I think we've got a handle on this. On a "low" memory box (128/256mb or so), it's easy to reproduce. updatedb cron.daily job never runs to completion for me.
It's the ext3 block reservation patch that's the culprit. (The details are pretty icky) There's been a number of fixes to that in the last few days, so hopefully we'll see resolution on it real soon.
-- Aleksey Nogin
Home Page: http://nogin.org/ E-Mail: nogin cs caltech edu (office), aleksey nogin org (personal) Office: Jorgensen 70, tel: (626) 395-2907