Bug#678236: linux-image-2.6.32-5-amd64: Disk IO error when running debian 6.0.x with buslogic virtual disk and 4G+ mem in a VMware VM
Subject: linux-image-2.6.32-5-amd64: Disk IO error when running debian 6.0.x with buslogic virtual disk and 4G+ mem in a VMware VM
Package: linux-2.6
Version: 2.6.32-45
Severity: important
*** Please type your report below this line ***
There will be Disk IO error and then rootfs Read-Only when running debian 6.0.x(including 6.0.1, 6.0.4, 6.0.5...) in a VMware VM with buslogic virtual disk
and with 4G+ memory, in which condition linux-image-xxx-amd64 kernel will be used
-- Package-specific info:
** Version:
Linux version 2.6.32-5-amd64 (Debian 2.6.32-45) (dannf@debian.org) (gcc version 4.3.5 (Debian 4.3.5-4) ) #1 SMP Sun May 6 05:12:07 UTC 2012
Bug#678236: linux-image-2.6.32-5-amd64: Disk IO error when running debian 6.0.x with buslogic virtual disk and 4G+ mem in a VMware VM
On Tue, 2012-06-19 at 23:37 -0700, Peter Cao wrote:
> Subject: linux-image-2.6.32-5-amd64: Disk IO error when running debian
> 6.0.x with buslogic virtual disk and 4G+ mem in a VMware VM
> Package: linux-2.6
> Version: 2.6.32-45
> Severity: important
>
> *** Please type your report below this line ***
> There will be Disk IO error and then rootfs Read-Only when running
> debian 6.0.x(including 6.0.1, 6.0.4, 6.0.5...) in a VMware VM with
> buslogic virtual disk
> and with 4G+ memory, in which condition linux-image-xxx-amd64 kernel
> will be used
[...]
Can I see the log for that?
We also include a backport of vmw_pvscsi; does that work better?
Ben.
--
Ben Hutchings
It is easier to change the specification to fit the program than vice versa.
06-21-2012, 02:17 AM
Peter Cao
Bug#678236: linux-image-2.6.32-5-amd64: Disk IO error when running debian 6.0.x with buslogic virtual disk and 4G+ mem in a VMware VM
Hi Ben,
The disk became read-only when the error happens so the log was not saved.
But I have a screenshot for the error msg:
http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?msg=5;filename=debian-605-32bit-buslogic-6Gmem-IO_error.png;att=2;bug=678236
We have not see any error with PVSCSI adapter so far.
And there is no error with debian 64bit release but only the 32bit release with large memory+buslogic.
Regards,
Peter Cao
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ben Hutchings" <ben@decadent.org.uk>
To: "Peter Cao" <pengzhencao@vmware.com>, 678236@bugs.debian.org
Cc: "chunmei(Tracy) Huang" <cmhuang@vmware.com>, "Arvind Kumar" <arkumar@vmware.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2012 8:22:54 PM
Subject: Re: Bug#678236: linux-image-2.6.32-5-amd64: Disk IO error when running debian 6.0.x with buslogic virtual disk and 4G+ mem in a VMware VM
On Tue, 2012-06-19 at 23:37 -0700, Peter Cao wrote:
> Subject: linux-image-2.6.32-5-amd64: Disk IO error when running debian
> 6.0.x with buslogic virtual disk and 4G+ mem in a VMware VM
> Package: linux-2.6
> Version: 2.6.32-45
> Severity: important
>
> *** Please type your report below this line ***
> There will be Disk IO error and then rootfs Read-Only when running
> debian 6.0.x(including 6.0.1, 6.0.4, 6.0.5...) in a VMware VM with
> buslogic virtual disk
> and with 4G+ memory, in which condition linux-image-xxx-amd64 kernel
> will be used
[...]
Can I see the log for that?
We also include a backport of vmw_pvscsi; does that work better?
Ben.
--
Ben Hutchings
It is easier to change the specification to fit the program than vice versa.
--
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06-21-2012, 03:05 AM
Ben Hutchings
Bug#678236: linux-image-2.6.32-5-amd64: Disk IO error when running debian 6.0.x with buslogic virtual disk and 4G+ mem in a VMware VM
On Wed, 2012-06-20 at 19:17 -0700, Peter Cao wrote:
> Hi Ben,
>
> The disk became read-only when the error happens so the log was not saved.
> But I have a screenshot for the error msg:
> http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?msg=5;filename=debian-605-32bit-buslogic-6Gmem-IO_error.png;att=2;bug=678236
>
> We have not see any error with PVSCSI adapter so far.
> And there is no error with debian 64bit release but only the 32bit release with large memory+buslogic.
[...]
So far as I can see, BusLogic has not been changed in any significant
way between Linux 2.6.32 and current mainline (3.5-rc3). So unless you
know better, this problem also affects mainline Linux and should be
fixed there first.
