February 2006 - Udpcast

UDPCast source code issues...
by Saikrishna Dasari 25 Apr '06

25 Apr '06

Hi Alain, I was studying the UDPCast source code for some experimental purposes. I have the following question. 1. The whole data to be transfered into is divided into slices which again contains a series of blocks to transfer. Can we consider the whole data to be transfered as a single slice ( By setting appropriate parameters in code) and what kind of performance issues we can expect if we do a change of this kind at code level. Thanks in advance, Sai --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Y! Messenger - Communicate in real time. Download now.

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Buggy tg3 ethernet
by Donald Teed 04 Apr '06

04 Apr '06

The option of ipappend 1 in the default file and retransmission of HELLOs in udp-sender (--rexmit-hello-interval) has been valuable to getting udpcast working with the Dell notebooks we have with Broadcom 5700 series ethernet. Today, with a slightly newer broadcom chipset appearing in the most recent shipment, we noticed that udp-receiver was intermittantly not showing the "hit any button to start transfer" message. With some trial and error I found that if I watched the tail of /var/log/message on the receiver (server) and waited for the messages on TX and RX flow control to complete before running udp-receiver, it would always initiate a good connection. If I had started the udp-receiver prior to the TX/RX flow control appearing in the message log (in which case there was no "hit any key" message), I could ^C the receiver, run it again and it would signify the ready state with 100% success. In conclusion, we have a workaround of starting udp-receiver after a few seconds past the client PXE machine booting and showing the udp-sender status ready (but not yet "hit any key..."). Another solution would be if udp-receiver also supported --rexmit-hello-interval. It isn't a flaw in the udpcast system but a kludge for a network device that is proving itself to be sluggish in initialization in general. --Donald Teed

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Default boot not recognizing kb
by abarkley＠jamadots.com 04 Apr '06

04 Apr '06

I downloaded your CD image and it worked fine until I used it on a pc with a USB keyboard. These PCs are in the lab I am trying the program on. Do I need to compile my own image using my own kernal? I am using debian 3.1 and cannot find the required files as specified by the -k switch. Please, let me know what I need to do. Thanks, AJ

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Udpcast really slow on NEC AMD 64 3400+
by Stephane 08 Mar '06

08 Mar '06

Hi, I post again... It seems my post didn't reach the list... I get really slow results with NEC AMD 64 3400+ It has Gigabit ethernet card (RTL-8169), but I only get ~10Mbps when I try to clone to computers linked with one RJ45 cable (no switch). I did the test with LZOP compression and image created in january 2006. Do you know why I get slower results than when I clone old computers on my network? thank you very much! -- Stephane. PS: I put some informations below: sam fév 11 02:40:20 root@sargenec:~ # cat /proc/cpuinfo processor : 0 vendor_id : AuthenticAMD cpu family : 15 model : 47 model name : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3400+ stepping : 2 cpu MHz : 2189.263 cache size : 512 KB physical id : 0 siblings : 1 fdiv_bug : no hlt_bug : no f00f_bug : no coma_bug : no fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 1 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 pni syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt lm 3dnowext 3dnow pni lahf_lm bogomips : 4308.99 sam fév 11 02:58:46 root@sargenec:~ # sam fév 11 07:46:53 root@sargenec:~ # lspci 0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 5950 (rev 10) 0000:00:02.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 5a34 0000:00:11.0 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 437a 0000:00:12.0 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 4379 0000:00:13.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 4374 0000:00:13.1 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 4375 0000:00:13.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 4373 0000:00:14.0 SMBus: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 4372 (rev 10) 0000:00:14.1 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 4376 0000:00:14.3 ISA bridge: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 4377 0000:00:14.4 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 4371 0000:00:14.5 Multimedia audio controller: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 4370 (rev 01) 0000:00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 NorthBridge 0000:00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 NorthBridge 0000:00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 NorthBridge 0000:00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 NorthBridge 0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 5b60 0000:01:00.1 Display controller: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 5b70 0000:02:03.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8169 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 10) sam fév 11 07:49:04 root@sargenec:~ # sam fév 11 02:27:07 root@sargenec:~ # hdparm -I /dev/hda /dev/hda: ATA device, with non-removable media Model Number: ST380011A Serial Number: 4LH0BNRN Firmware Revision: 8.01 Standards: Used: ATA/ATAPI-6 T13 1410D revision 2 Supported: 6 5 4 3 Configuration: Logical max current cylinders 16383 65535 heads 16 1 sectors/track 63 63 -- CHS current addressable sectors: 4128705 LBA user addressable sectors: 156301488 LBA48 user addressable sectors: 156301488 device size with M = 1024*1024: 76319 MBytes device size with M = 1000*1000: 80026 MBytes (80 GB) Capabilities: LBA, IORDY(can be disabled) bytes avail on r/w long: 4 Queue depth: 1 Standby timer values: spec'd by Standard, no device specific minimum R/W multiple sector transfer: Max = 16 Current = ? Recommended acoustic management value: 128, current value: 0 DMA: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 *udma5 Cycle time: min=120ns recommended=120ns PIO: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4 Cycle time: no flow control=240ns IORDY flow control=120ns Commands/features: Enabled Supported: * READ BUFFER cmd * WRITE BUFFER cmd * Host Protected Area feature set * Look-ahead * Write cache * Power Management feature set Security Mode feature set SMART feature set * FLUSH CACHE EXT command * Mandatory FLUSH CACHE command * Device Configuration Overlay feature set * 48-bit Address feature set SET MAX security extension * DOWNLOAD MICROCODE cmd * General Purpose Logging feature set * SMART self-test * SMART error logging Security: Master password revision code = 65534 supported not enabled not locked not frozen not expired: security count not supported: enhanced erase HW reset results: CBLID- above Vih Device num = 0 determined by CSEL Checksum: correct sam fév 11 02:27:53 root@sargenec:~ # -- Stephane.

