Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!apple!motcsd!hpda!hpcuhb!hpindda!jack
From: jack@hpindda.HP.COM (Jack Repenning)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp
Subject: Re: HP-UX 6.5 NFS problem on cnodes. (A help question -- 2 pages)
Message-ID: <4310045@hpindda.HP.COM>
Date: 10 Jul 89 19:42:43 GMT
References: <9773@boulder.Colorado.EDU>
Organization: HP Information Networks, Cupertino, CA
Lines: 25


	We have no problem starting csh when all hosts are alive
	that we have NFS mounts on, but have experienced inability
	to start csh when any of those hosts has gone down.  (Further
	qualifications follow.)  This happens if ANY of those hosts
	goes down -- it's not necessary to have an file open on the
	defunct host.  The situation cures itself when the dead host
	revives.

	..., but X clients that depend on csh hang.

Does starting up X include adding some directory to your PATH, which
is actually an NFS mount from the system that's down?  As I understand
it, csh attempts to hash all directories in $PATH whenever it starts:
if it can't get to one, then it hangs (not necessary to actually *run*
anything from the inaccessible directory, merely to have it in your
PATH).

As someone else pointed out, this (and possibly other interactions)
get better when you do a soft mount.  Basically, "hard mount" means
"keep trying forever, " while "soft mount" means "give up after a
reasonable time."  And "hard" is the default.


Jack Repenning