But what is the point of using this driver at all under VMware, when we
could use vmw_pvscsi? Do you make the same SCSI devices available to
the guest through both an emulated BusLogic adapter and paravirtual SCSI
adapter at the same time?
In that case, could the BusLogic driver detect that an adapter is
actually an emulation (based on PCI subsystem vendor ID?) and ignore it
because the vmw_pvscsi driver will work better?
If not, isn't it a bug in VMware that it enables the BusLogic device and
not the PV-SCSI device for Debian guests?
Ben.
--
Ben Hutchings
Every program is either trivial or else contains at least one bug
06-21-2012, 03:38 AM
Peter Cao
Bug#678236: linux-image-2.6.32-5-amd64: Disk IO error when running debian 6.0.x with buslogic virtual disk and 4G+ mem in a VMware VM
Hi Ben,
We have not seen similar issue with other linux distributions and with debian amd64 distribution
My guess is that there is some flaw with the high memory management(>=4G in 32bit mode) either or both in Buslogic driver and debian kernel.
Debian uses "amd64" kernel for >4G memory in 32bit mode while most other linux distribution use "bigmem" kernel configuration.
Is this combination causing the problem?
And what is the difference between "amd64 kernel in 32bit mode" and "real amd64 kernel"?
We configure the virtual device to be used in the virtual machine's configuration, which specified clearly the memory size, cpu number,
disk size, nic type before a VM is powered on.... And I think the adapter type is determined by OS with PCI vender ID. So this is unlikely a vmware
related bug.
We can use pvscsi for best performance but our customer may need the buslogic virtual adapter so we have to support this configuration.
Regards,
Peter Cao
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ben Hutchings" <ben@decadent.org.uk>
To: "Peter Cao" <pengzhencao@vmware.com>
Cc: "chunmei(Tracy) Huang" <cmhuang@vmware.com>, "Arvind Kumar" <arkumar@vmware.com>, 678236@bugs.debian.org
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2012 11:05:43 AM
Subject: Re: Bug#678236: linux-image-2.6.32-5-amd64: Disk IO error when running debian 6.0.x with buslogic virtual disk and 4G+ mem in a VMware VM
On Wed, 2012-06-20 at 19:17 -0700, Peter Cao wrote:
> Hi Ben,
>
> The disk became read-only when the error happens so the log was not saved.
> But I have a screenshot for the error msg:
> http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?msg=5;filename=debian-605-32bit-buslogic-6Gmem-IO_error.png;att=2;bug=678236
>
> We have not see any error with PVSCSI adapter so far.
> And there is no error with debian 64bit release but only the 32bit release with large memory+buslogic.
[...]
So far as I can see, BusLogic has not been changed in any significant
way between Linux 2.6.32 and current mainline (3.5-rc3). So unless you
know better, this problem also affects mainline Linux and should be
fixed there first.
But what is the point of using this driver at all under VMware, when we
could use vmw_pvscsi? Do you make the same SCSI devices available to
the guest through both an emulated BusLogic adapter and paravirtual SCSI
adapter at the same time?
In that case, could the BusLogic driver detect that an adapter is
actually an emulation (based on PCI subsystem vendor ID?) and ignore it
because the vmw_pvscsi driver will work better?
If not, isn't it a bug in VMware that it enables the BusLogic device and
not the PV-SCSI device for Debian guests?
Ben.
--
Ben Hutchings
Every program is either trivial or else contains at least one bug
--
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06-21-2012, 04:34 AM
Ben Hutchings
Bug#678236: linux-image-2.6.32-5-amd64: Disk IO error when running debian 6.0.x with buslogic virtual disk and 4G+ mem in a VMware VM
On Wed, 2012-06-20 at 20:38 -0700, Peter Cao wrote:
> Hi Ben,
>
> We have not seen similar issue with other linux distributions and
> with debian amd64 distribution
> My guess is that there is some flaw with the high memory
> management(>=4G in 32bit mode) either or both in Buslogic driver and
> debian kernel.
> Debian uses "amd64" kernel for >4G memory in 32bit mode while most
> other linux distribution use "bigmem" kernel configuration.
We offer both but the installer is supposed to pick the '686-bigmem'
configuration by default.
> Is this combination causing the problem?
It would not surprise me if BusLogic was broken on 64-bit systems, but
presumably you would have noticed that in other 64-bit Linux guests.
The userland architecture (i386 vs amd64) should not make any
difference.
> And what is the difference between "amd64 kernel in 32bit mode" and
> "real amd64 kernel"?
They are identical except for package metadata.
linux-image-2.6.32-5-amd64 is duplicated for i386 because until recently
dpkg would not let you install packages marked as being for a different
architecture.
