Xref: utzoo unix-pc.general:101 comp.sys.att:1841
Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!uunet!hsi!cjsa!jeff
From: jeff@cjsa.UUCP (C. Jeffery Small)
Newsgroups: unix-pc.general,comp.sys.att
Subject: Re: Troubles with the ol' Unix-pc (3B1, 7300)
Summary: Send me your tired muddled hassles
Message-ID: <66@cjsa.UUCP>
Date: 15 Dec 87 14:45:49 GMT
References: <653@astroatc.UUCP>
Organization: C. Jeffery Small and Associates - New Haven, CT
Lines: 91

In article <653@astroatc.UUCP>, mag@astroatc.UUCP (Michael A. Goldsmith) writes:
> I recently upgraded my 2 year old 7300 from release 3.00 to 3.51.
> ....  the system now exhibits an annoying behavior:
> 
> After it has been running for a while (amount of time varies), the
> system refuses to echo some characters typed on the console.
> 
> The mouse tracks properly, but button presses are often ignored.
> The 'ps -ea' command pauses for about 1/2 second part way through its
> output.
> 
> There is apparently no observable (at least that I've been able to
> determine) correlation between the system beginning this behavior and
> any of the following:
> 
> 1. Particular keys typed.
> 2. Amount of time system has been up.
> 3. What command or commands have been used since system boot.
> 
> The only (temporary) fix for the problem is a reboot.
> 

All of the problems reported above have been and continue to occur on
my machine as well.  These troubles started when I received a new 3B1
and loaded 3.51 onto it.  I have been working with the Hotline for the
past three months attempting to isolate the problem which we have been
assuming was hardware related.  Now I am beginning to believe that there
may be a bug in the software.

Since I am actively pursuing this problem, I would like to hear from
anyone who has experienced any of the following difficulties:

  1:  The system appears to hang.  The mouse tracks across the screen
      and you can move/resize open windows but there is no response
      to keyboard input and you can not "select" actions with the mouse
      nor can you login on another port.

  2:  The system stops echoing your characters typed at the keyboard
      but reads the input and executes commands.  This may eventually
      lead to condition No. 1 above.

  3:  You type commands (like "ps -ea" above or "ls -l") and part of the
      output appears on the screen and then stops with the WORKING icon
      displayed.  You hit  and more output is displayed as if the
      process was hung waiting for keyboard input (probably an I/O
      interrupt).

  4:  You "cat", "more" or "less" a file and a few lines appear on the
      screen and then things hang up as in No. 3 above.  As you hit ,
      one additional line is displayed only.  Each  will display
      another single line.  No. 3 and 4 also typically progress to condition
      No. 1 as well.

  5:  Any other strange repeating occurrence which eventually forces you
      to reboot the machine in order to clear the problem.


If you have experienced any of these conditions, please send me a note
describing the following:

    - Version of the OS you are running

    - Hardware configuration (Disk size, memory, expansion boards, etc)

    - Peripherals attached to system

    - Any special custom software packages you have installed or modifications
      to the system which you have made - such as: multiple gettys, deamons,
      elm mail, special uucp hacks, etc.

    - Description of the problem(s) outlining exactly what occurred, what
      you or others were doing on the system at the time and what you did
      to solve the problem.

    - Description of how often the problem(s) have occurred.

    - Any other information, hints, ideas or guesses you may have regarding
      the possible cause of the problem.



Armed with your information, we may be able to discover a pattern to these
problems which will hopefully lead to a cure.  I will pass along all bug
reports I receive to the AT&T Hotline and will post followup messages
describing any progress which is made.

Thanks in advance to all of you who are able to help in this effort.
--
Jeffery Small          (203) 776-2000     UUCP:   uunet!---\
C. Jeffery Small and Associates	                  ihnp4!--- hsi!cjsa!jeff
123 York Street, New Haven, CT  06511          hao!noao!---/