Copying files to mounted NFS shares blocks file access and desktop actions

[Frank Thommen <fthommen@embl.de>]

Hi,

on some of our hosts we have the problem, that copying a file onto an 
NFS share completely blocks the access to this file and even desktop 
actions (opening new terminal, moving windows etc.) with Gnome and KDE 
become merely impossible:


# cp file /mnt/file

a simultaneous `ls -l /mnt` is blocked and finishes only after the copy 
process has finished.  A `strace ls -l /mnt` shows:

# strace ls -l /mnt
[...]
lstat("file",


/mnt is mounted without special options.


We see this behaviour on these systems

  FC5, x86_64, kernel 2.6.19-1.2288.fc5 SMP,
       mount version 'util-linux 2.13-pre7',
       NIC: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5752 PCI Express (rev 02),
       Speed: 1000Mb/s

  FC5, i686, kernel 2.6.15-1.2054_FC5,
       mount version 'util-linux 2.13-pre6',
       NIC: 3Com Corporation 3c905C-TX/TX-M [Tornado] (rev 74),
       Speed: 100Mb/s

  FC6, x86_64, kernel 2.6.20-1.2944.fc6 SMP,
       mount version 'util-linux 2.13-pre7',
       NIC: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5752 PCI Express (rev 02),
       Speed: 1000Mb/s


The problem is less pronounced on

  FC5, x86_64, kernel 2.6.18-1.2239.fc5 SMP,
       mount version 'util-linux 2.13-pre7',
       NIC: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5752 PCI Express (rev 02)
       Speed: 1000Mb/s


No such problems are experienced on:

  FC5, x86_64, kernel 2.6.20-1.2307.fc5 SMP,
       mount version 'util-linux 2.13-pre7',
       NIC: Broadcom Corporation Unknown device 167a (rev 02),
       Speed: 1000Mb/s


It's not a problem of mount options.  Whatever options I use, the 
problem is the same.  Upgrading kernels is not an option, as the x86_64 
systems in questions do not run with 2.6.20 kernels at all. Googling 
around didn't provide any helpful answers.

What can I do to track down the problem in more detail or is there 
perhaps a solution or workaround somewhere in the wild?  I've no 
experiences with making custom kernels, so all other solutions are 
preferred ;-)


Cheers and thanks

    frank

-- 
Frank Thommen - IT Support Structures - EMBL Heidelberg
fthommen@embl.de - +49 6221 387 8353


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