Newsgroups: comp.unix.aux
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!yale.edu!cmcl2!panix!alexis
From: alexis@panix.uucp (Alexis Rosen)
Subject: Re: Major problems with A/UX serial drivers?
Message-ID: <1991Jun27.070443.11411@panix.uucp>
Date: Thu, 27 Jun 91 07:04:43 GMT
References: <1991Jun26.184317.15654@tandem.com>
Organization: PANIX - Public Access Unix Systems of NY

monk@monk.ctg.tandem.com writes:
>Last week I posted a plea for help on what appears to be the same problem
>as yours.  After installation of 2.0.1 everything worked fine for about 2
>weeks.  Then, much as you've described it, my machine just hangs periodically -
>sometimes the screen blanks, other times (especially while running X11) it'll
>just stop accepting input to the xterms, etc.  I'm not exactly sure it is 
>related to serial ports, given that my machine is a standalone unit on our 
>net, with no other regular users.  I do use a modem though.  I can't seem to
>come up with anything that may be causing these system freezes - no error
>logs, no cores, nothing at all!  I have found that it happens most frequently
>when there has been no activity on the machine for some time (weekends and
>evenings in particular).  

Well, I'd like it to be the same problem (more complaints, quicker fixes :-)
but I suspect they're two different things entirely. But it's easy enough to
figure out. When this problem happens to us, the machine isn't crashed! _Only_
char I/O is messed up. So the easiest way to check this is to install a cron
job that touches a file every 5 or 10 minutes. Then, when you noticed that
your machine is hung, wait a bit, and after you reboot, look at the file
(BEFORE the cron job touches it again!). If the last time is after the apparent
lockup, you may have my problem. If not, your system is really crashing, and
you probably have a different problem. Did you ever try rebuilding your
kernel, just for the heck of it?

Does any of your software make heavy use of clists? How do you use the modem?
Either of these might be relevant.

---
Alexis Rosen
Owner/Sysadmin, PANIX Public Access Unix, NY
alexis@panix.com
{cmcl2,apple}!panix!alexis