[TAG] [ssb22 at cam.ac.uk: Talkback:141/brownss.html]

[Ben Okopnik]

----- Forwarded message from "Silas S. Brown" <ssb22 at cam.ac.uk> -----

Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 20:34:43 +0100
From: "Silas S. Brown" <ssb22 at cam.ac.uk>
To: TAG <tag at lists.linuxgazette.net>
To: tag at lists.linuxgazette.net
Subject: Talkback:141/brownss.html

In my article in LG 141, "An NSLU2 (Slug) Reminder
Server", I suggested running a script to check for
soundcard failure and repeatedly beeping the speaker
to draw attention to the problem when this happens.

However, since upgrading from Debian Etch to Debian Lenny
(LG 161 Upgrading Your Slug), I have found this script to
be most unreliable: the NSLU2 can crash completely in the
middle of a beep, leaving the speaker sounding
permanently and the NSLU2 unusable until you cut the
power.  The probability of this crash seems to be well
above an acceptable level, and the watchdog somehow fails
to reboot the NSLU2 when it happens.

I have not been able to get any clue about why this
failure now occurs in the new kernel + OS, except to say
that it seems more likely to occur when the operating
system is under load.  A "workaround" is to increase the
length of time between the beeps (say, beep every 10
seconds instead of every second), but this merely reduces
the probability of the crash; it does not eliminate it.

Does anyone have any insight into this?

Thanks.      Silas

-- 
Silas S Brown http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/ssb22

----- End forwarded message -----

-- 
* Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://LinuxGazette.NET *