Bug 76121

Summary:	jiffies rollover on 2.4.9-34
Product:	[Retired] Red Hat Linux	Reporter:	masanari iida <masanari_iida>
Component:	kernel	Assignee:	Arjan van de Ven <arjanv>
Status:	CLOSED ERRATA	QA Contact:	Brian Brock <bbrock>
Severity:	medium	Docs Contact:
Priority:	medium
Version:	7.1
Target Milestone:	---
Target Release:	---
Hardware:	i386
OS:	Linux
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version:		Doc Type:	Bug Fix
Doc Text:		Story Points:	---
Clone Of:		Environment:
Last Closed:	2002-10-17 08:08:25 UTC	Type:	---
Regression:	---	Mount Type:	---
Documentation:	---	CRM:
Verified Versions:		Category:	---
oVirt Team:	---	RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team:	---	Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description masanari iida 2002-10-17 04:55:53 UTC

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Description of problem:
Is 2.4.9-34 kernel safe for jiffies rollover after 497days from system boot? 

I want to make sure if 2.4.9-34 kernel handles jiffies rollover after 497  days
from boot. 
Kernel developer Tim Schmielau from Germany apply some "jiffies fix" on
2.4.19-pre2 or later. I think this is critical patches for those users who want
to run linux server more than 500 days. I request you will port these fixes into
2.4.9-3x for RH7.1.
This bug fix is "required" for those who wants to use RedHat linux for
their important mission.

http://www.physik3.uni-rostock.de/tim/kernel/2.4/

regards,

Comment 1 Arjan van de Ven 2002-10-17 07:55:32 UTC

we believe the kernel to be safe against the wrap.
Yes it will wrap but should not have any negative sideeffects
the patch you point at is for making jiffies 64 bit so that it wouldn't wrap
(which is a different approach .)

Comment 2 masanari iida 2002-10-17 08:08:19 UTC

Hello,

The link that I gave you IS 63bit jiffies patch.
I know it. It suppose to merge into 2.5 kernel, but currently pending.

I have exchanged e-mail with TIM, the he wrote to me that
he found jiffies bug in 2.4 kernel and apply the fix to 2.4.19-pre2
and later. At the same time, he created 63bit patch for enhancement
on kernel 2.5. He hopes he will backport the patch just after it
go into 2.5.

This is an e-mail from Tim.
So my request is, check his 2.4.19-pre fix regarding to current jiffies bux ,not
63bit enhancement, then port it to your RedHat 7.x kernel.

Regards,

Comment 3 Arjan van de Ven 2002-10-17 12:04:32 UTC

2.4.19-pre is a whole different kernel than 2.4.9 and it's not unlikely that new
jiffies bugs were introduced and fixed between 2.4.9 and 2.4.19

The url you pointed at are not actual fixes. As I said, the core of the 2.4.9
kernel is assumed safe; we know there are some legacy drivers (old ISA cards)
that might not be 100% safe but in general even such a wrap is not harmful in
those cases. Anyway fixed in current erratum