This is probably a nasty one, but here goes...
Tonight I experienced a total lock up from Linux while playing MP3s and
making a backup on tape at the same time. An experience I haven't had in
around a year, so I was quite stunned :-(
First, hard- and software details:
* PII-266 with 96 MB of RAM
* Linux kernel 2.2.2, heavily modularized I must say
* libc.so.5.4.46
* two soundcards, a MAD16 look-a-like and a GUS MAX
* Diamond Fireport 40 SCSI card (uses ncr53c8xx driver)
* 8 GB SCSI diskspace
* PCI NE2K clone ethernet card
* TV Tuner card
* CD-Writer, on SCSI
* CD-ROM
* Travan floppy tape drive (400 MB uncompressed capacity)
* Assorted bits and pieces
[Stop drooling :-)] Anyway, at the moment of the hang I was playing MP3s
with mpg123 through the GUS MAX from a CD I had mounted in the CD-Writer (to
keep my regular CD-ROM free). At the same time I was making a backup on the
tape drive, using the zft-compressor module and a simple 'tar' command, when
all of a sudden the system hang on me after a few minutes. Sound stopped,
tape drive rolled on for about a minute, then stopped. The rest was a total
freeze.
I reset the machine, and tried the same procedure again, with the same
result: total hang. I wasn't doing anything major in the mean time, sorting
out mail and such.
Unfortunately, because of the hang there was nothing in the logs (and I'm
running KDE so I can't see the console) :-(((.
However, since both devices use DMA heavily I suspect the culprit is in
there somewhere. There is no DMA/IRQ conflicht in my system, though it is a
bit crammed :-). I can make backups just fine (did that yesterday), and play
music, but not at the same time. What _could_ be difference in this case is
that the MP3 file is read directly from the CD in the CD-Writer on the SCSI
bus (the SCSI controller does not use DMA, though).
My previous kernel was 2.0.36; with that kernel I also couldn't use sound
and tape at the same time, but that was because the floppy controller
couldn't feed the tape drive at a sufficient rate, which caused it to
re-seek constantly. However, while trying that out I never experienced a
hang. The hardware in my machine has been the same for about 3 months, so
that's pretty much ruled out as
"things-I-said-I-didn't-change-but-did-anyway".
I'm afraid I can't tackle this on my own; I lack the necessary time and
knowledge about the new 2.2 kernels. Maybe it's just a quirk of my system, or
did anyone else experience the same? And were there any major changes in the
DMA stuff that could cause this?
Anyway, I think I'll manage without music while making backups, but still
it was a nasty suprise :-(
NB: I'm not a the list, I'll check the archives but CC:s are apreciated.
- Nemosoft
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