server won't shutdown

Server won't shutdown:

Currently, we are running 7.3.2.  However, we have had this problem since 7.1.

Our production server has dozens of connections from different persistent
applications (some web, some runnning on other systems).

When I do a shutdown:
$pgpath/bin/pg_ctl -D $datadir -m fast stop

the server will not completely shutdown.

I realize that the pg_ctl script will send a -QUIT to the postmaster
process, which will then also send some kind of quit signal to the outstanding
backends?, but, every time, some of the postgres backend processes will not
quit and the server "hangs" in shutdown mode.

To get around this, I send a -QUIT is sent to a backend process that is not
doing any activity and then the server comes down (and not in a good way I'm
sure).

Can anyone explain *why* the server won't shutdown as well as suggest the
*best* way to handle this situation?

Thanks,

--
Laurette Cisneros, L.D.
The Database Group
(510) 420-3137
NextBus Information Systems, Inc.
www.nextbus.com
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"No man is wise enough by himself"
-- Titus Maccius Plautus
   (254 Bc - 184 BC), Miles Gloriosus