How the rover Spirit got glitched.

only_human · 2004-02-23, 10:40

I just read a nice explanation of the events that lead up to the trouble with the Spirit rover on Mars:The trouble with Rover is revealed (EE Times)

It turns out that they updated the software in flight. Then they uploaded a utility to delete the leftover files and directories used by the original software.

The utility they transmitted to clean up the files and directories was in two parts; the second part was not transmitted correctly and was retransmitted a few days later. At that time, there were too many files stored in the flash memory. Not enough RAM memory was available to create a directory structure. The computer logged a memory allocation failure and rebooted. Each time it booted, it was unable to allocate enough RAM to create a directory table for the mounted flash file system -- leading to another RAM allocation failure, task termination, and subsequent reboot.

They had to send some low level code to delete about thousand files and their directories directly from the flash ROM without mounting it as a file system. After that they were able to mount it, run a checkdisk utility, clean up some corruption that had occurred and get back to business.

In the post mortem file system analysis, they found a system log that step-by-step logged actions up to and including the first allocation failure.

Uncwilly · 2006-03-23, 00:00

An app were the HD vs. flash has been settled.

johnnn943 · 2021-05-13, 06:03

Maybe one day Perseverance could find Spirit and save it.

Uncwilly · 2021-05-13, 13:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnn943

Maybe one day Perseverance could find Spirit and save it.

That is delusional thinking. It is over 1/4 of the way around the planet. Imagine landing a craft in Lisbon and wanting to drive it to Helsinki with no roads and at less than 10m per day. (Curiosity has averaged 782 cm/day).

LaurV · 2021-05-13, 16:25

But this can fly, gov'nor!

retina · 2021-05-13, 17:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnn943

Maybe one day Perseverance could find Spirit and save it.

That is delusional thinking. It is over 1/4 of the way around the planet. Imagine landing a craft in Lisbon and wanting to drive it to Helsinki with no roads and at less than 10m per day. (Curiosity has averaged 782 cm/day).

Don't give up on it so quickly, the name tells you everything. It just needs to persevere, then it can save Spirit.

2004-02-23, 10:40	#1
only_human "Gang aft agley" Sep 2002 2·1,877 Posts	How the rover Spirit got glitched. I just read a nice explanation of the events that lead up to the trouble with the Spirit rover on Mars:The trouble with Rover is revealed (EE Times) It turns out that they updated the software in flight. Then they uploaded a utility to delete the leftover files and directories used by the original software. The utility they transmitted to clean up the files and directories was in two parts; the second part was not transmitted correctly and was retransmitted a few days later. At that time, there were too many files stored in the flash memory. Not enough RAM memory was available to create a directory structure. The computer logged a memory allocation failure and rebooted. Each time it booted, it was unable to allocate enough RAM to create a directory table for the mounted flash file system -- leading to another RAM allocation failure, task termination, and subsequent reboot. They had to send some low level code to delete about thousand files and their directories directly from the flash ROM without mounting it as a file system. After that they were able to mount it, run a checkdisk utility, clean up some corruption that had occurred and get back to business. In the post mortem file system analysis, they found a system log that step-by-step logged actions up to and including the first allocation failure.

2021-05-13, 16:25	#5
LaurV Romulan Interpreter Jun 2011 Thailand 258A₁₆ Posts	But this can fly, gov'nor! Last fiddled with by LaurV on 2021-05-13 at 16:26

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2006-03-23, 00:00	#2
Uncwilly 6809 > 6502 """"""""""""""""""" Aug 2003 101×103 Posts 23070₈ Posts	An app were the HD vs. flash has been settled.

2021-05-13, 06:03	#3
johnnn943 May 2021 2×3 Posts	Maybe one day Perseverance could find Spirit and save it.