Re: Alpha mystery! Only on Sundays??

fred@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Hi all,

We've got a strange problem with our Alpha.

We have two identical computers, both:

Alpha Digital Personal Workstation 600au VMS V7.3-2
Installation date: FEB-1999
SCSI System Disk:
Device Name Size Label Make/Model Drive
DKA0: 4.2Gb DISKF0_SYS Compaq RZ2CC-KB

A few weeks ago, one of them started generating thousands of system
disc
errors, in a Mount/Verification loop. The computer was basically
unusable,
a reboot was required. This sequence has now happened 3 times.

Strange fact #1: these errors all start on a Sunday morning!
Here are the 3 failure times, all are a Sunday:
11-FEB-2007 10:31:06.38
18-FEB-2007 09:27:22.19
25-FEB-2007 09:28:06.25

Fact #2: a simple reboot fixed the problem each time.
There were then no more disk errors for 7 days.

Fact #3: the *other* computer also had this problem one time.
That was on 19 Nov 2006, also a Sunday! It too was fixed
with a simple reboot, but it has not had any problems since then.

The odds that all 4 of these errors occur on the same day of week
is 7**3::1, not very likely. The 2 computers are in different,
though
adjacent, rooms. Neither has any batch job running Sunday mornings.
We didn't find anything strange in any of the system logs near the
times
of the failures. Since the two RZ2CC disks have been in use since
1999,
it could be time for them to fail. But why only on Sundays??

We lost our system guy some time ago, so a few of us scientist-types
are trying to maintain these computers in order to continue our
data analysis. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.


A disk goes into mount verification when VMS loses contact with the disk .. When the disk answers up and says "my label is XYZZY" (or whatever), the system is happy again.

The question to ask is what else happened on those dates and at those times. Did your site have power problems such as a brownout or a brief blackout? Are your systems protected by a UPS? The disks as well?

What is the environment? Office? Laboratory? Data Center?

If you lost your systems guy for reasons other than being unable to pay him, I'm available!

.

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