2.6.21: ext3 related crash

[Theodore Tso]

On Sat, May 26, 2007 at 01:26:31PM +0200, Ralf Hildebrandt wrote:
> > Yes, shit happens. I was not able to scroll to the top of the screen :(
> > That sort-of sucks.
> 
> How can I (for the future) circumvent this "I cannot scroll back" thing?

With a bad enough crash, you really the system is going to not be able
to scroll back.  Some ways of dealing with this are:

#1.  Use a serial console, and connect it to a logging server.  This
      is probably the best solution, and has a number of benefits.  It
      can be somewhat costly, however.

#2.  If you are using a VGA console, put something like "vga=791" in
	the in your boot options to change the resolution of your
	video console so that more lines are displayed.  At the risk
	of causing screen burn-in, you may want to consider putting in 
	the command "setterm -blank 0 < /dev/tty1 > /dev/tty1" in your
	rc.local.  This avoids a problem where a server which doesn't
	produce any console activity may cause the screen to blank,
	and then when you get a nasty crash in an interrupt handler,
	the console never has a chance to unblank.  If you are using a
	CRT screen, though, you have to trade off the benefits with
	the costs of potential screen burn-in, if you forget to turn
	off the screen when you're not using it.

Good luck!

						- Ted