[Bug 654163] [NEW] computer freeze on disc operation with very large files/amounts of blocks

Sun Oct 3 16:11:17 UTC 2010

Public bug reported:

The computer freezes completely (frozen screen, no IP-ping, no keyboard
reaction) when copying very large files between different medias (target
is USB or PATA), performing big block operations using the command "dd"
on a USB device or creating a 300GB partition on an eSATA device. It is
not deterministic, but in one case (see below) it freezes in most of the
runs.

I have 8GB of physical RAM, usually no other applications running. So
there might be heavy use of buffers?

I recognized this bug on that machine since the beginning (2009-04). So it *may* be a hardware issue. But on the other hand: I tested RAM by running the test of Ubuntu-CD for more than 24 hours. I have no processessing issues. The GUI, 3D graphics, audio, the disc access with a lot of small files, compile and build software, everything is all right - until I make large disc access.

I would need help to isolate the cause.

I recognized this when:
- backupping with large files (>4GB) from SATA to USB using "rsync"
- store/restore images of USB drives using "dd"
- backupping with large files (>4GB) from SATA to PATA using "rsync" (since Ubuntu 10.04LTS?)
- initializing a 300 GB ext4 partition on an eSATA drive (since Ubuntu 10.04LTS?)

How to reproduce:
I have some large files in a directory (5GB, 12GB, 2GB and 114GB). Using rsync I backup a directory structure (which these files are part of) to a different media.

The source files reside on two drives connected by SATA (RAID1, LVM, LUKS). For the destination I tried different places:
- USB target (never worked, always freezed at large files)
- PATA target (worked with Ubuntu 9.04 and 9.10), but freezed yesterday (Ubuntu 10.04LTS), when I updated the large files

What happens: Usually I start the backup process and go watching some TV
:-) When I return, the computer is frozen completely. The screen stays
black, no keyboad, no mouse, no IP-ping reaction at all. First I though
it might have something to do with hibernation. But it also can happen
while I'm working with desktop applications, if the disc operation runs
in the background. The same here: At some point of time, the mouse
cursor and everything freezes. Even no response to IP-ping.

When I then restart the computer and look into the backup log file, I
can see, that it was about to copy a large file (usually >4GB). But it
can move forward, so when in the first try, the file "Library.tgz" was
the last file, in the next run, this file may succeed and "Users.tgz" is
the file that is about to be copied when the freeze occurs.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: linux-image-2.6.32-25-server 2.6.32-25.44
Regression: No
Reproducible: Yes
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-25.44-server 2.6.32.21+drm33.7
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-25-server x86_64
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.21.
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER        PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0:  holger     2368 F.... pulseaudio
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'SB'/'HDA ATI SB at 0xfe5f0000 irq 16'
   Mixer name	: 'Realtek ALC889'
   Components	: 'HDA:10ec0889,14627576,00100004'
   Controls      : 38
   Simple ctrls  : 22
Date: Sun Oct  3 17:17:35 2010
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
IwConfig:
 lo        no wireless extensions.

 eth0      no wireless extensions.

 virbr0    no wireless extensions.
MachineType: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO.,LTD MS-7576
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-2.6.32-25-server root=UUID=2d544b26-0280-47d6-951b-0ed4b064ef88 ro quiet splash
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=de_DE.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
RelatedPackageVersions: linux-firmware 1.34.1
RfKill:

SourcePackage: linux
dmi.bios.date: 05/08/2009
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: V1.3
dmi.board.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: 790GX-G65 (MS-7576)
dmi.board.vendor: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO.,LTD
dmi.board.version: 1.0
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO.,LTD
dmi.chassis.version: 1.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrV1.3:bd05/08/2009:svnMICRO-STARINTERNATIONALCO.,LTD:pnMS-7576:pvr1.0:rvnMICRO-STARINTERNATIONALCO.,LTD:rn790GX-G65(MS-7576):rvr1.0:cvnMICRO-STARINTERNATIONALCO.,LTD:ct3:cvr1.0:
dmi.product.name: MS-7576
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO.,LTD

** Affects: linux (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

** Tags: amd64 apport-bug lucid needs-upstream-testing

-- 
computer freeze on disc operation with very large files/amounts of blocks
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/654163
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Kernel
Bugs, which is subscribed to linux in ubuntu.