CentOS Server Dying in Middle of Night

Issues related to hardware problems
intermediatelinux
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Re: CentOS Server Dying in Middle of Night

Post by intermediatelinux » 2014/10/07 16:22:12

TrevorH wrote:Your symptoms sound suspiciously like a hardware error though. Does it reboot or you have to power cycle it manually? Did it start happening recently and had you changed anything just before it started?
It doesn't actually reboot, and the power is still on. There's a monitor on the console, but when this mysterious crash happens, I can't actually do anything with it, because it's switched into power saving mode, and the monitor light just flashes dimly. The NUM LOCK on the keyboard is off and doesn't respond. So I hold the power button down, and I hear the 'click' as the machine shuts down, so it's definitely not actually 'dying' from an electrical point of view. And when I power it back up, I don't see any evidence that it's running fsck... oh, hang on ...

[root@serverHostname conf]# grep "fsck" /var/log/*
/var/log/messages:Oct 5 18:24:47 serverHostname kernel: EXT4-fs (sdb1): warning: maximal mount count reached, running e2fsck is recommended
/var/log/messages:Oct 7 14:00:46 serverHostname kernel: EXT4-fs (sdb1): warning: maximal mount count reached, running e2fsck is recommended

Nah. That was after the crash.

intermediatelinux
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Re: CentOS Server Dying in Middle of Night

Post by intermediatelinux » 2014/12/09 15:56:29

TrevorH wrote:Your symptoms sound suspiciously like a hardware error though. Does it reboot or you have to power cycle it manually? Did it start happening recently and had you changed anything just before it started?
Hi again,
Reactivating this thread because once again this morning, five minutes after I got into my office, I found myself unable to connect to my home server.

I went on a ten-day holiday a month ago, and two days into it, the server died, and I was without e-mail for over a week.

This is getting beyond a joke. Can someone suggest a way to start to diagnose what the problem is, considering that there is nothing whatsoever in the logs, to suggest why this is happening?

Thank you.

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Vladi
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Re: CentOS Server Dying in Middle of Night

Post by Vladi » 2014/12/09 19:43:29

your last message is:
kernel: EXT4-fs (sdb1): warning: maximal mount count reached, running e2fsck is recommended

So i think you should check your hdd.

Where is sdb1 in the file system? Try unmount it, and see what happening.

Or your sdb hdd is dying. I had similar problem, my hdd is dying and "kill" the whole pc.

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AlanBartlett
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Re: CentOS Server Dying in Middle of Night

Post by AlanBartlett » 2014/12/09 19:55:01

Hmm . . . puzzling.

I wonder -- Is smartd monitoring enabled? Does it show anything significant with regards to the disk-drives?
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intermediatelinux
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Re: CentOS Server Dying in Middle of Night

Post by intermediatelinux » 2014/12/09 20:16:44

Vladi wrote:your last message is:
kernel: EXT4-fs (sdb1): warning: maximal mount count reached, running e2fsck is recommended

So i think you should check your hdd.

Where is sdb1 in the file system? Try unmount it, and see what happening.

Or your sdb hdd is dying. I had similar problem, my hdd is dying and "kill" the whole pc.
sdb1 is my homes.

Code: Select all

/dev/sdb1 on /home type ext4 (rw,usrquota,grpquota)
I'm running badblock on the disk now.

smartd is enabled on the disk, apparently.

