RE: SELECT() returns 1 But FIONREAD says (Input/output error)

["David Schwartz" <davids@webmaster.com>]

> i am using the GARMIN_GPS/usb driver to read a gps receiver.
> In testing the ability of my software to recover from various errors, I
> try this: unplug the gps/USB cable from the usb hub.
>
> Interestingly enough the thread spins.
> the SELECT() waits for something to happen, and I get one channel that
> something interesting happened.
> Then i try to find out how many chars are in the read buff via FIONREAD.
> That call errors out with an i/o error.
>
> Needless to day, the code resets the SELECT parameters, and SELECT is
> called again. It again says that something interesting has happened on
> that ( i/o errored ) channel. And we now repeat the  FIONREAD.
>
> In this case what, will reset the "something interesting has happened"
> report from the SELECT call? Will it ever be reset in this case?

Nope. An errored connection is always ready for read/write -- there is
nothing to wait for as far as the kernel is concerned. Your code keeps
asking the kernel if something interesting has happened, the kernel keeps
telling it yes, and it refuses to do anything about it.

At minimum, a detection of an error condition that could be persistent
should be followed by a delay. A detection of an error condition that has in
fact persisted and was previously detected should *never* be followed by an
immediate return to 'select'.

You need to *handle* the I/O error. Backoff might be one way, sleeping for
an increasing amount of time after each fatal error, subject to some limit.

And why are you calling FIONREAD? Just 'read' the data -- you're going to
have to eventually anyway.

DS