Re: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what?
On Friday 22 December 2000 17:53, you wrote:
> --- Buchan Milne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > controller. Can't wait to see what a decent HD (IBM
> > 30-75GXPs) can do.
>
> I have a 30 GB 75GXP switched to ATA100, after the
> hdparm tuning(I don't remember the parameters, I am at
> work) I get around 35 MB/s.
>
> Is this the expected xfer rate for ATA100 drives?
> Is the kernel on 7.2 compiled for ATA100, or do I have
> to compile the kernel for ATA100 and hope to get still
> better results.
It IS compiled for ATA/100 which leads to many problems for those with
slightly off-spec hardware. I am sure you have seen the posts ("worked in
Windows, Worked in RH, Worked in 7.1")
Well, in chasing a write error on bug reports, I discovered an ATA/66 drive
that gave 19.10 Mb/s at udma4 and 19.34Mb/s at udma2. Obviously this drive
was advertising to the controller that it was capable of more that it could
do. (It autotuned to ATA/66(udma4) but worked properly at udma2).
Many things can affect the data rate. I have seen some ATA/66s hit 28 or 29
Mb/s on that test. If the disk is 7200 rpm instead of 5400, that can make a
difference as well. My personal feeling is that ATA/33+ is pretty much all
the same except for the price and the tests. Using a several hundred
megabyte partition to partition copy on the same disk, I achieved data rates
of 1.7 Mb/s using each of the three technologies. Using disks on different
ide channels, I managed 2.7, 2.7, and 2.8Mb/s. Within the possibility of the
error of representing something (practically) continuous and infinite with
something finite and discrete, those results are basically identical.
Perhaps the copying of data does not give enough room to burst mode as a
significant factor, and YMMV by mobo, processor, controller, and the phase of
the moon, but I am wondering if the numbers are there more to attract the
contents of our wallets than to represent any real gain in performance.
Civileme
>
> Cheers
> Sridhar
>
>
> =
> Good judgement comes from experience,
>experience comes from bad judgement
>
> __
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products.
> http://shopping.yahoo.com/
Re: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what?
--- Buchan Milne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > controller. Can't wait to see what a decent HD (IBM > 30-75GXPs) can do. > I have a 30 GB 75GXP switched to ATA100, after the hdparm tuning(I don't remember the parameters, I am at work) I get around 35 MB/s. Is this the expected xfer rate for ATA100 drives? Is the kernel on 7.2 compiled for ATA100, or do I have to compile the kernel for ATA100 and hope to get still better results. Cheers Sridhar = Good judgement comes from experience, experience comes from bad judgement __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. http://shopping.yahoo.com/
Re: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what?
It depends what you try and do ... though normally hdparm will just kill the system if you give it settings you sohuldn't. If you aren't using hdparm, you should see what your ide controller can do (using hdparm -i or -I should show you a bit). Then, based on your HD and IDE specs, try some settings, then do a benchmark. If your system does not lock up, you should be ok. Of course it's best to do all this just after installing, with all important data on a different drive or well backed-up, so you can't lose anything. You might also want to do this in run-level 1, to make sure other processes can't write while you are testing (both for accurate results and in the hopes that you don't lose data.) On a P166MMX with a udma66 controller, I went from ~2MBps to ~12 MBps by enabling dma. Our Celeron 500 does about 18-20 MBps with the same controller. Can't wait to see what a decent HD (IBM 30-75GXPs) can do. Buchan Mark Hillary wrote: > > I have never had a problem, and from what I have read about hdpram is that > data damage can occur on old or flaky hardware, so anything newer than about > two years onld is fine. > > Have a look at > http://www.linux.com/tuneup/database.phtml/Filesystem/75.html > and > http://www.linux.com/tuneup/database.phtml/Hardware/000788.html > > Mark Hillary > - Original Message - > From: "Rusty Carruth" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Friday, December 22, 2000 3:26 PM > Subject: Re[2]: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what? > > > Buchan Milne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > boot, like "ide0=dma", which is what I use on my custom kernel with > > > udma66. > > > > Well, I've not used the hard drive optimizations because of the > > "warning - data damage likely" comment. > > > > Has anyone had data loss from hdparm? > > > > What events could happen to cause such a situation? > > > > Thanks! > > > > rusty > > > > > > Rusty Carruth Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Voice: (480) 345-3621 SnailMail: Schlumberger ATE > > FAX: (480) 345-8793 7855 S. River Parkway, Suite 116 > > Ham: N7IKQ @ 146.82+,pl 162.2 Tempe, AZ 85284-1825 > > -- |Registered Linux User #182071-| Buchan MilneMechanical Engineer, Network Manager Cellphone * Work +27 82 472 2231 * +27 21 808 2497 Stellenbosch Automotive Engineering http://www.cae.co.za
Re: Re[2]: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what?
