Topic: I want to crash my e-smith server

[nick]

Hi every one , I know this might sound odd, but I really do want to crash it. I want to practice and learn how to recover from a bad file system crash.

UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY;
RUN fsck manually. (i.e. without -a or -p options)
[failed]

*** An error occured during the file system check.
*** Dropping you to a shell; the system will reboot
*** When you leave the shell

The above is what I would like to see on my screen after a boot up.
The server I am using is only a test system...of course.
I have tried pulling the power plug out a few times while the server was working on some files etc,  but unfortunatly the linux file system and e-smith software is too good.

Regards
Nick

[Nathan Fowler]

cat /dev/urandom > /dev/hda1 &
cat /dev/urandom > /dev/hda5 &
cat /dev/urandom > /tmp/space.hog &

If you don't crash it doing that, I'll be impressed.

Nathan

[bern]

if the server does not shutdown propely you can have that kind of mesage.
shut it down with the power button.

[Andy]

>cat /dev/urandom > /dev/hda1 &
>cat /dev/urandom > /dev/hda5 &
>cat /dev/urandom > /tmp/space.hog &
>
>If you don't crash it doing that, I'll be impressed.
>
>Nathan

Thats just nasty..

[Ray Mitchell]

Nathan (or those who know)
Care to share with us less knowledgable users what these commands will do.

> >cat /dev/urandom > /dev/hda1 &
> >cat /dev/urandom > /dev/hda5 &
> >cat /dev/urandom > /tmp/space.hog &
> >
> >If you don't crash it doing that, I'll be impressed.

Thanks
Ray Mitchell

[Dan Brown]

Write random data to each of your partitions.  It'll probably crash the system rather more thoroughly than desired.

[Ray Mitchell]

Thanks Dan
I think I'll avoid that test
Ray

[Rick]

if the power is cut during bootup it can sometimes leave you stuck and unable to boot, I have seen this a few times so far but only during bootup, pulling the power when it's up and running doesn't have the same effect

[nick]

Hi all,
Thanks for all your input.
Nathan, your sugestion will only give me an L i........ at boot up. it's not hte error i'm looking for. Thanks any way.
If some one else has any idea  please post.
I've tried to unplug the computer at various points in the boot up but it still boots ok. I thought ext 2 file system was not this robust.  The error I was hoping to simulate ( and learn to recover from) was a file error after a power failure.

UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY;
RUN fsck manually. (i.e. without -a or -p options)
[failed]

regards
Nick

[Jáder Marasca]

I have several problems with ext2 when misconfigurating hdparm.

Try to push hdparm beyond hd limits: maybe X69 parameter on a hd with just UDMA 2 support.

I lost EVERYTHNG when do it! So be aware of that!

If you can recover from this, please post a how to here !

Thanks!

Jáder

[Les Mikesell]

Fsck will fix a few errors automatically.  You need multiple concurrent writes that haven't been sync'd to disk to make things inconsistant enough to force the manual mode.   Something like:
tar -cf /tmp/test1.tar /usr &
tar -cf /tmp/test2.tar /usr &
tar -cf /tmp/test3.tar /usr
should do it.   (I.e. emulate a busy system where the activity would be happening anyway).  Hit the power switch before it gets too far along.

[nick]

Hi Les,
Thanks.... I'll give it a go and report here.
Regards
Nick

[Peter]

Fun that you are actually interested in causing this. I used to hate this happening, when my "home" directory on e-smith (3.5 through 4) was on a seperate disk on an old pentium 100. (main disk was much too small) Eventually after deciding that my server was important enough to get a better computer, I no longer had the problem. The constant problem needing a manual fsck were almost definately caused by a faulty power cable to the hard disk, with home on it. Not much use to you I know, but there we are.

[Peter]

Fun that you are actually interested in causing this. I used to hate this happening, when my "home" directory on e-smith (3.5 through 4) was on a seperate disk on an old pentium 100. (main disk was much too small) Eventually after deciding that my server was important enough to get a better computer, I no longer had the problem. The constant problem needing a manual fsck were almost definately caused by a faulty power cable to the hard disk, with home on it. Not much use to you I know, but there we are.

[nick]

Peter , I agree.... but I have not yet had any experience regarding recovering from the above error.
I find Linux & e-smith quite fantastic, fascinating and enjoy playing with it. One day I'll get a production server going. All information and experiences are welcome here. I have many times found great tips and help on this site regarding Linux and e-smith.
Thanks for everyones input.

Regards
Nick