> We configure the virtual device to be used in the virtual machine's
> configuration, which specified clearly the memory size, cpu number,
> disk size, nic type before a VM is powered on.... And I think the
> adapter type is determined by OS with PCI vender ID. So this is
> unlikely a vmware
> related bug.
What I meant is that if the VMware tools do not configure a Debian 6.0
guest to have a PV-SCSI adapter by default, this is a poor default and
that is a bug (independent of any bugs in the guest kernel or driver).
> We can use pvscsi for best performance but our customer may need the
> buslogic virtual adapter so we have to support this configuration.
Why would they specifically need that when they use a guest and host
that support PV-SCSI?
Ben.
--
Ben Hutchings
Every program is either trivial or else contains at least one bug
06-21-2012, 08:28 AM
Peter Cao
Bug#678236: linux-image-2.6.32-5-amd64: Disk IO error when running debian 6.0.x with buslogic virtual disk and 4G+ mem in a VMware VM
Hi Ben,
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ben Hutchings" <ben@decadent.org.uk>
To: "Peter Cao" <pengzhencao@vmware.com>, 678236@bugs.debian.org
Cc: "chunmei(Tracy) Huang" <cmhuang@vmware.com>, "Arvind Kumar" <arkumar@vmware.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2012 12:34:07 PM
Subject: Re: Bug#678236: linux-image-2.6.32-5-amd64: Disk IO error when running debian 6.0.x with buslogic virtual disk and 4G+ mem in a VMware VM
>We offer both but the installer is supposed to pick the '686-bigmem'
>configuration by default.
No. The installer picks amd64 kernel by default for configuration with 4G+ mem.
And it normal "i686" kernel if mem<4G.
>It would not surprise me if BusLogic was broken on 64-bit systems, but
>presumably you would have noticed that in other 64-bit Linux guests.
>The userland architecture (i386 vs amd64) should not make any
>difference.
This issue can not be repro on real amd64 debian(amd64 debian kernel+ amd64 userland, installed with amd64 ISO).
And It can not be repro on ubuntu10.10 PAE kernel with 4G+ memory
>What I meant is that if the VMware tools do not configure a Debian 6.0
>guest to have a PV-SCSI adapter by default, this is a poor default and
>that is a bug (independent of any bugs in the guest kernel or driver).
The default configuration will use lsilogic disk controller for debian.
We do not use pvscsi disk controller by default for all guest OS.
I am not the owner for creating VM configurations but I guess this is a balance for performance and best compatibility.
>> We can use pvscsi for best performance but our customer may need the
>> buslogic virtual adapter so we have to support this configuration.
>Why would they specifically need that when they use a guest and host
>that support PV-SCSI?
We just support this configuration in our product and it is the user's choice to use which controller.
PVSCSI should have best performance with vmware tools installed, but not every user install tools, though we highly recommended end user to install
vmware tools for best IO/mem performance.
Ben, do you have any suggestion on how to debug the buslogic driver?
Regards,
Peter Cao
--
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06-22-2012, 04:38 AM
Ben Hutchings
Bug#678236: linux-image-2.6.32-5-amd64: Disk IO error when running debian 6.0.x with buslogic virtual disk and 4G+ mem in a VMware VM
On Thu, 2012-06-21 at 01:28 -0700, Peter Cao wrote:
> Hi Ben,
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ben Hutchings" <ben@decadent.org.uk>
> To: "Peter Cao" <pengzhencao@vmware.com>, 678236@bugs.debian.org
> Cc: "chunmei(Tracy) Huang" <cmhuang@vmware.com>, "Arvind Kumar" <arkumar@vmware.com>
> Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2012 12:34:07 PM
> Subject: Re: Bug#678236: linux-image-2.6.32-5-amd64: Disk IO error when running debian 6.0.x with buslogic virtual disk and 4G+ mem in a VMware VM
>
>
> >We offer both but the installer is supposed to pick the '686-bigmem'
> >configuration by default.
>
> No. The installer picks amd64 kernel by default for configuration with 4G+ mem.
> And it normal "i686" kernel if mem<4G.
Oh, now I remember this bug: <http://bugs.debian.org/622622>. It only
affected installation without a network mirror enabled, so far as I
know. It was supposed to be fixed in point release 6.0.2, so I don't
understand why you would still see it.
> >It would not surprise me if BusLogic was broken on 64-bit systems, but
> >presumably you would have noticed that in other 64-bit Linux guests.
> >The userland architecture (i386 vs amd64) should not make any
> >difference.
>
> This issue can not be repro on real amd64 debian(amd64 debian kernel+ amd64 userland, installed with amd64 ISO).
> And It can not be repro on ubuntu10.10 PAE kernel with 4G+ memory
>
> >What I meant is that if the VMware tools do not configure a Debian 6.0
> >guest to have a PV-SCSI adapter by default, this is a poor default and
> >that is a bug (independent of any bugs in the guest kernel or driver).
