PROBLEM: mkdir on ext3 creates regular file instead of directory

[1.] One line summary of the problem:

when using 'mkdir' to create a directory on an ext3 filesystem, a regular file is created instead of the directory.

[2.] Full description of the problem/report:

I discovered this whilst writing a perl script, however, the problem seems to be the same within a normal shell also. I was trying to create a directory (in this case '.variable' off of my home dir) with the command 'mkdir .variable'. When I then tried to 'cd .variable' I received the error '-bash: cd: .variable: Not a directory'. The file or directory '.variable' did not exist prior to this. To make sure, I then
executed the command 'rm -rf .variable' before trying the command
sequence again, with the same results.

I attempted this approximately 20 times as a test to see if it was a permanent error or occasional, I also tried different directory names ('.variable', 'variable', 'test' & '.test'). In each case I managed to experience the problem, I also noted that approximately 1 time out of 10 the mkdir worked as expected.

The root superuser does not appear to be affected by this problem.

[3.] Keywords (i.e., modules, networking, kernel):

ext3, mkdir, directory

[4.] Kernel version (from /proc/version):

Linux version 2.4.20-gentoo-r1 (root@voyager) (gcc version 3.2.2) #2 Sat Apr 5 20:58:27 EST 2003

[5.] Output of Oops.. message (if applicable) with symbolic information
resolved (see Documentation/oops-tracing.txt)

N/A

[6.] A small shell script or example program which triggers the
problem (if possible)

cd
rm -rf .variable
mkdir .variable
cd .variable

[7.] Environment

Gentoo Linux V1.4-rc1

[7.1.] Software (add the output of the ver_linux script here)
Linux voyager 2.4.20-gentoo-r1 #2 Sat Apr 5 20:58:27 EST 2003 i686 Pentium III (Coppermine) GenuineIntel GNU/Linux

Gnu C                  3.2.2
Gnu make               3.80
util-linux             2.11y
mount                  2.11y
modutils               2.4.22
e2fsprogs              1.32
Linux C Library        2.3.1
Dynamic linker (ldd)   2.3.1
Procps                 2.0.10
Net-tools              1.60
Kbd                    1.06
Sh-utils               2.0.15
Modules Loaded         usb-uhci eepro100 mii

[7.2.] Processor information (from /proc/cpuinfo):

processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 8
model name : Pentium III (Coppermine)
stepping : 6
cpu MHz : 796.601
cache size : 256 KB
fdiv_bug : no
hlt_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 2
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 mmx fxsr sse
bogomips : 1572.86

[7.3.] Module information (from /proc/modules):

usb-uhci               29868   0 (unused)
eepro100               21268   1
mii                     2608   0 [eepro100]

[7.4.] Loaded driver and hardware information (/proc/ioports, /proc/iomem)

0000-001f : dma1
0020-003f : pic1
0040-005f : timer
0060-006f : keyboard
0080-008f : dma page reg
00a0-00bf : pic2
00c0-00df : dma2
00f0-00ff : fpu
0170-0177 : ide1
01f0-01f7 : ide0
0376-0376 : ide1
03c0-03df : vga+
03f6-03f6 : ide0
03f8-03ff : serial(auto)
0cf8-0cff : PCI conf1
1000-103f : Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI 1040-105f : Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI 1800-183f : Intel Corp. 82557/8/9 [Ethernet Pro 100]
1800-183f : eepro100
1840-1847 : Xircom Mini-PCI V.90 56k Modem 1850-185f : Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE
1850-1857 : ide0
1858-185f : ide1
1860-187f : Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB
1860-187f : usb-uhci

