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List Info
Thread: Sky2 hang kills ltsp
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| Sky2 hang kills ltsp |
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2006-08-12 11:45:13 |
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| Hi
devs
I sent a message on
31 July ("LTSP network freezing in Dapper") to edubuntu-users regarding problems
I had with my 40 seat Edubuntu lab hanging unpredictably.
That message was met
with ;a deafening silence.
I since found
entries in my syslog mentioning sky2 and hung hardware. My system is up to date
and running kernel 2.6.15-26-686 smp.
On search, I
discovered bug # 41634 reported on 2006-04-26, which exactly corresponds to my
problem. However, the bug is shown as unconfirmed, of medium importance and low
urgency. I added a comment to the bug report.
In the case of the
school lab I installed, this bug is a showstopper. The server needs to be
rebooted up to five times a day, in the middle of some class. This takes
five minutes or so, then everyone has to log back in and start afresh. Do I
need to explain how frustrating it is? Losing network connectivity is a nuisance
on a laptop or desktop; in an Edubuntu server, it hits the one critical point on
which everything depends.
I convinced the
school to convert from Windows to Linux due to its stability, and told them
to have patience with little problems in Edubuntu Breezy, because Dapper
was going to be so much better. Now I have a hard time making good on my
promises, and explaining why Dapper is, well, unstable.
OK, maybe it is
still better than what they had with Windows 98, but it is definitely not
satisfactory.
So how do I go about
escalating the importance of fixing this bug?
Or does anyone know
a workaround? Are there network cards that use other drivers than
sky2?
The following
still appears on the Edubuntu page at Distrowatch.com: ; "Edubuntu is a partner project of
Ubuntu Linux, a distribution suitable for classroom use. The aim is that an
educator with limited technical knowledge and skill will be able to set up a
computer lab, or establish an on-line learning environment, in an hour or less,
and then administer that environment without having to become a fully-fledged
Linux geek." Maybe this should be toned down. It definitely inflated my
expectations.
And yes, I know that
Edubuntu is a community project, and that I did not pay for it. So I hope at
least that reporting this problem will help improve a system with great
potential. Thanks for any help.
Regards
Hendrik Boshoff
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| Sky2 hang kills ltsp |
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2006-08-12 16:58:57 |
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On 8/12/06, Hendrik Boshoff <ing.rau.ac.za">hfvb ing.rau.ac.za> wrote:
Hi
devs
I sent a message on
31 July ("LTSP network freezing in Dapper") to edubuntu-users regarding problems
I had with my 40 seat Edubuntu lab hanging unpredictably.
That message was met
with ;a deafening silence.
I since found
entries in my syslog mentioning sky2 and hung hardware. My system is up to date
and running kernel 2.6.15-26-686 smp.
On search, I
discovered bug # 41634 reported on 2006-04-26, which exactly corresponds to my
problem. However, the bug is shown as unconfirmed, of medium importance and low
urgency. I added a comment to the bug report.
In the case of the
school lab I installed, this bug is a showstopper. The server needs to be
rebooted up to five times a day, in the middle of some class. This takes
five minutes or so, then everyone has to log back in and start afresh. Do I
need to explain how frustrating it is? Losing network connectivity is a nuisance
on a laptop or desktop; in an Edubuntu server, it hits the one critical point on
which everything depends.
I convinced the
school to convert from Windows to Linux due to its stability, and told them
to have patience with little problems in Edubuntu Breezy, because Dapper
was going to be so much better. Now I have a hard time making good on my
promises, and explaining why Dapper is, well, unstable.
You must have the Marvell Yukon2 nic probably on board your motherboard. Marvell just recently (after much back and forth with OSDL) released specs to kernel dev Stephen Hemminger under NDA. Even still the driver in kernel
2.6.17 seems to have issues. It's a work in progress. This is a known problem. My current advice to anyone using Linux "Don't buy/use Marvell Yukon2 nics". Your solution would be to disable the nic in the bios and buy a known stable nic like some Intels or 3coms. Also remember if you already have lots of devices on your pci bus a gigabit nic can potentially saturate your pci bus. That's why gigabit nics are usually put in pci-x or pci-e slots.
OK, maybe it is
still better than what they had with Windows 98, but it is definitely not
satisfactory.
So how do I go about
escalating the importance of fixing this bug?
Or does anyone know
a workaround? Are there network cards that use other drivers than
sky2?
The following
still appears on the Edubuntu page at Distrowatch.com: "Edubuntu is a partner project of
Ubuntu Linux, a distribution suitable for classroom use. The aim is that an
educator with limited technical knowledge and skill will be able to set up a
computer lab, or establish an on-line learning environment, in an hour or less,
and then administer that environment without having to become a fully-fledged
Linux geek."; Maybe this should be toned down. It definitely inflated my
expectations.
And yes, I know that
Edubuntu is a community project, and that I did not pay for it. So I hope at
least that reporting this problem will help improve a system with great
potential. Thanks for any help.
Regards
Hendrik Boshoff
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https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/edubuntu-devel
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Robert Arkiletian
Eric Hamber Secondary, Vancouver, Canada
Fl_TeacherTool
http://www3.telus.net/public/robark/Fl_TeacherTool/
C++ GUI tutorial http://www3.telus.net/public/robark/
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