Yesterday I asked:
> Hi, this morning on rebooting one of our Alpha 3000/500's, I noticed the
> following error messages:
>
> Oct 23 10:07:06 estrenc vmunix: cam_logger: CAM_ERROR packet
> Oct 23 10:07:06 estrenc vmunix: cam_logger: bus 0 target 4 lun 0
> Oct 23 10:07:06 estrenc vmunix: sim94_get_ws
> Oct 23 10:07:06 estrenc vmunix: Parity error
....
> What is this telling me (target 4 is the CDROM device) - do I have a
> hardware problem? Thanks,
> Julyan
I got replies from -
From: "Charles S. Homan" <burke_at_nesc.org>
From: mclaughl_at_nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov
From: MCGUIRE_at_crisis.latrade.com
From: "Paul E. Rockwell" <rockwell_at_rch.dec.com>
From: Hellebo Knut <Knut.Hellebo_at_nho.hydro.com>
From: alan_at_nabeth.cxo.dec.com (Alan Rollow - Dr. File System's Home for Wayward Inodes.)
From: Huw Davies <cchd_at_lucifer.latrobe.edu.au>
- thanks, folks.
I had forgotten to mention a few things - that we are running 3.2C, that
no hardware has been added to the machine for a long time, and that as
far as I am aware, everything is working properly despite the error
messages (the CDROM doesn't get used much though, so maybe the problem
hasn't been noticed). The consensus of opinion is that there is a hardware
problem, maybe with the CDROM, and maybe not (see Kevin McGuire's message
for a real horror story...) I've now followed Paul Rockwell's advice and
run uerf, from which I see that we've been having these cam_logger messages
sporadically on reboot for some months; I haven't yet tried what Knut Helleboe
suggests of installing DECVET subsets. Maybe the next step is to have DEC
come and check the internal cabling (the machine's on a maintenance contract)
as people suggested, but since everything's apparently working fine, and
the messages only appear at boot time, maybe I shouldn't meddle - or should
I - am I losing SCSI performance?
Anyhow, here are the relevent parts of people's replies:
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We got similar errors when we tried to mount a new disk, which turned
out to be dead. Do all of your disks mount? Ours did not, so if
yours do, then this error may mean something else...
Good luck!
------------------------------------------------------------------
Charles Homan New England Science Center
Systems Manager 222 Harrington Way
burke_at_nesc.org Worcester, MA 01604-1899
------------------------------------------------------------------
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Julyan, we've been experiencing similar messages to yours for the past two
months, and have been working with field service to get it fixed. Our problem
indicates a problem with a disk drive, rather than a CD-ROM. So far, they have
replaced a disk drive, motherboard, IO module; we have upgraded to 3.2C, and
removed ADVFS from the disks. So far, nothing has worked. We have requested
that a whole new machine be brought in to us.
If you're not at Unix 3.2c (say only 3.0), then there is a pair of patches
available for spurious CAM SCSI messages that should be installed.
Kevin McGuire
Lattice Trading/CS First Boston
Boston, MA USA 617-832-1809
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Yes, you do have some kind of hardware problem. The next thing is to find out
what the problem is...
You might want to run uerf and get a full listing of the errors - it might give
you a better idea what's wrong. However, from these messages it indicates that
there's some kind of SCSI bus parity error. Could be bad drive (not necessarily
the CD-ROM, though) among other things...
Did you add anything to the system recently??
--------
+---------------------------+tm Paul E. Rockwell
| | | | | | | | Northeast Region SBU Technical Support
| d | i | g | i | t | a | l | Digital Equipment Corporation
| | | | | | | | 500 Enterprise Drive
+---------------------------+ Rocky Hill, CT 06067
Internet: rockwell_at_rch.dec.com Phone: (860)258-5022
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It might be there's a hardware problem. Try installing the DECVET* subsets
and do a diskx on the CD device. If there's a CD in the cdrom when booting
try removing it/cleaning it before booting. Also check the internal cabling.
GOOD LUCK ;-)
>
>-- End of excerpt from Julyan Cartwright
--
******************************************************************
* Knut Helleboe | DAMN GOOD COFFEE !! *
* Norsk Hydro a.s | (and hot too) *
* Phone: +47 55 996870, Fax: +47 55 996342 | *
* Pager: +47 96 500718 | *
* E-mail: Knut.Hellebo_at_nho.hydro.com | Dale Cooper, FBI *
******************************************************************
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: alan_at_nabeth.cxo.dec.com (Alan Rollow - Dr. File System's Home for Wayward
Inodes.)
Message-Id: <9510231513.AA10961_at_nabeth.cxo.dec.com>
To: julyan_at_hp1.uib.es
Subject: Re: cam_logger error messages - what are they telling me?
Status: RO
It is a hardware problem of some sort, but may not be the
CDROM. Check that the bus is properly terminated and that
all the cables are secure. Check that the cable length
is within the limits of the speed at which you are running
the bus; 6 meters for slow SCSI-2, 3 meters for fast SCSI-2.
Make sure that there aren't duplicate IDs on the bus. If
all these things are ok, then you can start worrying about
the CDROM being the cause.
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I see this sort of problem, I usually start by checking all the SCSI
cables to make sure that they haven't come loose. If that doesn't fix the
problem I usually check to make sure that the configuration isn't
marginal in terms of cable length. If that doesn't fix it I'd suspect that
either the CD drive is bad or the SCSI controller on the system is
playing up (unlikely in this case as you'd find lots of other errors
logged accessing other disks on the same SCSI chain).
Hope this helps!
Huw Davies | e-mail: Huw.Davies_at_latrobe.edu.au
Information Technology Services | Phone: +61 3 9479 1550 Fax: +61 3 9479 1999
La Trobe University | "My Alfas keep me poor in a monetary
Melbourne Australia 3083 | sense, but rich in so many other ways"
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--
Julyan Cartwright Email julyan_at_hp1.uib.es
Departament de Fisica NeXTmail julyan_at_obelix.uib.es
Universitat de les Illes Balears WWW http://formentor.uib.es/~julyan
07071 Palma de Mallorca, Spain Tel/Fax (+34 71) 173230 / 173426
Received on Tue Oct 24 1995 - 11:40:11 NZDT