Robert Grasso wrote: >Hello, > >I am reporting strange problems with my Mandrake 8.2 installation on my >Intel PC - maybe the key is with devfsd (Mandrake version is >devfsd-1.3.25-1.1mdk). I am a 10-years Unix-user, and a 2 years >part-time Unix/Linux admin, but I really don't know devfsd. > >So I have been reporting several symptoms for several weeks/months : >- sometimes after logging, the OS partially hangs : ps -ef does not >complete, and I need to reboot >- after the second reboot, the OS always works (I mean, ps -ef displays >completely); but always, I have > >modprobe <defunct> > >and this modprobe is the son of devfsd (which I unfortunately don't know >:-( >BTW, the previous partial ps -ef never includes this modprobe <defunct> > >- in /var/log/messages, I always have at boot: >devfsd: error calling: symlink in GLOBAL >devfsd[70]: error calling: "unlink" in "GLOBAL" > >Finally, one strange symptom, that I did not connect to devfsd at the >beginning : while scrolling with the wheel in galeon overloaded with >maybe 20 or 30 tabs in 6 windows (not konqueror or netscape or else) >regularly the session crashed, bringing me back to the login window, and >leaving on the virtual consoles (I have only two) a white >square/rectangle, 1 inch for each side nearly, including a fixed ugly >cursor arrow. Gradually, I became sure that that the wheel caused the >crash. >Today, I crashed the session while scrolling in evolution, moving the >wheel in evolution for the first time in the session, just the first >step of the forward move of the wheel; I just migrated to evolution >these days. > >I spent today some time to try to go a bit deeper; I read the man pages >of devfsd and devfsd.conf, discovered the startup of devfsd in >/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit and also the one in /etc/rc.d/init.d. As I did not >understand clearly the use of the former, I removed the symlink in >/etc/rc5.d and rebooted. > >Now I seem to be able to scroll with the wheel as much as I want in >galeon and evolution, and the scroll even seems to be very light and >rapid. > >Some more tests : devfsd, even with the defunct modprobe, dies quietly >with pkill devfsd : and the defunct modprobe disappears ! Then I restart >it by hand (/sbin/devfsd /dev) and rerun /etc/rc.d/init.d/devfsd start >by hand : no modprobe defuncts !!! I don't understand ... >As devfsd is S99devfsd in /etc/rc5.d with some others (linuxconf, >medusa, local), I renumbered these so that devfsd is really the last one >: no use, I still got modprobe <defunct> ... > >Unfortunately, I did not see anything useful in the logs (/var/log). > >I browsed in Google, but I did not see anyone with my problem. >Does somebody have an idea ? > >I am pasting at the end my devfsd.conf : I commented in several USB >lines (what tool generated them ???) so it's now identical to the >original one from the rpm (excepted some spaces here and there) > >Best regards > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? >Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com > devfsd is still very much bleeding edge... Maybe this next go-round the tide will turn, but someone has to get it tested and working because....
There are USB memories (storage devices) and CDRWs and webcams and scanners and mice that regularly get plugged in or removed in a hotswap fashion. hotplug is part of the answer, but devices have to ne made and removed dynamically as well and that is the function of devfs. There are firewire hard drives that will soon need support, too. And all of that "fluff" to some of us is still vital to many users, and it isn't all fluff, either. If you want to build in a failover capability, then the system has to be able to handle the hotswap of drives, so even entry into mid-level servers is partially dependent on devfs. OK, for the rest of it, I have no idea... I am not able to reproduce the messages or behavior on any of my 8.2 machines, so it is a good question. I have the following: 1. Intel BP810 Chipset Celeron 466 128M 10G CDROM floppy, USB mouse and keyboard (Yep a logo-removed barbie(tm)) 2. ASUS A7N266-VM Duron 1G 512M DDR 40G & 20G (RAIDed with dual-boot fior win) PS/2 Kbd USB Optical wheelmouse CDRW/DVD 3. Jetway 630TCF with 900MHz C3 192M SDRAM 20G Acer CDRW USB Optical wheelmouse PS/2 kbd 4. ECS K7S5A Voodoo5 5500 800MHz T-Bird 256M SDRAM PS/2 Optical Wheelmouse and Kbd, CDRW 5. Compaq Professional Workstation 5000 Twin 200MHz PPro 512K cache matched step 160M RAM PS/2 Optical wheelmouse PS/2 Kbd, NEC PD drive, 2G & 4G SCSI-UW drives. 6. ECS P6VEM C3 733 256M PS/2 Mouse and Kbd 40G, LS120, CD 7. IBM PC300GL PII-300 192MRAM 12G Wearnes CDRW PS/2 Optical Wheelmouse, PS/2 Kbd Intel LX type chipset with embedded CL video on mainboard. Civileme And if you would care to actually paste devfsd.conf this time around, I will read it with interest
Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
