4.3BSD-UWisc/man/cat8/update.8
UPDATE(8) UNIX Programmer's Manual UPDATE(8)
NAME
update - periodically update the super block
SYNOPSIS
/etc/update
DESCRIPTION
_U_p_d_a_t_e is a program that executes the _s_y_n_c(2) primitive
every 30 seconds. This insures that the file system is
fairly up to date in case of a crash. This command should
not be executed directly, but should be executed out of the
initialization shell command file.
SEE ALSO
sync(2), sync(8), init(8), rc(8)
BUGS
With _u_p_d_a_t_e running, if the CPU is halted just as the _s_y_n_c
is executed, a file system can be damaged. This is par-
tially due to DEC hardware that writes zeros when NPR
requests fail. A fix would be to have _s_y_n_c(8) temporarily
increment the system time by at least 30 seconds to trigger
the execution of _u_p_d_a_t_e. This would give 30 seconds grace to
halt the CPU.
Printed 12/27/86 April 27, 1985 1