    
        Logical  Sector size:                   512 bytes                                              
        Physical Sector size:                   512 bytes                                              
        device size with M = 1024*1024:      305245 MBytes                                             
        device size with M = 1000*1000:      320072 MBytes (320 GB)                                    
        cache/buffer size  = 8192 KBytes                                                               
Capabilities:                                                                                          
        LBA, IORDY(can be disabled)                                                                    
        Queue depth: 32                                                                                
        Standby timer values: spec'd by Standard, no device specific minimum                           
        R/W multiple sector transfer: Max = 16  Current = 16                                           
        Advanced power management level: 128                                                           
        DMA: sdma0 sdma1 sdma2 mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 *udma5                  
             Cycle time: min=120ns recommended=120ns                                                   
        PIO: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4                                                                  
             Cycle time: no flow control=120ns  IORDY flow control=120ns                               
Commands/features:                                                                                     
        Enabled Supported:                                                                             
           *    SMART feature set                                                                      
                Security Mode feature set                                                              
           *    Power Management feature set
           *    Write cache
           *    Look-ahead
           *    WRITE_BUFFER command
           *    READ_BUFFER command
           *    NOP cmd
           *    DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
           *    Advanced Power Management feature set
           *    48-bit Address feature set
           *    Device Configuration Overlay feature set
           *    Mandatory FLUSH_CACHE
           *    FLUSH_CACHE_EXT
           *    SMART error logging
           *    SMART self-test
           *    General Purpose Logging feature set
           *    64-bit World wide name
           *    IDLE_IMMEDIATE with UNLOAD
           *    WRITE_UNCORRECTABLE_EXT command
           *    Gen1 signaling speed (1.5Gb/s)
           *    Gen2 signaling speed (3.0Gb/s)
           *    Native Command Queueing (NCQ)
           *    Phy event counters
           *    Idle-Unload when NCQ is active
                DMA Setup Auto-Activate optimization
                Device-initiated interface power management
           *    Software settings preservation
           *    SMART Command Transport (SCT) feature set
           *    SCT Long Sector Access (AC1)
           *    SCT Features Control (AC4)
           *    SCT Data Tables (AC5)
Security:
        Master password revision code = 65534
                supported
        not     enabled
        not     locked
        not     frozen
        not     expired: security count
                supported: enhanced erase
        116min for SECURITY ERASE UNIT. 116min for ENHANCED SECURITY ERASE UNIT.
Logical Unit WWN Device Identifier: 50000390b6189b64
        NAA             : 5
        IEEE OUI        : 000039
        Unique ID       : 0b6189b64
Checksum: correct
root@iskandhar:/home/alex/trunk/pkg#

BrZ · 01-20-2010, 05:48 PM

Messed with udev or your fstab file? I had some problems when migrating udev to '/lib64/udev' and tmpfs not being mounted at boot because, on my insanity, I forgot about the 'devices' subdir =[

Look inside rc.S, rc.M and rc.udev for some clues about how tmpfs is mounted at boot

Even with the long delay, '/dev/shm' is mounted when you boot your machine?

If not, can you mount tmpfs by hand? Type 'mount tmpfs' and look the output...

ps: when I type 'mount', mine reads 'tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,noatime)'.

Alexvader · 01-20-2010, 06:37 PM

Hi BrZ

this is my mount

Code:

alex@iskandhar:~/trunk/elmerfem/trunk/ElmerGUI$ mount
/dev/cryptvg/root on / type ext3 (rw,errors=continue,data=ordered)
proc on /proc type proc (rw)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw)
usbfs on /proc/bus/usb type usbfs (rw)
/dev/sda1 on /boot type ext3 (rw)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw)
/dev/sdb1 on /media/KINGSTON type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=hal,uid=1000,utf8,shortname=mixed,flush)
alex@iskandhar:~/trunk/elmerfem/trunk/ElmerGUI$

this is my /etc/fstab

Code:

/dev/cryptvg/swap swap             swap        defaults         0   0
/dev/cryptvg/root /                ext3        defaults         1   1
/dev/sda1        /boot            ext3        defaults         1   2
#/dev/cdrom      /mnt/cdrom       auto        noauto,owner,ro  0   0
/dev/fd0         /mnt/floppy      auto        noauto,owner     0   0
devpts           /dev/pts         devpts      gid=5,mode=620   0   0
proc             /proc            proc        defaults         0   0
tmpfs            /dev/shm         tmpfs       defaults         0   0

BRGDS

Alex

I do not wait... as soon as the hdd starts its "aerobics" I Ctrl-C...

BrZ · 01-20-2010, 08:09 PM

Try changing tmpfs on fstab to "tmpfs /dev/shm tmpfs defaults,noatime 0 0"

Alexvader · 01-21-2010, 07:06 AM

Hi BrZ

The issue fixed itself....

I let the activity proceed till eventually boot continued...

Next time I booted, ther was no more delay...

Strange this...

Any Idea what might have caused it...?

BRGDS

Alex

BrZ · 01-21-2010, 07:20 AM

@Alexvader,

No idea... Sorry.

zordrak · 01-21-2010, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeebizz

This might have something to do with it, but I would also like a fresh pair of eyes/fingers confirming this:

Code:

Jan 20 21:15:27 iskandhar kernel: hda_intel: azx_get_response timeout, switching to polling mode: last cmd=0x204f0d00

I don't know what is polling mode and why, but perhaps also your disk is not configured for dma?

What is the output of hdparm -l /dev/hda ?

For reference hda_intel is the Intel ICHx sound driver module and is not related to the ata subsystem.

Jeebizz · 01-21-2010, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zordrak

For reference hda_intel is the Intel ICHx sound driver module and is not related to the ata subsystem.

Yea, I thought it was the ata sys. Dopey me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alexvader

The issue fixed itself....

I let the activity proceed till eventually boot continued...

Next time I booted, ther was no more delay...

Strange this...

Any Idea what might have caused it...?

Unfortunately you will have to keep looking through your syslog. The reason of why is buried somewhere there. Just post whatever you find/think is relevant to your disk activity during that date/time and hopefully one of us (probably not me) can actually figure it out.