Re: index corruption?

On Mon, 31 Mar 2003, Ed L. wrote:

> On Feb 13, 2003, Tom Lane wrote:
> >
> > Laurette Cisneros <laurette(at)nextbus(dot)com> writes:
> > > This is the error in the pgsql log:
> > > 2003-02-13 16:21:42 [8843] ERROR: Index external_signstops_pkey is
> > > not a btree
> >
> > This says that one of two fields that should never change, in fixed
> > positions in the first block of a btree index, didn't have the right
> > values. I am not aware of any PG bugs that could overwrite those
> > fields. I think the most likely bet is that you've got hardware
> > issues ... have you run memory and disk diagnostics lately?
>
> I am seeing this same problem on two separate machines, one brand new, one
> older. Not sure yet what is causing it, but seems pretty unlikely that it
> is hardware-related.

Until you've tested them, the likelyhood is unimportant. If you've tested
the boxes, and the memory tests good and the hard drives test good, then
there is still likely to be another explanation, like a runaway kernel bug
is writing somewhere it should every fifth eon or two.

If you haven't tested the boxes, they're reliability is part of the NULL
set. :-)