Dan LaBine wrote: > ai4a wrote: > > > > If this is the wrong news group to post this to, I apologize. Just tell > > me to which news group I should post. > > > > MY system: > > PC100 Super Socket 7 made by Hsing Tech Enterprise (subsidiary of PC > > Chips) > > AMD k6-2 running at 500MH > > 64 M ram > > 10 G Seagate hard disk > > dual boot Linux Mandrake 7.0 & windoze 98 > > > > Now my question: The BIOS has an option 'Ultra DMA Support'. > > If I enable this option, I can see no difference in windoze. > > > > If I enable this option, I can see no difference in Linux UNLESS I use > > hdparm. > > With it disabled, I can use 'hdparm -c1-d1 /dev/hda' and change the 64M > > read timing from 22 sec down to 10 sec. > > With it enabled, I can not use the -d1 option of hdparm. It gives me > > errors such as: > > hda: dma_intr: Error 0x51 drive ready seek complete error > > hda: dma_intr: Error 0x84 drive status error bad CRC. > > > > Yes I know. If it feels good do it. If it hurts stop. > > > > But what is the BIOS option 'Ultra DMA Support' used for. I have tried > > several hdparm settings but can find nothing that makes use of it. The > > hdparm settings I have tried are: 'hdparm -c1-d1X66 /dev/hda' > > > > Thanks for any info. > > Charles > Charles; Ultra DMA Support is used for hard drives with Ultra DMA or > "UDMA" support. Unless you're running a UDMA capable hard drive, you > won't see a difference. The good news is that your Seatgate HDD probably > is capable. Go ahead and use it. If your drive can't handle it, you > still won't have problems. If your board detects a UDMA drive, it'll > make use of the support, and your drive will transfer data faster or at > least smoother. If it don't, you won't see a difference. When you > reboot, you should see UDMA2, or 4 in your P.O.S.T. menu (Black screen > with white box outlining all detected hardware before your O/S starts to > boot. If you're quick on your "pause" key, you'll have a chance to read > the menu, and see if it works or not. > > Lanman Thanks Dan: I was able to pause the BOOT process and look at the hard drive info. Yes it said the pri hard disk (the only one I have) is UDMA mode 4. And the BOOT process found the right drive (a ST310212A). But, it makes no difference if I enable or disable the BIOS option 'Ultra DMA Support' as far as I can tell: In windoze or in Linux. Either way 'hdparm -t /dev/hda' shows it take 22 sec to read 64M. But, if I disable the BIOS option 'Ultra DMA Support I can use hdparm and decrease the read time of 64M from 22 sec to 10 sec. So I will just leave the BIOS option disabled. Anyway I learned what the option is. Thanks Charles
