Trouble with large files and 1.9.18p10

[Craig Lawson]

Hi Folks,
  I'm new to the list, and am writing because of some trouble I am
having. An old version of Samba is involved, and I am not sure that I
can upgrade. I am trying to explore the issue further.

  I am currently using Samba 1.9.18p10 (I can hear the smack of 1,000
hands slapping foreheads now -- please read on). The problem is that the
Samba server hangs when I copy a large file (~100 MB) from the server to
a NT client. Once the hang occurs, I am unable to recover the server
without cycling the power because the system is a network appliance
without a monitor or keyboard. All administration and monitoring is done
through the network. The system has a small LCD screen with a few
control buttons, and these fail to respond. The system runs a cron job
to periodically test access to it's own network services, and these
tests stop writing to their logs around the same time I see the failure,
confirming that it's not just Samba that has died.
  The log output (level 3) looks like this:

     ...
     switch message SMBreadX (pid 26960)
     2000/05/11 22:49:23 readX fnum=44 cnum=32 min=4159 max=4159 nread=4159
     2000/05/11 22:49:23 Transaction 14676 of length 64
     switch message SMBreadX (pid 26960)
     2000/05/11 22:49:23 readX fnum=44 cnum=32 min=32768 max=32768 nread=32768
     2000/05/11 22:49:23 Transaction 14677 of length 64
     switch message SMBreadX (pid 26960)
     2000/05/11 22:49:23 readX fnum=44 cnum=32 min=32768 max=32768 nread=32768
     2000/05/11 22:49:23 Transac^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@\
     ^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^\
     @^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@

  Yup. It just ends. I was also streaming the log output through a
telnet session to another system, and although it showed a few more
lines before losing the connection, it did not provide any more
information.

  Of course I went straight to the Samba web site for help, and
discovered version 2.0.7. Which I downloaded, built, and installed. But
it did not work. I followed the instructions in DIAGNOSIS.txt and was
not able to complete Test 3. With the log level at 3, the Samba log
shows this behavior during Test 3:

     [2000/05/11 21:59:17, 2] lib/interface.c:add_interface(83)
       added interface ip=209.10.210.134 bcast=209.10.210.191 nmask=255.255.255.192
     [2000/05/11 21:59:17, 1] smbd/files.c:file_init(216)
       file_init: Information only: requested 10000 open files, 1014 are available.
     [2000/05/11 21:59:17, 3] smbd/server.c:main(704)
       loaded services
     [2000/05/11 21:59:17, 3] smbd/server.c:main(712)
       Becoming a daemon.
     [2000/05/11 21:59:17, 3] lib/util_sock.c:open_socket_in(875)
       bind succeeded on port 139
     [2000/05/11 21:59:17, 2] smbd/server.c:open_sockets(181)
       waiting for a connection
     [2000/05/11 22:00:05, 0] locking/shmem_sysv.c:sysv_shm_open(601)
       ERROR: root did not create the semaphore: semgid=0, rootgid=0
     [2000/05/11 22:00:05, 0] locking/locking.c:locking_init(174)
       ERROR: Failed to initialise share modes
     [2000/05/11 22:00:08, 0] locking/shmem_sysv.c:sysv_shm_open(601)
       ERROR: root did not create the semaphore: semgid=0, rootgid=0
     [2000/05/11 22:00:08, 0] locking/locking.c:locking_init(174)
       ERROR: Failed to initialise share modes
     [2000/05/11 22:00:08, 0] locking/shmem_sysv.c:sysv_shm_open(601)
       ERROR: root did not create the semaphore: semgid=0, rootgid=0
     [2000/05/11 22:00:08, 0] locking/locking.c:locking_init(174)
       ERROR: Failed to initialise share modes
     [2000/05/11 22:00:08, 0] locking/shmem_sysv.c:sysv_shm_open(601)
       ERROR: root did not create the semaphore: semgid=0, rootgid=0
     [2000/05/11 22:00:08, 0] locking/locking.c:locking_init(174)
       ERROR: Failed to initialise share modes

  smbclient complains with a bunch of error messages, but I did not save
those. From where I'm sitting, this looks pretty bad.

  Here's more info: The server system is a Cobalt Networks Qube2 running
Linux kernal version 2.0.34 on a MIPS processor. The client is running
NT 4.0 SP 4. Although I would like to upgrade to a later version of
Linux, I am unable because Cobalt Networks has not provided an upgrade
package. Their system has a few special drivers, and (I believe that)
without the source, I will be unable to rebuild the kernal. I am
reluctant to experiment because, as I mentioned, the system has no
monitor or keyboard, and no CD-ROM drive. If something went wrong, I
would have no means of recovery.

  So having established that my options are limited, here are my
questions:

   * Does anyone know anything more about the large file problem? The
     behavior is very consistent, although I don't know the size
     cut-off. If this is in fact a problem with this version of Samba,
     then I might be able to get Cobalt to address the problem.
   * Does anyone know what the problem is with 2.0.7? If it is a problem
     with the Linux version, then this also might help get Cobalt
     moving. But I'd be happier if I could get the thing to run on my
     own.
   * Is there anything else I can try to narrow down the problem
     further?

Thank you,
Craig.