help! multi-threading problem on hyperthreading smp linux server

[Aahz]

In article <2004021110421076514154 at k2.sage.att.com>,
Garry Hodgson  <garry at research.att.com> wrote:
>aahz at pythoncraft.com (Aahz) wrote:
>>
>> What happens if you only start ten threads (fifty
>> threads isn't huge, but it's definitely large)?
>
>same thing.  works fine for 1 thread :-).
>
>> Have you applied all relevant OS patches and/or tried upgrading to a
>> newer kernel?
>
>it's looking like this may be the problem, since the machine it fails on
>is running the oldest linux kernel of all of them.  all are 2.4.20's, but 
>with different minor release numbers.

Those two combined make me agree.

>> Can you test the production system (or an equivalent) with
>> Windows?  
>
>nope.  we do have another machine that's identical hardware, 
>though with slightly newer kernel patches.  we intend to test
>on that tomorrow, during a maintenance window (that's a 
>production machine).

One thing I learned during my threading problems, five years ago:
*always* have a QA machine with the same specs as the production machine.
Among other things, I found a bug with MS SQL Server that only showed up
on SMP machines.  :-(
-- 
Aahz (aahz at pythoncraft.com)           <*>         http://www.pythoncraft.com/

"Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they're yours."  --Richard Bach