C3000 workstation always hangs

[Kurtkarl]

Hi..

We're using C3000 workstations here and I noticed some of the C3000 are having the same problem. Workstation always hungs and some are not even connecting or couldnt do a telnet from other workstation or servers. I checked everything including uptime, top, bdf and others for what make this problem always occurs but couldnt find a clue.

Sometimes it took a week or two before same problem will happen again. So what I usually do if this problem occured to any of the workstation is to do a hard boot always. I couldnt shutdown the workstation properly for it was already hung. This workstations by the way are using CDE sessions.

I have attached last few lines wich I got from the syslog after the hard boot hoping this would help.

Again thank in advance..
Joey

[Patrick Wallek]

It sounds as if your workstations are running low on RAM and/or swap space. I occasionally see the same thing on my B132 workstation if I have too many things open. I close a few windows or applications and it starts behaving better.

I also had the problem even worse after I initially installed HP-UX 11.0 on this machine. An HP support rep. pointed me towards a "memory leak" patch (I don't recall which patch it was) that also helped drastically.

[Sean Baker]

What is the date code and version of OS you are running?

Do you have the latest patches from HP's website?

[S. Karunanidhi]

HI!
To know wheter your system is running with lower memory, use "vmstat" command.
When all of your applications are running,
#vmstat 2
Look for column sr (scan rate). If scan rate is more than 100, you are running out of Physical memory.

Look for the patches that your application recommnads.

- S.Karunanidhi

[Kurtkarl]

Thanks Everyone for the quick response,

First my vmstat 2 shows "0" always on sr column.
Secondly, here's my hp-ux version for this workstation.
"HP-UX polaris B.10.20 A 9000/785 2005701731 two-user license"

Also, how would I know and what to search from HP site of the patches needed for this workstation?

Again thanks, I really appreciate it
Joey

[Patrick Wallek]

My first suggestion would be to get the general release patch bundle for that particular machine / OS level. HP releases a general patch bundle every 2 months. Make sure you get the patch bundle for HP-UX 10.20 for a 700 Series machine (Workstation).

If you have a support contract you can either have HP send you the CDs or you can download them from the IT Resource Center.

To download the patches go to 'Maintenance/Support' -- then click on 'Standard Patch Bundles' -- then click on 'Obtain Support Plus Bundles from HP Software Depot' (this will open a new Netscape Window) -- from this point you can select what you want to download.

At the minimum I would download and install the General Release patches. If you haven't installed any patches I would download and install everything that is available including the Support Tools.

Hope this helps you.

[Jamie Rancourt]

I've seen similar problems with other models of HP9000/700 series when additional memory was added to the machine. This caused the main board to malfunction periodically. If you have added more memory, you may want to consider this.

Jamie R.