root@libove.UUCP (Jay M. Libove) (03/01/89)
In article <226@libove.UUCP>, I wrote: > Oh dear, do _I_ have a problem! I have a PCs Limited AT running at > 6 MHz, with SCO Xenix for the 80286, version 2.2.1. > > I have tried using afio and pax to backup the system to the high > density (1.2 megabyte) floppy drive, and both times the system panicked > with a stack fauly some time before the end of the second disk was > written out (not to a particular file or track/sector combination I > don't think)... > [ comments about how I could but don't wish to use 'backup' ] > > Does someone have any suggestions, or have experienced the same > trouble with system panics? The only time the system has panicked in > the past six months is during backups! > Well, I _did_ finally get so exasperated that I tried /etc/sysadmin which calls 'backup' - the distribution inode-by-inode whole filesystem at a time without choice of files backup method. I figured 'How could it fail?' .... foolish me. It panicked, just like all the other backup attempts did. Maybe there is a fault in the 2.2.1 high density floppy driver? The only hack my kernel has (outside of number of buffers and system name customization) is the public domain ptydriver, which I ran under 2.1.3 for a long time, and have been running in 2.2.1 since I upgraded. Again I ask: has anyone else experienced this? Any help at all would be appreciated - I have 80 megabytes of largely unbacked up data, and I can't back it up! Thanks ------------- Jay Libove jl42@andrew.cmu.edu, libove@cs.cmu.edu, 5731 Centre Ave, Apt 3 gateway.sei.cmu.edu!libove!libove, jl42@andrew.BITnet, Pittsburgh, PA 15206 jl42@drycas.BITnet, psuvax1!pitt!darth!libove!libove, (412) 362-8983 or uunet!nfsun!libove!libove
debra@alice.UUCP (Paul De Bra) (03/02/89)
In article <229@libove.UUCP> root@libove.UUCP (Jay M. Libove) writes: >In article <226@libove.UUCP>, I wrote: >> Oh dear, do _I_ have a problem! I have a PCs Limited AT running at >> 6 MHz, with SCO Xenix for the 80286, version 2.2.1. >> >> I have tried using afio and pax to backup the system to the high >> density (1.2 megabyte) floppy drive, and both times the system panicked >> with a stack fauly some time before the end of the second disk was >> written out (not to a particular file or track/sector combination I >> don't think)... >> > [ comments about how I could but don't wish to use 'backup' ] >> >> Does someone have any suggestions, or have experienced the same >> trouble with system panics? The only time the system has panicked in >> the past six months is during backups! >> > I have experienced exactly the same problem shortly after I bought a no-name clone about 2 years ago. The system (running 2.1.3 at that time, but later changed to 2.2.1 with no improvement to the situation) would NEVER panic, except when I tried to access the floppy drive. The more activity on the system the more likely a panic. The only way I could make backup was to go into single user mode, and then it would work about 2 times out of 3. A friend of mine bought the same system at the same time, but as we discovered later, he got a different floppy/hard disk controller. After about a year I installed a second hard disk, and a new disk controller to replace the old one. (the old one was bad) The panics went away instantly. The system NEVER had a panic during backups anymore. So maybe your problem is the same: a disk-controller that is not completely 100% reliably equivalent to the WD controller it tries to emulate. The bad controller I had was something using a 4Mhz Z80 with a program in eprom, and no custom vlsi chips or anything. The WD controller I got afterwards and the DTC controller my friend has never caused any problem. Paul. -- ------------------------------------------------------ |debra@research.att.com | uunet!research!debra | ------------------------------------------------------
barton@holston.UUCP (barton) (03/07/89)
In article <229@libove.UUCP>, root@libove.UUCP (Jay M. Libove) writes: > In article <226@libove.UUCP>, I wrote: > > Oh dear, do _I_ have a problem! I have a PCs Limited AT running at > > 6 MHz, with SCO Xenix for the 80286, version 2.2.1. > > > > I have tried using afio and pax to backup the system to the high > > density (1.2 megabyte) floppy drive, and both times the system panicked > > Does someone have any suggestions, or have experienced the same Several years ago, BTD (before tape drive) I experienced a similar problem. During backups to floppy, the system would occasionally panic or the controller would go crazy returning errors streaming endlessly off the screen while the floppy drive clicked like it was making butter. I was told that certain drive/controller combos exhibited this problem and one possible solution was to patch the kernal with the following: mount -r /dev/fd096 /mnt #mount N1 floppy cp /mnt/bin/adb /bin/adb #copy general debugger umount /dev/fd096 #unmount N1 cp /xenix /xenix.good #make copy of xenix adb -w /xenix #invoke debugger $x #set input/output to hex flparam/w 10df #slow floppy load time $q #exit Although I changed my controller before I had the chance to try it, it slows the floppy head load time, which may correct the problem for some controllers. Changing the controller did eliminate my problem. Standard disclaimers apply... Barton A. Fisk | UUCP: {texbell,killer,uunet}!warble!holston!barton PO Box 1781 | INTERNET: barton@holston.UUCP Lake Charles, La. 70602 | ---------------------------------------- 318-439-5984 | +++++ "Hal, open the pod bay doors" --- Dave