00000000-0009f7ff : System RAM
0009f800-0009ffff : reserved
000a0000-000bffff : Video RAM area
000c0000-000c7fff : Video ROM
000cc000-000cd7ff : Extension ROM
000e0000-000effff : Extension ROM
000f0000-000fffff : System ROM
00100000-0ffeffff : System RAM
00100000-002df02b : Kernel code
002df02c-0037167f : Kernel data
0fff0000-0fffebff : ACPI Tables
0fffec00-0fffffff : ACPI Non-volatile Storage
50000000-50000fff : Texas Instruments PCI1450
50100000-50100fff : Texas Instruments PCI1450 (#2)
e8000000-e80fffff : Cirrus Logic CS 4614/22/24 [CrystalClear SoundFusion Audio Accelerator] e8100000-e811ffff : Intel Corp. 82557/8/9 [Ethernet Pro 100] e8120000-e8120fff : Intel Corp. 82557/8/9 [Ethernet Pro 100]
e8120000-e8120fff : eepro100
e8121000-e8121fff : Xircom Mini-PCI V.90 56k Modem
e8122000-e8122fff : Cirrus Logic CS 4614/22/24 [CrystalClear SoundFusion Audio Accelerator] f0000000-f7ffffff : PCI Bus #01
f0000000-f7ffffff : S3 Inc. 86C270-294 Savage/IX-MV
f8000000-fbffffff : Intel Corp. 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge fff80000-ffffffff : reserved

[7.5.] PCI information ('lspci -vvv' as root)

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (rev 03)
Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr-
Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B-
Status: Cap+ 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort-
<TAbort- <MAbort+ >SERR- <PERR-

	Latency: 64
	Region 0: Memory at f8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=64M]
	Capabilities: [a0] AGP version 1.0
		Status: RQ=31 SBA+ 64bit- FW- Rate=x1,x2
		Command: RQ=0 SBA- AGP+ 64bit- FW- Rate=x2

00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge (rev 03) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle+ MemWINV+ VGASnoop- ParErr-
Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
Status: Cap- 66Mhz+ UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort-
<TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-

	Latency: 128
	Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=64
	I/O behind bridge: 0000f000-00000fff
	Memory behind bridge: f0000000-f7ffffff
	Prefetchable memory behind bridge: fff00000-000fffff
	BridgeCtl: Parity- SERR- NoISA+ VGA+ MAbort- >Reset- FastB2B+

00:02.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1450 (rev 03)
Subsystem: IBM: Unknown device 0130
Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr-
Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
Status: Cap+ 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort-
<TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-

	Latency: 64, cache line size 08
	Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 11
	Region 0: Memory at 50000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=04, sec-latency=176
	Memory window 0: 00000000-00000000 (prefetchable)
	Memory window 1: 00000000-00000000 (prefetchable)
	I/O window 0: 00000000-00000003
	I/O window 1: 00000000-00000003
	BridgeCtl: Parity- SERR- ISA- VGA- MAbort- >Reset+ 16bInt+ PostWrite-
	16-bit legacy interface ports at 0001

00:02.1 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1450 (rev 03)
Subsystem: IBM: Unknown device 0130
Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr-
Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
Status: Cap+ 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort-
<TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-

	Latency: 64, cache line size 08
	Interrupt: pin B routed to IRQ 11
	Region 0: Memory at 50100000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	Bus: primary=00, secondary=05, subordinate=07, sec-latency=176
	Memory window 0: 00000000-00000000 (prefetchable)
	Memory window 1: 00000000-00000000 (prefetchable)
	I/O window 0: 00000000-00000003
	I/O window 1: 00000000-00000003
	BridgeCtl: Parity- SERR- ISA- VGA- MAbort- >Reset+ 16bInt+ PostWrite-
	16-bit legacy interface ports at 0001

00:03.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corp. 82557/8/9 [Ethernet Pro 100] (rev 09)
Subsystem: Intel Corp. EtherExpress PRO/100+ MiniPCI
Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV+ VGASnoop- ParErr-
Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
Status: Cap+ 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort-
<TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-

	Latency: 66 (2000ns min, 14000ns max), cache line size 08
	Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 11
	Region 0: Memory at e8120000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	Region 1: I/O ports at 1800 [size=64]
	Region 2: Memory at e8100000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128K]
	Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled] [size=1M]
	Capabilities: [dc] Power Management version 2
		Flags: PMEClk- DSI+ D1+ D2+ AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0+,D1+,D2+,D3hot+,D3cold+)
		Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=2 PME-

00:03.1 Serial controller: Xircom Mini-PCI V.90 56k Modem (prog-if 02 [16550])
Subsystem: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 2408
Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster- SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr-
Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
Status: Cap+ 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort-
<TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-

	Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 11
	Region 0: I/O ports at 1840 [size=8]
	Region 1: Memory at e8121000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	Capabilities: [dc] Power Management version 2
		Flags: PMEClk- DSI+ D1+ D2+ AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0+,D1+,D2+,D3hot+,D3cold+)
		Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=2 PME-

