From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Oct 22 22:42:32 2013 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [8.8.178.115]) (using TLSv1 with cipher ADH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4CB576CC for ; Tue, 22 Oct 2013 22:42:32 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Received: from mx02.qsc.de (mx02.qsc.de [213.148.130.14]) (using TLSv1 with cipher ADH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id DFF062E15 for ; Tue, 22 Oct 2013 22:42:31 +0000 (UTC) Received: from r56.edvax.de (port-92-195-117-74.dynamic.qsc.de [92.195.117.74]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mx02.qsc.de (Postfix) with ESMTPS id F158627711; Wed, 23 Oct 2013 00:42:23 +0200 (CEST) Received: from r56.edvax.de (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by r56.edvax.de (8.14.5/8.14.5) with SMTP id r9MMgHw4004671; Wed, 23 Oct 2013 00:42:18 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 00:42:17 +0200 From: Polytropon To: leeoliveshackelford@surewest.net Subject: Re: click-click in floppy disk drive Message-Id: <20131023004217.09c11ef6.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: <20131022152620.DTC25273@ms5.mc.surewest.net> References: <20131021135605.DSZ95987@ms5.mc.surewest.net> <20131022230000.9bfa7add.freebsd@edvax.de> <20131022152620.DTC25273@ms5.mc.surewest.net> Organization: EDVAX X-Mailer: Sylpheed 3.1.1 (GTK+ 2.24.5; i386-portbld-freebsd8.2) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list Reply-To: Polytropon List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 22:42:32 -0000 //* Re-adding the mailing list in CC, hope that's okay. On Tue, 22 Oct 2013 15:26:20 -0700 (PDT), leeoliveshackelford@surewest.net wrote: > Dear Polytropon, > Thank you so much for your very generous response to my inquiry. > I am, of course, aware that I can simply unplug the device; > however, the whole point of this exercise is to (a) get FreeBSD > correctly installed on my H.P. Z220 computer, and then (b) try > to gain sufficient understanding of FreeBSD to be able to use > it at some minimum level of competence. Goal "a" has proven, > thus far, to be a terribly frustrating and time-consuming effort. I don't think so. It seems that you have successfully finished the system installation (which is easy because you can follow The FreeBSD Handbook to achieve this goal). :-) However, the fact that a continuous clicking USB floppy drive is causing you problem _does_ indicate that there is something wrong. Unlike MICROS~1 products, FreeBSD offers you diagnostic tools to find out _what_ is wrong (instead of the "solution" of performing a full re-install and praying it doesn't happen again). As I said, check if there's some mount in your system that hasn't been resolved properly: # mount -v Check for the mountpoint where the floppy drive is to be mounted. Also check if something still tries to access files on a (not present) floppy disk: # lsof | grep If there is nothing suspicious - good. Next thing to try would be to reset the device to make it stop clicking. Determine the drive's "SCSI ID": # camcontrol devlist Use that ID to stop or reset the device: # camcontrol stop # camcontrol reset where refers to the bus, target and LUN obtained from the "devlist" output above. Even though it is possible that the misbehaviour of the drive has probably been triggered by some /etc/periodic script, it's not clear yet _which one_ and _why_. I have named a few speculations, but there are probably other possibilities. What you are observing however is _not_ a normal system behaviour, so there _is_ a reason for that. In worst case, it's a "fat fingered command" or a "stupid thing" (TM) that has been performed by the operator - I _know_ this, I've made lots of really stupid mistakes in the past and then wondered why things started being strange. :-) > Although you did not ask, the floppy drive behaves perfectly > if I boot M.S. Windows. This doesn't have to say anything because "Windows" uses a very different driver. Maybe the manufacturer did supply it. So the driver could compensate a misbehaviour of the drive in case it violates USB standards... Depending on if you're using the computer for (server, work- station, desktop), there may even be another possibility: Maybe you are running a desktop environment that keeps polling the device continuously? In this case of course there would be no real connection to periodic scripts I assume... -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...