[I moved this thread to linux-usb-devel so that it would be more visible to developers.]
On Mon, 30 May 2005, Heitzso wrote: > Moving lots of very large 10G and 12G files back and forth > from ubuntu (current) system to 3 SilverRiver (thermaltake) > USB2 enclosures with new 300G WD caviar drives .... > formatted ext3 ... ends up with corrupted filesystems. > Everything may work well for 100G or 150G before it breaks. > Or it may break after 25G worth of file(s). > > If I take the same drive and put it inside the case connected > up directly it works fine. > > There are a number of kernel bugs reported, patches floating > around, etc. > > The one easy fix is to avoid using the high speed connection, > but dropping back to a slower speed and moving 150G > worth of files is a no-op. (though better than getting beaten > to a pulp by a corrupted file system) > > Does anyone know ... what kernel(s) have the best chance > of fixing this? I can arrange to compile 2.6.12-rc5 on this > box if it has a chance of fixing the problem. Ditto 2.6.11.11. > These are current stable and current rc as of date of this > email. > > I'm monitoring 2 kernel bugs that flag this, or related, > problem(s) and they're not showing closure. > > Advice greatly appreciated. As you say, a lot of people have been having these sorts of problems. It's hard to pin it down to a software bug because in many cases changing one of the hardware components solves the problem. For example, a $10 add-on PCI USB controller card has been known to make a big difference (ones based on the NEC chipset are said to be quite reliable). Many USB 2.0 - IDE interface chips are slightly buggy. Ditto for many USB 2.0 host controller chips. Or if not buggy, then they have rather tight tolerances for, or rather loose control over, low-level things like bit timings. Some people experience only occasional problems, but it's enough to disrupt their workflow. Other people reliably experience problems almost as soon as they start using their USB device. It's hard to know exactly what's going wrong; in none of the cases has anyone been in a position to use a hardware analyzer to see exactly what's happening. The exact details are probably different for each case, anyway. Given that we don't know how to prevent errors, the best we can do is to try and recover from them as quickly as possible (provided they don't occur too often). A pair of patches for usb-storage may help with error recovery: https://lists.one-eyed-alien.net/pipermail/usb-storage/2005-April/001565.html https://lists.one-eyed-alien.net/pipermail/usb-storage/2005-April/001558.html These will apply to 2.6.12-rc5. They've been known to help some people a lot, others not so much. Hopefully they will be accepted into the kernel when 2.6.13 comes out. Alan Stern ------------------------------------------------------- This SF.Net email is sponsored by Yahoo. Introducing Yahoo! Search Developer Network - Create apps using Yahoo! Search APIs Find out how you can build Yahoo! directly into your own Applications - visit http://developer.yahoo.net/?fr=offad-ysdn-ostg-q22005 _______________________________________________ linux-usb-devel@lists.sourceforge.net To unsubscribe, use the last form field at: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/linux-usb-devel
