[Fedora] Re: FC1 stable, FC2 ... you wish.

[Ashley M. Kirchner]

Dan Thurman wrote:

>I apologize if I hve not read the original thread, but did
>you upgrade or fresh install FC2?  I am thinking of the 'divide
>and conquer' process.  If you did an upgrade, then perhaps the
>problem is caused by the "left over" files?  If you have the time
>or opportunity, try a FRESH install of FC2 and see if the problem
>goes away.  If you did a 'fresh' install, then never mind.
>
>I had some problems with the UPGRADES where somethings "left behind"
>caused all sorts of strange behaviors but I was focusing on the
>GNOME/KDE system components.  I have yet to find out the other
>potential upgrade problems as I have not had the time to investigate
>it but will do so soon.
>
    This was a fresh install.  I've never done OS upgrades.  It's always 
been a full reformat and reinstall of everything.  From what was 
happening with the server, my first guess would be something with the 
IDE driver.  More specifically, something that had to do with a large 
(200GB) drive because very time the kernel panicked, it had something to 
do with the ext3 fs on only that drive.  If I didn't mount that drive, 
the system would run without any problems.  As soon as it gets mounted, 
things start to go wrong.  It can last 5 minutes or 5 hours, but it will 
eventually just panic and lock up.

    Now that I have FC1 on the system, everything's working just fine.  
The 200GB drive is mounted and operational.  All its data is nfs 
exported to the rest of the network and everyone can mount and umount at 
their hearts content.  This I couldn't do with FC2.  It simply wouldn't 
stay up long enough to even try to export its fs to the rest of the network.

    Because this is a production machine, and those exports are needed 
every night during backup routines, I had no recourse but to downgrade 
to get back to a stable platform.  No time to dig deeper into the 
problem and possibly find a cause or cure.  I did however post the 
OOPSes that I got, at least two of them.  I got no response from the list.

-- 
W | I haven't lost my mind; it's backed up on tape somewhere.
  +--------------------------------------------------------------------
  Ashley M. Kirchner <mailto:ashley at pcraft.com>   .   303.442.6410 x130
  IT Director / SysAdmin / WebSmith             .     800.441.3873 x130
  Photo Craft Laboratories, Inc.            .     3550 Arapahoe Ave. #6
  http://www.pcraft.com ..... .  .    .       Boulder, CO 80303, U.S.A.