[gradsusr] question about "Low Level I/O Error: Seek error on data file"

Paul Markowski pmarkowski at psu.edu
Thu Apr 13 12:20:59 EDT 2017


Hi Jennifer,

Thanks for the good suggestions and quick reply.  Unfortunately, I still 
get the same error even using a non-templated descriptor file and trying 
to display the unlucky variables at the first/last time step (actually, 
there's only one time level in each .dat file).  The commands 'q file' 
and 'q dims' don't reveal anything out of the ordinary either (I've 
pasted the results below in case anyone wants to see).   FWIW, this 
error appears only when I attempt to display the last 6 variables of the 
37 variables in the file, which maybe suggests that the issue is 
file-size related.  The file is 10.5 GB (I misspoke earlier when I said 
that it was ~7 GB).  What has me stumped is that this doesn't appear to 
be a 2 GB (32-bit) issue.  I routinely view files >2 GB, even >1 TB 
(!).  My machine is 64-bit, linux, and has 132 GB of RAM.  About the 
only thing unusual here is the large number of variables (37, 36 of 
which are 3D).  I don't believe I've ever written that many to output 
before, and when I reduce the number of variables, the error goes away.  
I might look to see if there's some strange bug in CM1 such that an 
extra field is or isn't getting written to output, such that there's a 
mismatch between the grads ctl file and the dat file (this seems like a 
longshot though, given how many years I've used CM1 with Grads).

Paul


ga-> open cm1out_000001_s.ctl
Scanning description file:  cm1out_000001_s.ctl
Data file cm1out_000001_s.dat is open as file 1
LON set to -122.3 122.3
LAT set to -74.85 74.85
LEV set to 0.005 0.005
Time values set: 1:7:3:0 1:7:3:0
E set to 1 1

ga-> q file
File 1 : CM1 output
   Descriptor: cm1out_000001_s.ctl
   Binary: cm1out_000001_s.dat
   Type = Gridded
   Xsize = 890  Ysize = 644  Zsize = 127  Tsize = 13  Esize = 1
   Number of Variables = 37
      cref  0  99  composite reflectivity (dBZ)
      zh  127  99  height on model levels (m)
      th  127  99  potential temp. (K)
      thpert  127  99  potential temp. pert. (K)
      prs  127  99  pressure (Pa)
      prspert  127  99  pressure pert. (Pa)
      qv  127  99  water vapor mixing ratio
      qc  127  99  qc
      qr  127  99  qr
      qi  127  99  qi
      qs  127  99  qs
      qg  127  99  qg
      qhl  127  99  qhl
      ccn  127  99  ccn
      ccw  127  99  ccw
      crw  127  99  crw
      cci  127  99  cci
      csw  127  99  csw
      chw  127  99  chw
      chl  127  99  chl
      vhw  127  99  vhw
      vhl  127  99  vhl
      dbz  127  99  reflectivity (dBZ)
      uinterp  127  99  u interp. to scalar points
      uturb  127  99  u turb forcing (m/s^2)
      udiff  127  99  u diff forcing (m/s^2)
      upwp  127  99  uprime-wprime (m^2/s^2)
      vinterp  127  99  v interp. to scalar points
      vturb  127  99  v turb forcing (m/s^2)
      vdiff  127  99  v diff forcing (m/s^2)
      vpwp  127  99  vprime-wprime (m^2/s^2)
      winterp  127  99  w interp. to scalar points
      wturb  127  99  w turb forcing (m/s^2)
      wdiff  127  99  w turb forcing (m/s^2)
      xvort  127  99  horiz vorticity (x) (s^-1)
      yvort  127  99  horiz vorticity (y) (s^-1)
      zvort  127  99  vertical vorticity (s^-1)

ga-> q dims
Default file number is: 1
X is varying   Lon = -122.3 to 122.3   X = 1 to 890
Y is varying   Lat = -74.85 to 74.85   Y = 1 to 644
Z is fixed     Lev = 0.005  Z = 1
T is fixed     Time = 00Z03JUL0001  T = 1
E is fixed     Ens = 1  E = 1

ga-> d zvort
Low Level I/O Error:  Seek error on data file
   Data file name = cm1out_000001_s.dat
650 rc=-1 fpos=-1746697936 pfi->fhdr=0
   Error occurred when seeking to byte -6986791744
Data Request Error:  Error for variable 'zvort'
   Error ocurred at column 1
DISPLAY error:  Invalid expression
   Expression = zvort





On 04/13/2017 11:00 AM, Jennifer M Adams wrote:
> Hi, Paul ---
> GrADS is having trouble figuring out where to set the pointer in the 
> data file to read the desired grid --- that variable fpos should not 
> be -2110654536. I would try the following strategy:
> 1. create a separate non-templated descriptor file for this particular 
> data file
> 2. try to display zvort for the first and last time steps and see if 
> you are still getting the error
> 3. the fpos variable is calculated based on the current dimension 
> environment and the structure of the data file (order of variables, 
> etc.) so if you can duplicate the error with the one file, please also 
> send the output from 'q file' and 'q dims' before you try your display.
> ---Jennifer
>
> On Apr 13, 2017, at 9:48 AM, Paul Markowski <pmarkowski at psu.edu 
> <mailto:pmarkowski at psu.edu>> wrote:
>
>> Hello Grads users,
>>
>> I was wondering if anyone has ever seen this Grads error before:
>>
>> ga-> d zvort
>> Low Level I/O Error:  Seek error on data file
>>   Data file name = cm1out_00%y4_s.dat
>> 650 rc=-1 fpos=-2110654536 pfi->fhdr=0
>>   Error occurred when seeking to byte -8442618144
>> Data Request Error:  Error for variable 'zvort'
>>   Error ocurred at column 1
>> DISPLAY error:  Invalid expression
>>   Expression = zvort
>>
>> In case it matters, I'm trying to display output from George Bryan's CM1
>> model (CM1 is a popular cloud-resolving model used heavily in the
>> convective storms community, but is also used by the boundary layer and
>> mountain meteorology communities).  I've used Grads to display CM1
>> output for 15 years, and this is the first time I've ever seen this
>> strange error.  It might be noteworthy that I get this error only for
>> some of the variables that I'm trying to display.  My output file is ~7
>> GB.  I've tried both Grads 2.0.1 and 2.1.a3; same error with both.  I
>> don't know if it has to do with the large file size; perhaps there's a
>> "large memory" compile option that wasn't properly used when the code
>> was compiled?  I'd be grateful for any insight you might have!
>>
>> Paul
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> Paul Markowski
>> Professor of Meteorology
>> Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science
>> Pennsylvania State University
>> 520 Walker Building
>> University Park, PA 16802
>> email: pmarkowski at psu.edu <mailto:pmarkowski at psu.edu>
>> phone: 814.865.9736
>> web: http://sites.psu.edu/pmarkowski
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>
> --
> Jennifer Miletta Adams
> Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA)
> George Mason University
>
>
>
>
>
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