Re: single-bit errors

[Mike Pumford]

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> We have noticed that some of our files in CVS are getting off-by-one bit 
> errors.  For example, in a text file, an 'L' is converted into a 'K' and 
> a space into a '1' (two bits were modified here).  This is not too bad 
> in text files because a differencing tool will usually detect the 
> problem, but binary files could be a more significant problem.
> 
Sounds to me like you have a hardware problem with either the client 
that is commiting these files or more likely your CVS server. The CVS 
server I maintain had a memory problem recently which on rare occasions 
caused 1 bit errors in the ,v files. Try swapping out various hardware 
components until the fault goes away.

> Our developers are geographically separated, so we use pserver mode 
> where the server is accessible on the internet.  Are there any built-in 
> CVS features or extra transmission verification methods we could use to 
> minimize the possibility of errors in CVS?
> 
TCP is already quite good at this. However all the network error 
detection in the world won't help if it is the CVS server that is 
mangling the files.

Mike