Code: Select all

[root@server ~]# smartctl -a /dev/sdb | more
smartctl 5.43 2012-06-30 r3573 [x86_64-linux-2.6.32-431.23.3.el6.x86_64] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-12 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model:     TOSHIBA MK6475GSX
Serial Number:    32F9FBVTS
LU WWN Device Id: 5 000039 3e6b8584c
Firmware Version: GT001M
User Capacity:    640 135 028 736 bytes [640 GB]
Sector Size:      512 bytes logical/physical
Device is:        Not in smartctl database [for details use: -P showall]
ATA Version is:   8
ATA Standard is:  Exact ATA specification draft version not indicated
Local Time is:    Tue Dec  9 20:15:45 2014 GMT
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status:  (0x00)	Offline data collection activity
					was never started.
					Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status:      (   0)	The previous self-test routine completed
					without error or no self-test has ever
					been run.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection: 		(  120) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: 			 (0x5b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
					Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
					Suspend Offline collection upon new
					command.
					Offline surface scan supported.
					Self-test supported.
					No Conveyance Self-test supported.
					Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities:            (0x0003)	Saves SMART data before entering
					power-saving mode.
					Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability:        (0x01)	Error logging supported.
					General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: 	 (   2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: 	 ( 198) minutes.
SCT capabilities: 	       (0x003d)	SCT Status supported.
					SCT Error Recovery Control supported.
					SCT Feature Control supported.
					SCT Data Table supported.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     0x000b   100   100   050    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  2 Throughput_Performance  0x0005   100   100   050    Pre-fail  Offline      -       0
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0027   100   100   001    Pre-fail  Always       -       2140
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       681
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   100   100   050    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x000b   100   100   050    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  8 Seek_Time_Performance   0x0005   100   100   050    Pre-fail  Offline      -       0
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   062   062   000    Old_age   Always       -       15547
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0033   113   100   030    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       406
191 G-Sense_Error_Rate      0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       57
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       25
193 Load_Cycle_Count        0x0032   087   087   000    Old_age   Always       -       130292
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       30 (Min/Max 7/45)
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable   0x0030   100   100   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
220 Disk_Shift              0x0002   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       8236
222 Loaded_Hours            0x0032   089   089   000    Old_age   Always       -       4677
223 Load_Retry_Count        0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
224 Load_Friction           0x0022   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
226 Load-in_Time            0x0026   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       323
240 Head_Flying_Hours       0x0001   100   100   001    Pre-fail  Offline      -       0

SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
No self-tests have been logged.  [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t]


SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
 SPAN  MIN_LBA  MAX_LBA  CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
    1        0        0  Not_testing
    2        0        0  Not_testing
    3        0        0  Not_testing
    4        0        0  Not_testing
    5        0        0  Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
  After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.

Whoever
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Re: CentOS Server Dying in Middle of Night

Post by Whoever » 2014/12/10 07:10:13

Don't bother with badblocks. User smartctl to run a SMART "long" self-test on the drive. Also, set up smartd to run the self-tests on a regular schedule.

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TrevorH
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Re: CentOS Server Dying in Middle of Night

Post by TrevorH » 2014/12/10 09:10:14

I disagree: badblocks is far more thorough than smartctl's tests. I've had disks here recently that have been reporting pending sectors and smartctl does nothing even on the 'long' test which runs for 3.5 hours. Badblocks runs in destructive mode and took 80 hours and remaps all the pending sectors.
The future appears to be RHEL or Debian. I think I'm going Debian.
Info for USB installs on http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/InstallFromUSBkey
CentOS 5 and 6 are deadest, do not use them.
Use the FAQ Luke

intermediatelinux
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Re: CentOS Server Dying in Middle of Night

Post by intermediatelinux » 2014/12/10 15:56:43

TrevorH wrote:I disagree: badblocks is far more thorough than smartctl's tests. I've had disks here recently that have been reporting pending sectors and smartctl does nothing even on the 'long' test which runs for 3.5 hours. Badblocks runs in destructive mode and took 80 hours and remaps all the pending sectors.
badblocks finished overnight. Zero bad blocks found. Now to delve into /etc/smartd.conf.....

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fawnridge
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Re: CentOS Server Dying in Middle of Night

Post by fawnridge » 2016/04/01 18:11:41

Bringing this thread back to life to see if you ever solved the problem. I have the exact same situation with a server running 5.11. I believe the problem I'm having, and the solution that I'm attempting tonight, may help us both.

I noticed in the file you displayed there were several errors accessing the Internet at night. Does this server have a static IP address or are you running DHCP? I have just changed my client's server to DHCP and we'll see what happens overnight tonight.

intermediatelinux
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Re: CentOS Server Dying in Middle of Night

Post by intermediatelinux » 2016/04/01 20:10:11

fawnridge wrote:Bringing this thread back to life to see if you ever solved the problem. I have the exact same situation with a server running 5.11. I believe the problem I'm having, and the solution that I'm attempting tonight, may help us both.

I noticed in the file you displayed there were several errors accessing the Internet at night. Does this server have a static IP address or are you running DHCP? I have just changed my client's server to DHCP and we'll see what happens overnight tonight.
Hi there.

I never did really solve it. Instead, I went and bought a real server - and it sits in the same corner, running ESXi.

The original server seems to be have been 'cured', in that since I no longer leafnode on it, it's been as reliable as anything..

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[~] serverHostname% (332) uptime
 21:08:49 up 93 days, 21:43,  3 users,  load average: 0.01, 0.00, 0.00
So was it fetchnews that was causing the problem? No idea.

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