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Re: [Udpcast] Lots of Timeouts using udpcast
by Benjamin Moore 27 Feb '06

27 Feb '06

Quoting "Michael D. Setzer II" <mikes(a)kuentos.guam.net>: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > Two quick additions. You want to check the duplex status. I think if you are > using a switch, it should be set to full, and I think the default is half. I thought it defaulted to full... I'll poke around. It looks like there's a problem with my images. :-( I'm getting the dreaded BSOD when I restart saying there's a problem with the hard drive... grrr. > > Second, I looked at Erasor, and it seems to be a security erasor, and did see > from the page I looked at what pattern is left when it finishes. blank6 makes > the space all null. If the pattern is a single byte, it should > probable compress > about the same, but it wirtes random patterns on the last run, it could make > things worst. It's actually configurable. I had it write all zeros instead of random data. :-) Thanks for the help, Ben > > On 26 Feb 2006 at 20:48, Benjamin Moore wrote: > > Date sent: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 20:48:43 -0800 > From: Benjamin Moore <bmoore(a)tacticallanguage.com> > To: udpcast(a)udpcast.linux.lu > Subject: Re: [Udpcast] Lots of Timeouts using udpcast > >> Michael D. Setzer II wrote: >> >> >>Some questions about the setup. Is it one or two machines that is >> giving the >> >>timeouts? I have a lab of 20 machines, one was causing this problem. If I >> >>imaged all the others together there would be very few timeouts compared >> >>to thiis one. Turned out to be the hard drive in that machine, >> which was the >> >>same brand as all the others. In swapping the hard drive to >> another machine >> >>the problem moved from the one machien to the other. Ran diagnostics on >> >>the drive,and it reports no errors, but it doesn't seem to be able >> to keep up >> >>with writing the sections of the drive that are blank, so the compressed >> >>informaiton is coming in faster than the machine can write it to >> the disk. I've >> >>seen that these drives can only do about 45MB after the buffer gets full. >> >> >> >> >> 2 Machines if I'm reading the error message correctly... I don't quite >> understand what the error is trying to tell me. I'll try imaging them >> individually and see if the problem goes away. You're theory about the >> drive writing sounds plausible. I'll experiment, since I'm going to be >> doing this off and on for the next 6-12 months. >> >> >>Also, what IP addresses are you using on the systems. I had a problem, >> >>whereas the College MIS has 3 Class C blocks all the the same physical >> >>network with a standard Class C subnet mask (Don't ask why??), and if I >> >>used dhcp it would only work with machines on the same class C. I ended >> >>up making an ipmac.txt file for the udpcast, and had it assign 10.0.7.x >> >>numbers to my machines (Lab D-7). >> >> >> >> >> 192.168.15.* But I'm doing my imaging completely off the external >> network. All that's on the network is the server and the machines that >> I'm imaging and they're all plugged into our HP 24 port switch. >> >> >>Also, you could try a cross-over cable and directly connect two machines, >> >>and see if it differs from going thru the switch.. >> >> >> >> >> I'll give this a try as well, if I have time. If it is one of the >> machines... yuck... but if I'm interpretting the error correctly it is >> having a problem with both of them isn't it? >> >> >>Another issue that you might want to look at, are you clearing the unused >> >>space on the drive before doing the transfer. I have a program >> that I use with >> >>my G4L project (at least the last four releases) and udpcast. >> >>ftp://fedoragcc.dyndns.org/blank6.exe >> >>Is a little C program (source code at the same site with .cpp), >> and it works >> >>for FAT and NTFS partitions. I just copy the file to the machine, >> and from the >> >>command prompt you blank6 c (c being the drive to clear). It just creates >> >>2GB files full of nulls until the disk is full, and deletes them >> when done. This >> >>will speed up the compress and greatly reduce the time to >> transmitt the data. >> >>When I image my lab machines, I can get about 20+ MB/sec considering the >> >>uncompressed size of the 80GB drives. >> >> >> >> >> I used Erasor. But I'm using g4l for all the setup. It's a great >> utility BTW. >> >> >>Don't know if that help, or just confused things more. Just yesterday, I >> >>imaged the other 19 machines in my lab with 80GB drive in about 50 >> >>minutes with a hub. >> >> >> >>One other thing that you might want to look at is the >> --max-bitrate= option. >> >>I've found that if I set it to 90M it reduces these timeouts for the 18 >> >>machines, and 80M will sometimes have none. With the problem machine, it >> >>usually takes 60M or lower to stop the errors. >> >> >> >> >> I'll give this a try when I have more of them hooked up. I'm still >> waiting for Dell to deliver 12 machines. >> >> Thanks for the help. (I'll be back at work trying this out soon. :-) >> >> Ben >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Udpcast mailing list >> Udpcast(a)udpcast.linux.lu >> https://lll.lgl.lu/mailman/listinfo/udpcast >> > > > +----------------------------------------------------------+ > Michael D. Setzer II - Computer Science Instructor > Guam Community College Computer Center > mailto:mikes@kuentos.guam.net > mailto:msetzerii@gmail.com > http://www.guam.net/home/mikes > Guam - Where America's Day Begins > +----------------------------------------------------------+ > > http://setiathome.berkeley.edu > Number of Seti Units Returned: 19,471 > Processing time: 32 years, 290 days, 12 hours, 58 minutes > (Total Hours: 287,489) > > > BOINC Seti@Home Total Credits 473413.537949 > > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: PGP 6.5.8 -- QDPGP 2.61c > Comment: http://community.wow.net/grt/qdpgp.html > > iQA/AwUBRAIAcizGQcr/2AKZEQJ0EQCfVJePyV0Bh+sc+M3CBgEBQ2TFFdcAnA3W > 0KnMee3jZAPpFNVSW5z9v1D5 > =31VA > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > >

