Intel PSM 3.7 - Corrupted file system

Hello,

we are having strange problems with the file system on the PSM (3.7). It
becomes corrupted; files disappear, same file name repeated several times in
the same directory, empty directories that can not be removed, files can't be
opened, and so on...

The power is on all the time, so the corruption is not caused by power
failure. When powering off the system after a failure, and then on again, the
PSM usually does not mount.

We do not access the flashes at all, except via the PSM file system (the CE
image is copied to RAM, and runs from RAM all the time).

Our app creates about 180 files, then occasionally another 180, followed by
deleting the first 180. Each file is one round-robin - written from start to
end, then updated from beginning again. Not very complicated.

Another thing; the app (exe) is loaded from the PSM file system too...

Are there any known issues with the PSM that may explain / solve these
problems?

(We have tried to use the 3.8 version of the libs, still using WCE420, but
had the same results... We are using a PXA270 based system.)

Thanks in advance,
Johan
--
Johan Ekstrom

voidcoder
Mon Oct 30 03:32:58 CST 2006


It might be possible that the problem is very specific to your
flash model/part so no one else have seen it. It looks like a
question for the Intel support. Have you tried to contact em?


Gurka wrote:
> Hello,
>
> we are having strange problems with the file system on the PSM (3.7). It
> becomes corrupted; files disappear, same file name repeated several times in
> the same directory, empty directories that can not be removed, files can't be
> opened, and so on...
>
> The power is on all the time, so the corruption is not caused by power
> failure. When powering off the system after a failure, and then on again, the
> PSM usually does not mount.
>
> We do not access the flashes at all, except via the PSM file system (the CE
> image is copied to RAM, and runs from RAM all the time).
>
> Our app creates about 180 files, then occasionally another 180, followed by
> deleting the first 180. Each file is one round-robin - written from start to
> end, then updated from beginning again. Not very complicated.
>
> Another thing; the app (exe) is loaded from the PSM file system too...
>
> Are there any known issues with the PSM that may explain / solve these
> problems?
>
> (We have tried to use the 3.8 version of the libs, still using WCE420, but
> had the same results... We are using a PXA270 based system.)
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Johan

IngemarH
Fri Nov 10 04:30:01 CST 2006

Hello Johan,
We had about the same problems with corrupted files and total corruption of
flash system on flash with IPSM 3.8. (PXA255 based device with CE 4.2)The
problems occurred very rarely and it was not possible to reproduce the
behaviour.
We contacted Intel and they answered that we should upgrade to version 3.82.
After upgrade we havent noticed any more problems.
Due to the difficulties to reproduce the problem I cant say that problem is
completely gone but we havent had any more problems with PSM so far.
Best regards
Ingemar
"Gurka" wrote:

> Hello,
>
> we are having strange problems with the file system on the PSM (3.7). It
> becomes corrupted; files disappear, same file name repeated several times in
> the same directory, empty directories that can not be removed, files can't be
> opened, and so on...
>
> The power is on all the time, so the corruption is not caused by power
> failure. When powering off the system after a failure, and then on again, the
> PSM usually does not mount.
>
> We do not access the flashes at all, except via the PSM file system (the CE
> image is copied to RAM, and runs from RAM all the time).
>
> Our app creates about 180 files, then occasionally another 180, followed by
> deleting the first 180. Each file is one round-robin - written from start to
> end, then updated from beginning again. Not very complicated.
>
> Another thing; the app (exe) is loaded from the PSM file system too...
>
> Are there any known issues with the PSM that may explain / solve these
> problems?
>
> (We have tried to use the 3.8 version of the libs, still using WCE420, but
> had the same results... We are using a PXA270 based system.)
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Johan
> --
> Johan Ekstrom

jo
Thu Nov 16 07:40:02 CST 2006

Hello Ingemar

Thanks for your answer! Intel also told us to try 3.82, but we still have
the same problems. As you say, it's very difficult to reproduce the
corruptions, but we have ways to make them appear typically within two
days(!)... Very long time to wait, and the process needs human involvements
too. If we are "lucky", it crashes within just one hour. Because of this,
it's almost impossible to be sure if the problem is fixed.

We are in contact with Intel, and they are trying to help us with the
problem right now. We are trying to isolate the reason of the corruption by
writing a small program that hopefully can force the bug to appear. No
success yet...

Ingemar (are also Swedish?), I would like to talk to you directly about some
details. Can you please send me an e-mail? I would really appreciate that.
--
Johan Ekstrom
jo...DOTekst...ATbeijerelectronicsDOTcom

"Ingemar H" wrote:

> Hello Johan,
> We had about the same problems with corrupted files and total corruption of
> flash system on flash with IPSM 3.8. (PXA255 based device with CE 4.2)The
> problems occurred very rarely and it was not possible to reproduce the
> behaviour.
> We contacted Intel and they answered that we should upgrade to version 3.82.
> After upgrade we havent noticed any more problems.
> Due to the difficulties to reproduce the problem I cant say that problem is
> completely gone but we havent had any more problems with PSM so far.
> Best regards
> Ingemar
> "Gurka" wrote:
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > we are having strange problems with the file system on the PSM (3.7). It
> > becomes corrupted; files disappear, same file name repeated several times in
> > the same directory, empty directories that can not be removed, files can't be
> > opened, and so on...
> >
> > The power is on all the time, so the corruption is not caused by power
> > failure. When powering off the system after a failure, and then on again, the
> > PSM usually does not mount.
> >
> > We do not access the flashes at all, except via the PSM file system (the CE
> > image is copied to RAM, and runs from RAM all the time).
> >
> > Our app creates about 180 files, then occasionally another 180, followed by
> > deleting the first 180. Each file is one round-robin - written from start to
> > end, then updated from beginning again. Not very complicated.
> >
> > Another thing; the app (exe) is loaded from the PSM file system too...
> >
> > Are there any known issues with the PSM that may explain / solve these
> > problems?
> >
> > (We have tried to use the 3.8 version of the libs, still using WCE420, but
> > had the same results... We are using a PXA270 based system.)
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> > Johan
> > --
> > Johan Ekstrom