On Mon, 29 Apr 2002 19:56:59 +0200, Matthias Andree <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said:
> Barring write cache effects, fsync() only returns after all blocks are
> on disk. While I'm not sure if and if yes, which, Linux file systems are
> affected, but for portable applications, be aware that sync() may return
> prematurely (and is allowed to!).
And in fact is the reason for the old "recipe":
# sync
# sync
# sync
# reboot
On the older Vax 750-class machines, sync could return LONG before the blocks
were all flushed - the second 2 sync's were so you were busy typing for
several seconds while the disks whirred. Failure to understand the typing
speed issue has lead at least one otherwise-clued author to recommend:
# sync;sync;sync
# reboot
(the distinction being obvious if you think about when the shell reads the
commands, and when it does the fork/exec for each case....)
--
Valdis Kletnieks
Computer Systems Senior Engineer
Virginia Tech
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