I have never had a problem, and from what I have read about hdpram is that data damage can occur on old or flaky hardware, so anything newer than about two years onld is fine. Have a look at http://www.linux.com/tuneup/database.phtml/Filesystem/75.html and http://www.linux.com/tuneup/database.phtml/Hardware/000788.html Mark Hillary - Original Message - From: "Rusty Carruth" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, December 22, 2000 3:26 PM Subject: Re[2]: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what? > Buchan Milne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > boot, like "ide0=dma", which is what I use on my custom kernel with > > udma66. > > Well, I've not used the hard drive optimizations because of the > "warning - data damage likely" comment. > > Has anyone had data loss from hdparm? > > What events could happen to cause such a situation? > > Thanks! > > rusty > > > Rusty Carruth Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Voice: (480) 345-3621 SnailMail: Schlumberger ATE > FAX: (480) 345-8793 7855 S. River Parkway, Suite 116 > Ham: N7IKQ @ 146.82+,pl 162.2 Tempe, AZ 85284-1825 >
Re[2]: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what?
Buchan Milne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > boot, like "ide0=dma", which is what I use on my custom kernel with > udma66. Well, I've not used the hard drive optimizations because of the "warning - data damage likely" comment. Has anyone had data loss from hdparm? What events could happen to cause such a situation? Thanks! rusty Rusty Carruth Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Voice: (480) 345-3621 SnailMail: Schlumberger ATE FAX: (480) 345-8793 7855 S. River Parkway, Suite 116 Ham: N7IKQ @ 146.82+,pl 162.2 Tempe, AZ 85284-1825
Re: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what?
On Thursday 21 December 2000 22:30, you wrote: > Alex wrote > > > I have the following at the end of rc.local > > > ># hdparm stuff > > echo -n "Harddrive optimizations" > > /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -d 1 -k 1 /dev/hda > > /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -d 1 -k 1 /dev/hdb > > /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -k 1 /dev/hde > > and . > > Bill wrote: > >I've got mine as the last line of rc.sysinit. It works. > > Well if either one of you guys says that the install did indeed append > that to either script, then that makes my initial question about a > possible kernel parameter moot, and that's one more mystery solved. I'm > perfectly happy with that. :-) Nope. I put the lines in. The install set up the hard drive optimizations up as some sort of kernel parameter which caused my machine to lockup hard on boot. -- Alex (Go easy on me, I'm a COBOL programmer in real life)
Re: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what?
I believe hdparm is actually a utility to set the kernel parameters. That is why, for instance, when the ata100 driver first appeared in the kernel, there was a new hdparm to use to enable it. You can also get around the whole thing by passing kernel options at boot, like "ide0=dma", which is what I use on my custom kernel with udma66. Buchan b5dave wrote: > > Alex wrote > > > I have the following at the end of rc.local > > > ># hdparm stuff > > echo -n "Harddrive optimizations" > > /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -d 1 -k 1 /dev/hda > > /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -d 1 -k 1 /dev/hdb > > /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -k 1 /dev/hde > > and . > > Bill wrote: > > >I've got mine as the last line of rc.sysinit. It works. > > Well if either one of you guys says that the install did indeed append > that to either script, then that makes my initial question about a > possible kernel parameter moot, and that's one more mystery solved. I'm > perfectly happy with that. :-) > > ps Bill. Is that x-vcard attachment a *nix thing? I think I may have got > one recently from an associate and flamed them for sending me yet another > proprietary M$ attachment. OOPS! > > - > 21-Dec-2000 > 22:30:11 > -
RE: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what?
> I'm almost posotive if you grep'd these directories for hdparm their > would be a line their. > no - you are wrong - there will be a special "append=opti" parameter for the kernel in lilo.conf that tells the kernel ide driver to do the tuning itself ... http://www.mandrakeuser.org/hardware/hide2.html p.f. RNDr. Peter FREIMANN, ICQ# 1181033 tel: 0602-464-800, 0331-362375 ESNET s.r.o.(Internet provider) http://www.esnet.cz nam. Miru 138, 377 01 Jindrichuv Hradec e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (private)
Re: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what?
On 22-Dec-2000 Andrew George wrote: > On Fri, 22 Dec 2000 13:57, A V Flinsch wrote: >> On Thursday 21 December 2000 21:17, b5dave wrote: >> > So the burning question is: Does anybody have the hdparm command in >> > their rc scripts or elsewhere??? >> >> I have the following at the end of rc.local >> >> # hdparm stuff >> echo -n "Harddrive optimizations" >> /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -d 1 -k 1 /dev/hda >> /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -d 1 -k 1 /dev/hdb >> /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -k 1 /dev/hde > > Oddly enough I discovered that even though I had a hdparm line in rc2.d, > rc3.d and rc4.d...I had to add the line to rc.local to get it to work Indeed! Hmmm. What service scripts in rc2,3,4? Runlevels 0,1,2,and 6 mean your machine is on its way down or just plain down. Runlevel 4 isn't really used. The only two runlevels of interest are 3 (which boots you into a console), and runlevel 5 which boots into the xdm graphical logon screen. In other words, rc2 and rc4 don't count. If your setup was booting into a graphical logon then you were booting into rc5, and your hdparm entry in rc2, 3, or 4 would never work. Note that the runlevels are *not* sequencial; booting into rc.5 (runlevel 5 == graphical logon) will kill all prior stuff and just start the rc.5 stuff. The files in those rc.* directories either start with an S or a K. The K means kill and the S means start. OOF, that was a mouthfull. But, again, I'm now really curious to know what scripts Mandrake was screwing with in rc.2, rc.3, and rc.4. WTF was Mandrake doing here? Dave. - 22-Dec-2000 02:34:07 -
Re: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what?
