The Hurd locks (after a few days :) [long]

[Michal 'hramrach' Suchanek]

My setup is:
 hurd           20020804-1
(I compiled and installed a random translator but didn't notice any difference)
 gnumach        20020421-1
 gnumach-oskit  1.90.20020731-
(I used both mach versions with similar results)
 mutt           1.4.0-1
 exim           3.35-1
 ssh            3.0.2p1-8.3
 screen         3.9.11-5
Filesystem           1k-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
-                      1052224    784400    215216  79% /
-                       996028    277320    668908  30% /home
-                       819280     12936    765380   2% /mnt/disk
(the third partition used to be for sources before a particularly destructive
crash)

When I leave the Debian GNU/Hurd machine running over a weekend with mutt in
a screen visible trough ssh it usually locks. I think it is more stable w/o 
mutt running but I rarely terminate it before I leave.
The machine receives some mail with Exim.

When I come to the machine on Mon it usually behaves like this:

Mutt sometimes can read and browse my mail folders on my /home or
over network (and sometimes it is locked and does not respond to keys). 

I cannot exec any new program (nor log in). I tried ls, mutt, uptime, and
a few others I cannot remember. When I write the command and hit enter
I get no noticable disk activity and no output. I can ^C the command
and return to shell.

When I tried echo * in a large directory it printed (part of?) the directory
content and locked. I ^C-ed it and returned to shell.

Sometimes the system would rot away slowly (ie I can browse my mail folders
but then mutt locks or I get 'Suddenly the dungeon collapses .. you die!'
from screen).


Maybe there are several different problems I hit here but I do not have any
idea how to tell what went wrong.

-- 
Michal Suchanek
hramrach@centrum.cz