A reader of this blog, VijayS, asked me to share the script I use to demo ITL deadlocks that I mentioned in this comment. Since other readers might be interested, here is the script.

SET TERMOUT ON FEEDBACK ON VERIFY OFF SCAN ON ECHO ON

@connect

SELECT * FROM v$version WHERE rownum = 1;

REM
REM cleanup
REM

DROP TABLE t PURGE;

PAUSE

REM
REM create a test table with three completely full data blocks
REM (default tablespace is expected to have 8KB blocks)
REM

CREATE TABLE t (n NUMBER, c VARCHAR2(4000)) PCTFREE 0;

INSERT INTO t SELECT rownum, rpad('*',2679,'*') FROM dual CONNECT BY level <= 9;
COMMIT;

SELECT dbms_rowid.rowid_block_number(rowid), n
FROM t
ORDER BY n;

PAUSE

REM
REM in this session modify two rows: one in the first block and one in the
REM third block
REM

SET SQLPROMPT " 1 > "

SELECT sid FROM v$session WHERE audsid = userenv('sessionid');

UPDATE t SET n=n*10 WHERE n IN (1,7);

PAUSE

REM
REM in another session (called session #2) modify two rows: one in the first
REM block and one in the second block
REM
REM @connect
REM SET SQLPROMPT " 2 > "
REM
REM SELECT sid FROM v$session WHERE audsid = userenv('sessionid');
REM UPDATE t SET n=n*10 WHERE n IN (2,5);
REM

PAUSE

REM
REM in another session (called session #3) try to modify one row per block;
REM since all ITL slots of the first block are taken, wait...
REM
REM @connect
REM SET SQLPROMPT " 3 > "
REM
REM SELECT sid FROM v$session WHERE audsid = userenv('sessionid');
REM UPDATE t SET n=n*10 WHERE n = 9;
REM UPDATE t SET n=n*10 WHERE n = 6;
REM UPDATE t SET n=n*10 WHERE n = 3;
REM

PAUSE

REM
REM in this session try to modify one row in the second block and, in addition,
REM in session #2, try to modify one row in the third block; since all ITL slots
REM of the second and third block are taken, wait..., deadlock...
REM

REM run "UPDATE t SET n=n*10 WHERE n = 8;" in session #2

UPDATE t SET n=n*10 WHERE n = 4;

Notice that:

• the remarks contained in the script provide important information for understanding what the script does and, as a result, for being able to produce a ITL deadlock
• to run the script three sessions are required (when running the script I copy/paste the commands from the output of the terminal running the script to the other two terminals)

To give you an example of what it looks like when you run it, here is a recording:

The deadlock graph generated by the run that I recorded is the following one. Notice that the rows waited on are set to “no row”.

                       ---------Blocker(s)--------  ---------Waiter(s)---------
Resource Name          process session holds waits  process session holds waits
TX-00090013-00001b44        25     140     X             23     147           S
TX-0007001d-000019a9        23     147     X             25     140           S

session 140: DID 0001-0019-00000D23     session 147: DID 0001-0017-000004BC
session 147: DID 0001-0017-000004BC     session 140: DID 0001-0019-00000D23

Rows waited on:
  Session 140: no row
  Session 147: no row