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Re: [Udpcast] Lots of Timeouts using udpcast
by Benjamin Moore 27 Feb '06

27 Feb '06

Michael D. Setzer II wrote: >>Some questions about the setup. Is it one or two machines that is giving the >>timeouts? I have a lab of 20 machines, one was causing this problem. If I >>imaged all the others together there would be very few timeouts compared >>to thiis one. Turned out to be the hard drive in that machine, which was the >>same brand as all the others. In swapping the hard drive to another machine >>the problem moved from the one machien to the other. Ran diagnostics on >>the drive,and it reports no errors, but it doesn't seem to be able to keep up >>with writing the sections of the drive that are blank, so the compressed >>informaiton is coming in faster than the machine can write it to the disk. I've >>seen that these drives can only do about 45MB after the buffer gets full. >> >> 2 Machines if I'm reading the error message correctly... I don't quite understand what the error is trying to tell me. I'll try imaging them individually and see if the problem goes away. You're theory about the drive writing sounds plausible. I'll experiment, since I'm going to be doing this off and on for the next 6-12 months. >>Also, what IP addresses are you using on the systems. I had a problem, >>whereas the College MIS has 3 Class C blocks all the the same physical >>network with a standard Class C subnet mask (Don't ask why??), and if I >>used dhcp it would only work with machines on the same class C. I ended >>up making an ipmac.txt file for the udpcast, and had it assign 10.0.7.x >>numbers to my machines (Lab D-7). >> >> 192.168.15.* But I'm doing my imaging completely off the external network. All that's on the network is the server and the machines that I'm imaging and they're all plugged into our HP 24 port switch. >>Also, you could try a cross-over cable and directly connect two machines, >>and see if it differs from going thru the switch.. >> >> I'll give this a try as well, if I have time. If it is one of the machines... yuck... but if I'm interpretting the error correctly it is having a problem with both of them isn't it? >>Another issue that you might want to look at, are you clearing the unused >>space on the drive before doing the transfer. I have a program that I use with >>my G4L project (at least the last four releases) and udpcast. >>ftp://fedoragcc.dyndns.org/blank6.exe >>Is a little C program (source code at the same site with .cpp), and it works >>for FAT and NTFS partitions. I just copy the file to the machine, and from the >>command prompt you blank6 c (c being the drive to clear). It just creates >>2GB files full of nulls until the disk is full, and deletes them when done. This >>will speed up the compress and greatly reduce the time to transmitt the data. >>When I image my lab machines, I can get about 20+ MB/sec considering the >>uncompressed size of the 80GB drives. >> >> I used Erasor. But I'm using g4l for all the setup. It's a great utility BTW. >>Don't know if that help, or just confused things more. Just yesterday, I >>imaged the other 19 machines in my lab with 80GB drive in about 50 >>minutes with a hub. >> >>One other thing that you might want to look at is the --max-bitrate= option. >>I've found that if I set it to 90M it reduces these timeouts for the 18 >>machines, and 80M will sometimes have none. With the problem machine, it >>usually takes 60M or lower to stop the errors. >> >> I'll give this a try when I have more of them hooked up. I'm still waiting for Dell to deliver 12 machines. Thanks for the help. (I'll be back at work trying this out soon. :-) Ben

