On 5/10/05, DJA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Carl Lowenstein wrote:
> > On 5/10/05, Ralph Shumaker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> >>I told mozilla to do a search of my email messages and it seemed to
> >>freeze and the entire system was *very* sluggish. After trying several
> >>things, I finally did [Ctrl][L-Alt][1] where I saw a login prompt. But
> >>before I even had a chance to begin to log in, I started getting an
> >>error message that kept repeating about once per second. [L-Alt][2]
> >>showed the same thing as did 3 and 4 (where I gave up). I had managed
> >>to get the detailed system monitor running in the GUI, so I switched
> >>back over to that and killed mozilla.
> >
> >
> > by "detailed system monitor" you mean /usr/bin/top, I presume
> >
> >
> >>Responsiveness returned and the
> >>error message was no longer repeating. Here's the error (assuming that
> >>I copied it correctly since I could not figure out how to cut and paste
> >>from console 1 to the GUI):
> >>
> >>hde: dma_intr: status=0x51 { DriveReady SeekComplete Error }
> >>hde: dma_intr: error=0x40 { UncorrectableError }, LBAsect=22206449,
> >>high=1, low=5429333, sector=84880
> >>end_request: I/O error, dev 21:06 (hde), sector 84880
> >>
> >>Does this suggest that there is something wrong with my HDD? Should I
> >>just disable dma (or just cripple it)?
> >
> >
> > Suggests to me that you have a bad (uncorrectable) error in at least
> > one sector on your HDD. Back up anything valuable (not replaceable by
> > reinstalling the system) to some other place not on that drive.
> > Consider replacing the drive. As a stopgap, you could try "mke2fs -c"
> > which will wipe out everything but also check for bad blocks. But
> > consider that the drive is on its way out.
> >
> > carl
>
> Not so quick. Lots of motherboards (in fact most) have bugs in their HDD
> controllers and chipsets affecting DMA.
>
> Like Carl said, first back up your data. But before you go wiping the
> drive, here are a few other things I would do (especially important if
> you are running an AMD CPU:
>
> o Run Memtest86. Bad memory can precipitate all kinds of errors,
> including drive errors. I had a bad memory controller go south
> on one of my boxes, which masqueraded itself as both a bad hard
> drive and bad RAM.
>
> o Make sure there is not some other problem causing the behavior:
> All cables tight? Box interior not overheating? CPU not overheat-
> ing? PSU not flaking out (still running one the marginal units
> which came in the case you bought for the PII-400 before you
> upgraded to the XP3500+ and FX6800)?
>
> o Download and use the manufacturer's diagnostic software for your
> drive. AFAIK, all of the major brands (IBM, Maxtor, WD, etc.)
> have such a program available on their Websites.
>
> o Check the mobo vendor's website for BIOS updates which may address the
> problem.
>
> o Do some research (Google) on the specific chipset on your motherboard.
> For instance, VIA chipsets are notorious for having DMA problems on
> Athlon motherboards. Also research similar problems for your specific
> hard drive (i.e. for your make and model).
>
> If using DMA with the hard drive is a known problem for your
> motherboard, there are boot options which can be used in Grub
> or LILO to mitigate the problem (such as disabling DMA altogether).
>
> That'll get you closer to the truth before just blindly assuming that
> the hard drive is going bad, and it might save you both time and money
> in replacing the wrong parts for the wrong reasons.
Lots of good advice above.
It's a tradeoff of time vs. money. If a new 80 GB hard drive costs
$40, as they did at CompUSA last week, decide how much troubleshooting
time would pay for that. Of course, on principle, it is much more
interesting to solve the problem without replacing the hardware.
carl
--
carl lowenstein marine physical lab u.c. san diego
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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