Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!mit-eddie!attctc!mjbtn!root
From: root@mjbtn.MFEE.TN.US (Mark J. Bailey)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.xenix
Subject: Re: XENIX 2.3.2 and cron
Summary: My cron thinks it lives months ago!
Keywords: cron 2.3.2 hangs
Message-ID: <490@mjbtn.MFEE.TN.US>
Date: 16 Jul 89 15:43:15 GMT
References: <104@ssc.UUCP> <1989Jul14.142929.22430@berner.uucp>
Distribution: na
Organization: JobSoft Design & Development, Murfreesboro, TN
Lines: 54

In article <1989Jul14.142929.22430@berner.uucp>, richard@berner.uucp (r) writes:
> In article <104@ssc.UUCP> fyl@ssc.UUCP (Phil Hughes) writes:
> >On a XENIX 386 Release 2.3.2 system we have a situation where
> >the cron process is started but it never executes.  If you kill it
> >and start another one, all is well.
> >
> >I remember a discussion of this some time ago but as I remember the
> >case was that if there was nothing to schedule for a long time it
> >would never run.  We have stuff scheduled at least every half hour.
> >
> >Any ideas?
> 
> I have had that same problem here on our 2.3.2 machine as well ever
> since we upgraded to 2.3.2.  When we reboot the machine, cron must
> be killed and restarted every time, or it will just sit in memory
> and never execute. It's just one of those things I have learned to
> live with, but it is still a pain.  

My cron has to be killed and restarted also!  But in my case, it is calling
up cron tables from many months ago!!!  No before anyone assumes that I
don't know what I am doing...:-)...I DO know how to use the crontab command
and have done so strictly according to the man page from cron(C).  The
funny thing is that up until a few months ago, when the problem started,
I had *NEVER* used the crontab command, and had *NEVER* had a lick of
trouble!  I used to edit the /usr/spool/cron/crontabs/* files directly,
save the changes, then kill cron and restart.  At boot time, cron came up 
without a hitch!  This is on Xenix 2.3.1 which I installed last October.
As I said, it was when I first used the crontab command that I noticed
my troubles begin.  Now, Iseem to be stuck with it.  I quit using the
crontab command and went back to the "old" way.  Still my boot up cron
process was loading an image of the tables from months ago.  I recently
went back to the crontab command, and still it boots with months old
tables.  I am curious about cron's internal tables.  Where are they?
Could that /usr/lib/cron/FIFO have something to do with it?  I have
scanned my entire filesystem looking for stray crontab files.  I have
purged all the crontab tables and used crontab to reenter them fresh!
Still no luck!  It boots with a cron image from way back.  If I kill 
the boot cron process (22 or 24) and restart, it takes off with all the
current tables!

I can't figure this one!  Please, someone, SCO ... HELP! :-()

(Sorry for this surge of emotion, but I can't get anywhere with it!)

Thanks,

Mark.

-- 
Mark J. Bailey                                    "Ya'll com bak naw, ya hear!"
USMAIL: 511 Memorial Blvd., Murfreesboro, TN 37129 ___________________________
VOICE:  +1 615 893 0098                            |         JobSoft
UUCP:   ...!{ames,mit-eddie}!attctc!mjbtn!mjb      | Design & Development Co.
DOMAIN: mjb@mjbtn.MFEE.TN.US                       |  Murfreesboro, TN  USA