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Lots of Timeouts using udpcast
by Benjamin Moore 27 Feb '06

27 Feb '06

Hello, I've just recently(as in the last hour) started playing with udpcast to image a bunch of Windows XP machines. I seem to have gotten everything working, but the throughput is kind of slow because of the large number of time out errors I am getting. This is the error: Timeout notAnswered=[0,1] notReady=[0,1] nrAns=0 nrRead=0 nrPart=2 avg=<now hovering around 59k> Periodically udpcast seems to recover and the throughput goes back up. But then it starts getting Timeouts again. THe configuration right now is 2 machines recieving and the machine transmitting all plugged into the same switch. I will be doing a second run with 20 machines tomorrow. It looks like everything is working otherwise, so I'm just curious what's going on. Thanks, Ben

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Re: [Udpcast] Problems with udpcast (compressed images corrupt)
by elekktretterr＠exemail.com.au 20 Feb '06

20 Feb '06

Just a little correction. the version installed on the server is NOT 20050208 but 20060208.

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Re: [Udpcast] Problems with udpcast (compressed images corrupt)
by elekktretterr＠exemail.com.au 20 Feb '06

20 Feb '06

> Of course it does not work if you try to use gzip to decompress lzop > compressed data (and vice-versa). These are two different compression > schemes, and should not be mixed. > If you consistently use lzop it works. > If you consistently use gzip it also works. Well I obviously wasnt mixing them. Im no bigginer in unix-like env to not know gzip and lzop are different schemes. I was obviously not understood. I'll try to explain it better: The imaging server runs Gentoo Linux, ive installed udpcast-20050208 on it. I booted the machine on which I maintain the image using PXE, firstly chose gzip as my compression format of choice (ive been using udpcast for over a year, but unfortunatly my old initrd got lost in the process of upgrading), therefore ive started udp-sender, with gzip on that pc. On the gentoo server i started udp-receiver. The image was saved no problem, then i booted another 20 pcs on which i started udp-receiver via as well PXE, and gzip decompression. and on the server udp-sender. Imaging worked, but afterwards only NTFS partitions were readable, but none of the linux partitions. Then i tried lzop, knowing it is much faster than gzip, saving the image on the server worked fine, but when i tried to ghost a machine with it spat out an error (after about 200 000MB of compressed data was sent across the client ) which i cant remember now but basically it would not continue ghosting. Then i tried uncompressed format, took ages, but when it was saved on the server, i manually ran gzip and lzop on it and tested both(created extra two files, one .gz and one .lzo), sent them across to the client on which I chose either lzop or gzip (depending which file of the 2 i was sending) and it worked perfectly. therefore there doesnt seem to be a problem with udp-receiver but udp-sender that is compressing the data before it sends it over the network to the Gentoo server. The machines are perfectly identical.

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Problems with udpcast (compressed images corrupt)
by elekktretterr＠exemail.com.au 20 Feb '06

20 Feb '06

Hi, udpcast is a great tool but: Using gzip compression on udp-sender (2005-12-03) corrupts linux partitions so they are unreadable, unmountable, unfsckable. Using lzop compression on udp-sender (2005-12-03) makes udp-receiver fail on receiving the image with an error. Using no compression works perfect, but they are too big, so i manually have to gzip or lzop them. (and they work!) Im using initrd for PXE made by the web configurator. Thanks. Petr Janda

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