KaTeker  Side effects with other software

There are two kinds of side effects with other software.

1. When a master or update runs there will be problems when a file is changed while is is saved.

2. When the backup data is saved onto a media this media can be accessed by an other process (program).

Side effects while KaTeker master or update is running

To avoid problems when KaTeker master or update is running it should be started when no other process is running. That is the automatic update should be started, when nobody is working, i.e. at night. If KaTeker is running in a GUI, tkateker then it may happen that a file is changed while it is saved. This will result in an error message. Because this is very seldom, there is no special treatment of this error. Simply restart the master or update of the backup set crashed.

Side effects while saving backup data onto a media

The side effects depend on the type of media used. There are three types of media:

• media with read / write access

• media with sequential access -- are not supported by KaTeker

• media with special treatment -- are CDR(W)

Media with read / write access

These media have to be mounted.

• A media is already mounted when KaTeker will use it. This is handled by KaTeker.

• An other process accesses the media while KaTeker uses it. This is also a problem of access rights. If it is a read access there can be a problem when KaTeker unmounts the media. A write access can result into inconsistent backup data.

CDR(W)

There have been reported problems with other software while recording CDR(W)s.

cdrecord can cause a hard Linux system crash (the system hangs at all: two keybord LEDs are blinking) or just hanging the system (no actions possible: two keybord LEDs are not blinking).
This is often a side effect with other software accessing the CD recorder device.

In order to avoid serious problems not only with KaTeker but also with the system check the following software / configurations:

• magicdev
  magicdev, a part of Red Hat's gnome is polling the cdrom drive to auto mount/play a disk when it's inserted.
  The solution is
  1. to configure magicdev not to ignore the CD recorder device or
  2. to stop magicdev while recording CD's.

• GNOME CD applet
  There have been reported problems with the GNOME CD applet too.
  The solution is
  1. to confgure the CD applet to ignore the CD recorder device or
  2. to stop the CD applet while recording CD's.

• kscd, KDE CD player/applet
  The KDE CD player can be configured to play a CD automatically if a CD is inserted. This may force a hard crash.
  Please note that the same happens if the kscd applet is running.
  The solution is
  1. to disable the auto play feature in kscd or
  2. not to use the CD recorder device or
  3. to stop kscd at all while recording CD's.

• automount
  The automounter can be configured to mount a CD automatically. This can force a hard crash.
  The solution is
  1. not to automount CD's on the recorder device or
  2. to stop the automount while recording CD's.

• susewatcher susepluger
  These tools can scan for CDs inserted. These tools should not run while saving data onto CDR(W).

While KaTeker is saving data onto CDR(W) an access to the CD recorder device can crash not only cdrecord but also KaTeker and the Linux system. These can be

• mount, clicking the CD symbol on the desktop

• eject

• workman, workbone, cdcons, kscd, etc.

• etc.

© 2003-2004 Dr. Heiner Kuhlmann: www.dr-kuhlmann-software.de, kateker@dr-kuhlmann-software.de