[plug] ping yields "wrong data byte #0 should be 0x9a etc" -- why?

[Leon Brooks]

Anthony J. Breeds-Taurima wrote:

> On Fri, 13 Jul 2001 daniel at iinet.net.au wrote:
>>Hi Plug, I wonder if someone can explain this to me please -- ping gives me
>>errors I haven't seen before.
>>I looked through the help and the man pages, and if it's there I missed it.
>>=================
>>sample: ( ~ 21.45 Friday on iinet using rsync to a Mandrake mirror in the
>>US in one terminal and I ping iinet from another and get this:)
>>64 octets from 203.0.178.191: icmp_seq=2 ttl=252 time=920.1 ms
>>64 octets from 203.0.178.191: icmp_seq=3 ttl=252 time=1070.1 ms
>>wrong data byte #0 should be 0x9a but was 0x9999 f9 4e 3b 6c d a 0
>>         8 9 a b c d e f 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e 1f 20
>>21 22 23 24 25 26 27
>>         28 29 2a 2b 2c 2d 2e 2f
>>64 octets from 203.0.178.191: icmp_seq=4 ttl=252 time=1510.2 ms
>>================


> The Only time I've seen this is on a RedHat box were libc had been upgraded
> but the ping suit hadn't.

> If that fits with your situation, then apply all the latest RPMS (You will
> want to install the iputils package if it isn't already installed)

The only time I've seen this is on an ISDN link with dud hardware (it 
drops DMA transfers into the bucket occasionally) and I still see it 
occasionally because the silly buggers won't spend a grand to replace 
their hardware, the gateway through which their 
eight-significant-figures business runs.