00:05.0 Multimedia audio controller: Cirrus Logic CS 4614/22/24 [CrystalClear SoundFusion Audio Accelerator] (rev 01)
Subsystem: IBM: Unknown device 0153
Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster- SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr-
Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
Status: Cap+ 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=slow >TAbort- <TAbort-
<MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-

	Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 11
	Region 0: Memory at e8122000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	Region 1: Memory at e8000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1M]
	Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2
		Flags: PMEClk- DSI+ D1+ D2+ AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
		Status: D3 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

00:07.0 Bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle+ MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr-
Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
Status: Cap- 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort-
<TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
Latency: 0

00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01) (prog-if 80 [Master])
Control: I/O+ Mem- BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr-
Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
Status: Cap- 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort-
<TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-

	Latency: 64
	Region 4: I/O ports at 1850 [size=16]

00:07.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
Control: I/O+ Mem- BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr-
Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
Status: Cap- 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort-
<TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-

	Latency: 64
	Interrupt: pin D routed to IRQ 11
	Region 4: I/O ports at 1860 [size=32]

00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 03)
Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster- SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr-
Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
Status: Cap- 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort-
<TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
Interrupt: pin ? routed to IRQ 9

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: S3 Inc. 86C270-294 Savage/IX-MV (rev 11) (prog-if 00 [VGA])
Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad T20
Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr-
Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
Status: Cap+ 66Mhz+ UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort-
<TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-

	Latency: 64 (1000ns min, 63750ns max), cache line size 08
	Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 11
	Region 0: Memory at f0000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128M]
	Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled] [size=64K]
	Capabilities: [dc] Power Management version 1
		Flags: PMEClk- DSI+ D1+ D2+ AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
		Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-
	Capabilities: [80] AGP version 1.0
		Status: RQ=31 SBA+ 64bit- FW- Rate=x1,x2
		Command: RQ=31 SBA- AGP+ 64bit- FW- Rate=x2

[7.6.] SCSI information (from /proc/scsi/scsi)

Attached devices:
Host: scsi0 Channel: 00 Id: 00 Lun: 00
Vendor: SIIG Model: CompactFlash Car Rev: 0113
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 02

[7.7.] Other information that might be relevant to the problem
(please look in /proc and include all information that you think to be relevant):

The PC is an IBM Thinkpad T21.

A friend also experienced the same problem, he is also using the ext3 filesystem which is the only commonality we can think of.

Currently I have the following filesystems mounted (if its relevant?):

root@voyager scripts # mount
/dev/hda4 on / type ext3 (rw,noatime)
proc on /proc type proc (rw)
none on /dev type devfs (rw)
tmpfs on /mnt/.init.d type tmpfs (rw,mode=0644,size=2048k) /dev/hda1 on /mnt/win type ntfs (ro,uid=1000,gid=100) tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw) //defiant/drive_c on /home/russ/defiant type smbfs (0)

[X.] Other notes, patches, fixes, workarounds:

The aforementioned friend managed to circumvent the problem by cd'ing to another directory then back again. I tried this, which allowed me to mkdir one directory fine, but then the problem returned.

I also noted that root does not seem to be affected by this problem, I cannot reproduce it at all as root.

Had you by any chance done something a little like this (which can produce similarly odd results - not sure about quite the same ones).

Shell 1 Shell 2
======= =======

cd ~
cd ~
mkdir foo
cd foo
rmdir foo
mkdir .variable

Or more confusingly

Shell 1 Shell 2
======= =======

cd ~
cd ~
mkdir foo
cd foo
rmdir foo
mkdir foo
mkdir .variable

--
Alex Bligh

Russell, mkdir is working fine here (assorted linuxfromscratch
boxen), with what look to be similar versions of the main software. The command appears to be part of fileutils (or coreutils), maybe you'll do better asking on the gentoo lists.

Ken

 Out of the darkness a voice spake unto me, saying "smile, things could be
worse". So I smiled, and lo, things became worse.

Works fine here on my 1.2 (gcc-2.95.3) and 1.4 (gcc-3.2.2).

1.2 box: 2.4.20-win4lin-r1

1.4 box: 2.4.19-gentoo-r9

          2.4.20 vanilla
          2.5.67-bk3

Regards,

Martin Schlemmer
Gentoo Linux Developer, Desktop Team
Cape Town, South Africa