I have upgraded this server to kernel 2.6.16.2. The next backup cycle resulted in a minor disaster: The backup process deadlocked at removing the first LVM2 snapshot and the snapshot source volumes were blocking write accesses. A cleanup shutdown was impossible and I had to hard-reset the machine.

As mentioned recently, Debian Sarge’s installer doesn’t work on my Dell Inspiron 9300. I like Debian but I think it’s a shame that the sarge installer was already outdated on the day of its release.

The official sarge installer still uses a 2.4 kernel by default but includes a 2.6 kernel that can be used by booting with "install26" or "expert26". But even that kernel, 2.6.8, is too old for the Inspiron 9300. It still doesn’t recognize the hard disk.