On 10/11/2010 10:14 PM, drew wymore wrote:
> On Mon, Oct 11, 2010 at 10:06 PM, frankhunt<[email protected]>  wrote:
>>   Situation: Client = Vista PC, NTFS file system; Server = CentOS 5.3
>> serving CIFS shares (FYI: neither of these systems are current with all
>> the latest patches and updates - customer preference).  Client has
>> windows open on both systems and attempts to drag and drop files from
>> server to local file system.  Seems to work on smaller files.  Files
>> larger than about 3-5MB will stop transferring after about 10% of the
>> file and hang.  Client times out, complains that it can't see the file
>> on the server - the network connection to the server is lost.  Cannot
>> ping server from client or client from server.  Cannot ping the router.
>>    Run "ifconfig eth0 down"; "ifconfig eth0 up" on the server side and
>> the network comes back.  Transfer failure is repeatable (usually)
>> although sometimes it works.  Network is straightforward SOHO type -
>> D-Link wireless router, Netgear switches, very light traffic.  I do not
>> have a topology yet.
>>
>> Approach:  Added my laptop (HP Pavilion dv6/Ubuntu 10.10) as a client
>> and the problem persisted.  Same symptoms transferring files to/from the
>> CentOS system.  Transfer would start, hang, time out, the network would
>> crash and re-appear after bouncing the network on the server.
>>
>> Connected the laptop directly to the server with only a Netgear switch
>> (no router).  File transfers would NOT fail.  Could not reproduce the
>> problem in this configuration. [aha, he said, it's in the network!]
>>
>> (but wait)
>>
>> Replaced server with the laptop, served files to PC via CIFS.  We would
>> expect the laptop to fail just as the desktop CentOS system did (because
>> we think it is a network problem).  Wrong - works perfectly.  Could not
>> reproduce a failure in this configuration.  [Aha, he said, it's NOT the
>> network]
>>
>> Now what?
>>
>> When I left my client this afternoon at 5PM, we were having success by
>> using "copy and paste" instead of "drag and drop" on the PC.  WHAT?
>> Why does this work?  We will continue to test this transfer process but
>> I don't see why it would make any difference (but hey, it's Windows on
>> the client).  Have not tried this approach using the Linux laptop as client.
>>
>> Thoughts:  Could be some buggy condition in the server software
>> somewhere (I suspect this because the system has not been updated but
>> have no real reason).  Could be some issue with the CentOS drivers
>> interacting with the network components.  I'm really saying that I have
>> no clue.
>>
>> Hence this post.
>> Looking for ideas, approaches, incantations, spells, band-aids, anything.
>>
>> Thanks for listening,
>>
>> --
>> frank hunt
>> (L0F) R0B-ZAR1
>> befuddled linux admin
>> erstwhile photographer
>> hillsboro oregon
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> PLUG mailing list
>> [email protected]
>> http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
>>
> Frank -
>
> Look at the NIC on the Cent box and see if it starts incrementing
> errors, check dmesg etc to see if there is anything obvious logged.
> The copy and paste vs drag and drop is weird if the D-Link is in
> place. I ran into a similar problem between Windows clients with a
> wireless AP in place where one was connected to the AP via G and the
> other via N and running wireshark (works on windows and linux woohoo)
> and saw the buffers filling up causing the stall. This might be a
> worthwhile route to go to ferret out the problem and see if you can
> see a difference with the AP in place between drag and drop vs copy
> and paste.
>
> If the AP lets you, maybe check the WLAN interface for errors as well.
>
> Drew-
>
Drew,
Good ideas - I'll check with my client to see how much detective work he 
wants me to do.  If it is the server NIC, wouldn't I see the problem 
when directly connected to the client?

I'm thinking that I should:
1 - get every system to the current release and patch level
2 - minimize the network config, then if things work, add pieces one at 
a time until it breaks
3 - if that doesn't work, introduce liberal amounts of adult beverage

-fh

-- 
frank hunt
(L0F) R0B-ZAR1
befuddled linux admin
erstwhile photographer
hillsboro oregon

_______________________________________________
PLUG mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug

Reply via email to