so far this is just a heads up ... i'll try to figure out whether it's me, the drive, or transmission ...
here's the deal.
i'm trying to download a huge file — 55 GB — onto an external drive (WD 500 GB, Mac OS Extended (Journaled), USB 2.0, over 200 GB free).
on two occasions this week, i have tried to suspend the transfer by quitting transmission, only to find that the transmission icon remains in the dock. strangely enough, though, transmission does not appear in the ps(1) list.
the first time was weird. i was able to sync(8) in a Terminal window, but upon attempting to relaunch Finder, Finder exited, but did not restart. moreover, Activity Monitor showed many MB/sec of disk writes, which i assumed to be to the external drive. after i forced a reboot by holding the power button, the transfer restarted cold.
today was a little different: again, transmission remained in the dock but was invisible in ps(1). this time, sync(8) in a Terminal window hung. ugh. i right clicked the transmission dock icon and requested a force quit, which seemed to work (insofar as the dock icon went away). but again, OS shutdown hung until i mashed on the power button, and again, the transfer restarted cold after the reboot.
(in both instances, the external drive was up and ready before i started transmission.)
so something is messed up.
today' console log has these entries:
11/11/10 4:47:18 PM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[205] ([0x0-0x2b02b].org.m0k.transmission[414]) Exit timeout elapsed (20 seconds). Killing
11/11/10 4:47:18 PM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[205] ([0x0-0x2b02b].org.m0k.transmission[414]) Job has overstayed its welcome. Forcing removal.
11/11/10 4:47:18 PM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[205] ([0x0-0x2b02b].org.m0k.transmission) Bug: launchd_core_logic.c:1114 (24108):0
which, AFAIK, just says the process is hung at shutdown.
i'll try to find something more meaty to report.