help me understand /var/log/messages

[Emiliano Brunetti]

Hi all,

trying to figure out a usb problem i found out something strange in
/var/log/messages (at least i think so).

Sometimes the following entries are not present:

sysctl: kernel.sysrq = 0
sysctl: kernel.core_uses_pid = 1
network: Setting network parameters: succeeded
network: Bringing up loopback interface: succeeded

When present, these are 'early' entries in messages. Loopback log
missing is strange indeed: lo is configured anyway, but it doesn't log
when usb is not working. 

It looks like they are connect to usb malfunction, but i don't really
know how. Can somebody help me understand what they mean? Especially the
sysctl ones...i can't understand why they are missing sometimes.

Kernel is always the same with the same parameter:

kernel: Linux version 2.6.8-1.521 (bhcompile at tweety.build.redhat.com)
(gcc version 3.3.3 20040412 (Red Hat Linux 3.3.3-7)) #1 Mon Aug 16
09:01:18 EDT 2004
...
kernel: Kernel command line: ro root=LABEL=/ acpi=off

I also noticed that ntpd behaves differently when those entries are
present (and thus usb is working). In /var/log/messages ntpd gets
initialized with a frequency of 24.170 PPM from /var/lib/ntp/drift when
the sysctl entries are absent, and the frequency scales down to 16.787
PPM when they are present. Don't know what this could possibly mean.

Thanks a lot

E.