[PVFS2-users] pvfs2-client crashes...

[neillm at mcs.anl.gov]

Hey Justin,

On Wed, Jun 02, 2004 at 10:29:00AM -0500, Robert Latham wrote:
> *****************************************************
> PVFS2 Device Error:  You cannot open the device file
> /dev/pvfs2-req more than once.  Please make sure that
> there are no instances of a program using this device
> currently running. (You must verify this!)
> For example, you can use the lsof program as follows:
> 'lsof | grep pvfs2-req' (run this as root)
> *****************************************************

This was a problem I've noticed while working with the 2.4.x kernel
support we've recently added.  I believe it's fixed in CVS, but
unfortunately (for you) that means I'm recommending to use the latest
CVS (or wait until the next release).

The problem is that the pvfs2-client previously exited if it failed to
open the device file (due to someone else keeping it open).  When the
pvfs2-client has died, it's out of our hands and the kernel apparently
doesn't release the device file for a while (and there's a bigger gap
in 2.4.x than in 2.6.x, which is how I saw this problem).  Now
(i.e. in CVS), the pvfs2-client gets back a specific error when the
device initialization fails so that it can pause for a second before
retrying to open the device (so instead of giving up and exiting, it
retries a couple of times).

So ... are you willing to run pvfs2 from CVS?  I'd be glad to assist.

Best regards,
-Neill.