fsck inadequacies
I run a FreeBSD system at a remote site. It costs me over $4000 to visit the site (northern arctic). It, along with some other equipment, runs off 2 x 50 kW diesel generators which are swapped by a mechanic once per week. The swap-over takes less than a minute. The computer runs off a UPS, which easily holds its charge during the swap. But, unlike the other windows systems that run up there, the FreeBSD system seems incredibly prone to disk corruption. Often the system will not reboot, and hangs while it asks for a file check. I can't do that remotely - it has to be a person. I frequently need to run fsck, and that does not always work. It is hard to instruct a diesel mechanic on such matters from such a distance. fsck -y usually does not work either. Is there any way I can make the disk a bit less sensitive? e.g. some clever additional command when I mount it in the fstab file which says don't be too fussy - boot up even if I don't feel that well'. It seems someone only needs to sneeeze and it goes into panic mode. I would happily live with the odd corrupt disk track or so if it means I can keep it running and at least be able to access it remotely. Please don't advise me to be more careful and get a better power supply etc - it simply is not possible. This is a very remote site, the humidity is low, static electricity is always a problem. thanks Wayne Hocking ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: cdrom
Thankyou to each of you for your comments re mounting the CDROM. I have now got it working. As for the age of the OS - newer is not always better, I am afraid. Of course this depends on both hardware and software, but there is no doubt that the newer hardware (disks etc) are far less reliable, despite being able to hold more data. Newer operating systems have more bells and whistles, but again, that does not always make them better. My most reliable systems are usually my older ones - in fact my MOST reliable systems are over 12 years old. tks Wayne Hocking ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
cdrom
To: FreeBSD advisors: Re: CDROM Dear Sir/Madam I am currently using FreeBSD to operate some digitizing equipment. I cannot upgrade to a newer version of FreeBSD because all the current equipment is somewhat locked to it. I am using FreeBSD 2.2.7-CAM. My motherboard is a Super P6SNE II, circa 1997. I am trying to read from a CD. I am currently using a Acer 640-272 CD (40x). The BIOS recognizes the CD - dmesg gives (approximately - not quite verbatim) wcd0 unit 1(atapi) ATAPI CD-ROM DRIVE 40x Maximum/NOAP removeable drivem iondic, wcd0 6890 kB/s, 128 kB cache, audioplay ... wcd0 medium type ox11, unlocked I have tried to mount it as mount /dev/wcd0a /cdrom but I get a message Incorrect superblock. Is there an easy way to mount the CD, or is the message telling me it is too difficult, or my CD is too new?? If so, do you know what vintage CD I could get to work? tks Wayne Hocking ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
