hard disk/controller problem on ftp.oarcorp.com

[Joel Sherrill]

Multiple recent posts to the list have revolved around download
or file corruption problems.  Upon investigating these, we
have determined that SOMETIMES a bit gets turned high when
reading files.  We believe it is a hard disk or controller 
problem.  We were experiencing stability problems on the
same machine but the failures matched reported Linux kernel
problems.  These new problems (AFAIK) do not match any
kernel issues and are almost certainly a HW problem.
If you know otherwise, please pass the information along
to the list or Jeff Mayes <mayes at OARcorp.com>.

We are working to resolve this ASAP.  I became suspicious
of a HW problem when trying to verify the integrity of 
individual tgz or RPM files in the release tree.  I would
get errors in the files (tar quitting or RPM saying the md5sum 
did not match).  Then I would do the operation again and the
file would be OK.  

We ask for your patience while we resolve this.  Until this is
resolved, all I can say is that if you experience an apparent
corruption problem with a file, download it again.  The advice
stinks but it is all I can offer.  <sigh>

FYI this problem apparently has also manifested itself in the
corruption of individual files in snapshots.  Eric Norum
found two single characters in the last snapshot that were
modified and I now suspect that the i386ex/linkcmds problem
over a month ago was an early warning. :(

-- 
Joel Sherrill, Ph.D.             Director of Research & Development
joel at OARcorp.com                 On-Line Applications Research
Ask me about RTEMS: a free RTOS  Huntsville AL 35805
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