Edge Computing Division Users Forum

Hello,

I've recently acquired a fitPC2 and intented to use it as a 24/7 server (backup file server, music streaming, wiki...). I've installed Ubuntu 9.10 Desktop on it. I've installed all the services that I needed (HTTP, FTP...), tested them... everything worked fine and I was every happy about it... until I started storing data on it.

I'll try and be brief. I've transferred my data from Windows (on another PC) to the fitPC2 server (several gigabytes of data). But then, the connection would cut off randomly (the fitPC2 is unreachable... the rest of the network is fine). Each time, I had to restart the server manually (no screen/keyboard/mouse connected). After several tests, I found out that the problem was the network on the fitPC2... sort of.

Let me explain: I used netperf to try and test the network. After roughly 10 seconds of network exchange, my Windows PC would lose connection with the fitPC2. Weird thing is... sometimes (not always) the connection would come back after a minute! ... Even weirder, when the connection is severed, I immediately try to plug my keyboard, mouse and screen on the fitPC2 to do some debugging... and each time I do so, the fitPC2 would immediately come back online! Reading the logs, it appears that Linux doesn't even notice that the connection was lost!! And because that would be too easy, when I disconnect the keyword/mouse and screen, the network would (sometimes) go back offline!!!

Does anyone have the same problem as I? Have I done something wrong? (I'm not really an expert in Linux...)

I've installed the fitPC2 version of the Linux Kernel (found on the fitPC2 website). I've also deactivated the WiFi module.

Thank you in advance, I'm out of idea at this point!

It's most likely an Ethernet driver issue.

Do you have "Processur full speed" set to "GV3 Only" instead "C-States" in the BIOS?

In the BIOS, it is actually on Enabled (both GV3 and C-States enabled). Is that wrong?

Thanks to your suggestion, I've searched once again the Internet and found this:
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showt ... 940&page=5

The symptoms fit. I tried to change the CPU speed to GV3 only and it doesn't seem to go offline anymore (at least not for the last 10 minutes of heavy netperf exchange... compared to the previous 10 seconds beforehand!).

I was actually confused because the user manual suggested to use C-States to use less power.

Thank you very much. May I ask though what will be effected by this change to the BIOS? (Because I want to use the fitPC2 as a server, I just hope it won't use that much power when idle)

Disabling C-States has no effect on power when the computer is under load. It consumes about 1W more when the computer idles.

I had very similar symptoms to what you described. I was trying to set up an rsync cron job which would backup files on my Windows XP box to an external hard drive connected to my fit-PC2 via USB 2.0.

At random times, typically between 5 and 20 minutes, the fit-PC2 would stop responding to any and all network requests. The rsync would die and it wouldn't even respond to pings. I noticed that just moving the fit's USB mouse a hair would cause it to come back to life and respond.

I went down a bunch of dead ends thinking it was a bad hard drive, bad Linux drivers, etc. Nothing worked. I finally came across this thread and tried setting the CPU BIOS setting to GV3 only (it was on Enabled). This appears to have fixed the problem - the rsync has been going strong for a couple hours! Thanks for posting this!

Irad, can this information *please* go on the wiki guide to installing Ubuntu 9.10?

I was getting stalling rsyncs/scps and it's a little frustrating that I had to trawl through the forums and find this random thread to discover the solution.

For anyone still confused, set Intel > CPU Control Sub-Menu > Processor Full Speed to GV3 Only in the BIOS to avoid the kernel incorrectly detecting an idle state. Slightly counter-intuitive, as the Fit-PC ships with this setting Enabled (GV3 + C States), which you would assume was the correct setting. Thanks to Denis and the others here for pinpointing the solution.