general/4982: getting "server seems busy" upon apache startup with no traffic

[Phil Dietz <pe...@west.com>]

>Number:         4982
>Category:       general
>Synopsis:       getting "server seems busy" upon apache startup with no traffic
>Confidential:   no
>Severity:       non-critical
>Priority:       medium
>Responsible:    apache
>State:          open
>Class:          support
>Submitter-Id:   apache
>Arrival-Date:   Wed Sep  8 09:10:01 PDT 1999
>Last-Modified:
>Originator:     pedietz@west.com
>Organization:
apache
>Release:        1.3.6
>Environment:
AIX 4.3.2  778 Megs RAM 
cc for apache and gcc for stronghold
>Description:
When I start apache on a particular box I get an immediate "Server Seems Busy" message -- even though no web traffic has been sent to it.

Searching the Apache web site, I only see one article referencing low swap space.  I checked that out and it has only used 1% of 512 Meg.
All parameters for the server match its webfarm members exactly.

The apache configs are also the same:
StartServers 10
MaxClients 150
MinSpareServers 20
MaxSpareServers 50
MaxRequestsPerChild 1000

What does the message "server seems busy" upon startup when no traffic has yet been sent ?

I assume it may be hardware related ??  Where should I begin to look ?
vmstat, lsps, etc all register normal.

(This message also appears on the stronghold startup on that box)
>How-To-Repeat:
na
>Fix:
na
>Audit-Trail:
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