>
> The default configuration will use lsilogic disk controller for debian.
OK, so if the default works then this isn't such a disaster.
> We do not use pvscsi disk controller by default for all guest OS.
> I am not the owner for creating VM configurations but I guess this is a balance for performance and best compatibility.
>
> >> We can use pvscsi for best performance but our customer may need the
> >> buslogic virtual adapter so we have to support this configuration.
>
> >Why would they specifically need that when they use a guest and host
> >that support PV-SCSI?
>
> We just support this configuration in our product and it is the user's choice to use which controller.
> PVSCSI should have best performance with vmware tools installed, but not every user install tools, though we highly recommended end user to install
> vmware tools for best IO/mem performance.
>
> Ben, do you have any suggestion on how to debug the buslogic driver?
Sorry, I am not at all familiar with BusLogic or SCSI drivers in
general.
Ben.
--
Ben Hutchings
Every program is either trivial or else contains at least one bug
06-26-2012, 11:03 AM
Peter Cao
Bug#678236: linux-image-2.6.32-5-amd64: Disk IO error when running debian 6.0.x with buslogic virtual disk and 4G+ mem in a VMware VM
Hi Ben,
I just tried Debian 6.0.2 i386. The installer also chooses "amd64" kernel instead of "i686-bigmem" kernel
When I install a VM with 6G memory.
I guess bug 622622 was only fixed in CD image, but not the DVD image.
I have found both "amd64" and "i686-bigmem" kernel are in the first DVD ISO image.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ben Hutchings" <ben@decadent.org.uk>
To: "Peter Cao" <pengzhencao@vmware.com>
Cc: "chunmei(Tracy) Huang" <cmhuang@vmware.com>, "Arvind Kumar" <arkumar@vmware.com>, 678236@bugs.debian.org
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2012 12:38:19 PM
Subject: Re: Bug#678236: linux-image-2.6.32-5-amd64: Disk IO error when running debian 6.0.x with buslogic virtual disk and 4G+ mem in a VMware VM
On Thu, 2012-06-21 at 01:28 -0700, Peter Cao wrote:
> Hi Ben,
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ben Hutchings" <ben@decadent.org.uk>
> To: "Peter Cao" <pengzhencao@vmware.com>, 678236@bugs.debian.org
> Cc: "chunmei(Tracy) Huang" <cmhuang@vmware.com>, "Arvind Kumar" <arkumar@vmware.com>
> Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2012 12:34:07 PM
> Subject: Re: Bug#678236: linux-image-2.6.32-5-amd64: Disk IO error when running debian 6.0.x with buslogic virtual disk and 4G+ mem in a VMware VM
>
>
> >We offer both but the installer is supposed to pick the '686-bigmem'
> >configuration by default.
>
> No. The installer picks amd64 kernel by default for configuration with 4G+ mem.
> And it normal "i686" kernel if mem<4G.
Oh, now I remember this bug: <http://bugs.debian.org/622622>. It only
affected installation without a network mirror enabled, so far as I
know. It was supposed to be fixed in point release 6.0.2, so I don't
understand why you would still see it.
> >It would not surprise me if BusLogic was broken on 64-bit systems, but
> >presumably you would have noticed that in other 64-bit Linux guests.
> >The userland architecture (i386 vs amd64) should not make any
> >difference.
>
> This issue can not be repro on real amd64 debian(amd64 debian kernel+ amd64 userland, installed with amd64 ISO).
> And It can not be repro on ubuntu10.10 PAE kernel with 4G+ memory
>
> >What I meant is that if the VMware tools do not configure a Debian 6.0
> >guest to have a PV-SCSI adapter by default, this is a poor default and
> >that is a bug (independent of any bugs in the guest kernel or driver).
>
> The default configuration will use lsilogic disk controller for debian.
OK, so if the default works then this isn't such a disaster.
> We do not use pvscsi disk controller by default for all guest OS.
> I am not the owner for creating VM configurations but I guess this is a balance for performance and best compatibility.
>
> >> We can use pvscsi for best performance but our customer may need the
> >> buslogic virtual adapter so we have to support this configuration.
>
> >Why would they specifically need that when they use a guest and host
> >that support PV-SCSI?
>
> We just support this configuration in our product and it is the user's choice to use which controller.
> PVSCSI should have best performance with vmware tools installed, but not every user install tools, though we highly recommended end user to install
> vmware tools for best IO/mem performance.
>
> Ben, do you have any suggestion on how to debug the buslogic driver?
Sorry, I am not at all familiar with BusLogic or SCSI drivers in
general.
Ben.
--
Ben Hutchings
Every program is either trivial or else contains at least one bug
--
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