linux-ext4 - Re: ext4lazyinit reads HDD data on mount since 5.13

lists.openwall.net		lists / announce owl-users owl-dev john-users john-dev passwdqc-users yescrypt popa3d-users / oss-security kernel-hardening musl sabotage tlsify passwords / crypt-dev xvendor / Bugtraq Full-Disclosure linux-kernel linux-netdev linux-ext4 linux-hardening PHC
Open Source and information security mailing list archives

Hash Suite: Windows password security audit tool. GUI, reports in PDF.

[<prev] [next>] [<thread-prev] [day] [month] [year] [list]

Date:   Mon, 9 Aug 2021 22:34:37 +0300
From:   ValdikSS <iam@...dikss.org.ru>
To:     Theodore Ts'o <tytso@....edu>
Cc:     linux-ext4@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: ext4lazyinit reads HDD data on mount since 5.13

On 09.08.2021 21:26, Theodore Ts'o wrote:
> 
> It's not been tested, but it should be safe in terms that it shouldn't
> lead to any file system corruption or data loss.  However, it may
> result in non-optional block placement that might cause more file or
> free-space fragmentation that might otherwise be the case.  (This was
> true even before the latest optimizations, but it's more the case with
> the new optimizations.)
> 
> Can you say something about why you want to disable to block
> allocation prefetch?  How is it causing problems for you?

My old HDDs are now screeching their heads for 20 seconds after mount. 
That's secondary disks (internal and external drives) which are not 
fragmented, mostly idle and have plenty of free space. It's a bit 
annoying to hear the sounds and see strange load right after mounting, 
so I'd prefer old behavior.
Just aesthetics, not a technical issue per se.