Hi,

Les Mikesell wrote on 2009-06-21 18:53:52 -0500 [Re: [BackupPC-users] 
backuppc_dump hangs server]:
> error403 wrote:
> > Well, I tried to renice the process while a backup was in process, but no 
> > go.
> > 
> > It hung again, this time after about 25 minutes of running backuppc_dump.
> > 
> > Any other ideas? Thanks
> 
> It is almost certainly hardware since it only happens on that machine.  Rsync 
> can consume large amounts of RAM - but that should go to swap and just slow 
> down.

according to the original post it doesn't seem to be an issue of the amount of
memory (I'm not saying "memory issue" because *faulty* memory could be a
cause). My next suspect would be the power supply. BackupPC puts a
simultaneous load on CPU and disk subsystem, which could cause the PSU to
reach its limits and the CPU to hang as the voltage goes out of spec. I
wouldn't rule out CPU overheating completely yet. A CPU is made up of a number
of functional units, which can operate in parallel if programmed correctly. A
(compiled) "while (1) ;" won't do that. Either will BackupPC, but it might be
causing different parts of the CPU to run hot than your test program. The
point is, you should really measure the case that is giving you problems
before ruling out the cause (if your test program had crashed the machine,
that would have been "good enough" evidence, but it failing to do so is not).
You could either try installing the "lm-sensors" package(*) and see if that
gives you meaningful readings, or at least check the temperature values in
the BIOS immediately on reboot after a crash (you won't see the actual value
during the crash, but it should be close enough to tell you whether your CPU
temperature is worryingly high or boringly low). Both sources should also
give you PSU voltage readings.

There was a post on the list a while back on how to test your PSU. If you've
got a spare and suitable PSU (e.g. in a second computer) the easiest solution
would be to swap it and see if that changes anything.

Good luck.

Regards,
Holger

(*) You need to run "sensors-detect" once, modprobe the detected modules (and
    add them to /etc/modules if you want them to be automatically loaded in
    the future), and then run "sensors" to see the values.

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