On Fri, 22 Dec 2000 13:57, A V Flinsch wrote: > On Thursday 21 December 2000 21:17, you wrote: > > So the burning question is: Does anybody have the hdparm command in > > their rc scripts or elsewhere??? > > I have the following at the end of rc.local > > # hdparm stuff > echo -n "Harddrive optimizations" > /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -d 1 -k 1 /dev/hda > /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -d 1 -k 1 /dev/hdb > /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -k 1 /dev/hde Oddly enough I discovered that even though I had a hdparm line in rc2.d, rc3.d and rc4.d...I had to add the line to rc.local to get it to work
Re: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what?
b5dave wrote: > Alex wrote > > > I have the following at the end of rc.local > > > ># hdparm stuff > > echo -n "Harddrive optimizations" > > /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -d 1 -k 1 /dev/hda > > /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -d 1 -k 1 /dev/hdb > > /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -k 1 /dev/hde > > and . > > Bill wrote: > > >I've got mine as the last line of rc.sysinit. It works. > > Well if either one of you guys says that the install did indeed append > that to either script, then that makes my initial question about a > possible kernel parameter moot, and that's one more mystery solved. I'm > perfectly happy with that. :-) > > ps Bill. Is that x-vcard attachment a *nix thing? I think I may have got > one recently from an associate and flamed them for sending me yet another > proprietary M$ attachment. OOPS! > > - > 21-Dec-2000 > 22:30:11 > - It's from NS 4.76 (Linux). But no, the install did not append that to my script. Did a bit of perusing the newsgroups and added that myself. I may have missed a post if that was in the thread. Sorry to mislead ya. (It's cold here & I may be slowing down as I ice over) begin:vcard n:Piety;Bill x-mozilla-html:FALSE adr:;; version:2.1 email;internet:[EMAIL PROTECTED] x-mozilla-cpt:;0 fn:Bill Piety end:vcard
Re: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what?
Alex wrote > I have the following at the end of rc.local > ># hdparm stuff > echo -n "Harddrive optimizations" > /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -d 1 -k 1 /dev/hda > /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -d 1 -k 1 /dev/hdb > /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -k 1 /dev/hde and . Bill wrote: >I've got mine as the last line of rc.sysinit. It works. Well if either one of you guys says that the install did indeed append that to either script, then that makes my initial question about a possible kernel parameter moot, and that's one more mystery solved. I'm perfectly happy with that. :-) ps Bill. Is that x-vcard attachment a *nix thing? I think I may have got one recently from an associate and flamed them for sending me yet another proprietary M$ attachment. OOPS! - 21-Dec-2000 22:30:11 -
Re: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what?
On Thursday 21 December 2000 21:17, you wrote: > So the burning question is: Does anybody have the hdparm command in > their rc scripts or elsewhere??? > I have the following at the end of rc.local # hdparm stuff echo -n "Harddrive optimizations" /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -d 1 -k 1 /dev/hda /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -d 1 -k 1 /dev/hdb /sbin/hdparm -c 1 -k 1 /dev/hde -- Alex (Go easy on me, I'm a COBOL programmer in real life)
Re: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what?
b5dave wrote: > Yes, I understand. In lieu of "engaged" I should have said "setup" , > because somewhere there would have to be a line like: > 'hdparm -m 8 -d 1 -u 1 -c 1 /dev/hda' to ensure that it is set on > subsequent re-boots. If you think you have it set, just try # hdparm -tT > /dev/whatever and look at the buffered disk reads. I went from something > like 4 MB/sec to 19.88 MB/sec. I figure its some DMA setting in > the kernel config that relates to the mobo's ide chipset. There's a whole > slew of block device settings in .config which is kinda why I wanted to > know. > > I'm positive I checked that off during the install, but hell, who knows. > As Eric suggested, the only reasonable place to put the command would be > somewhere under /etc/rc.d like runlevel 3 or 5 or rc.local (which is where > I've put it). > > So the burning question is: Does anybody have the hdparm command in their > rc scripts or elsewhere??? > > Cheers, > Dave. > > On 22-Dec-2000 Amit Bapat wrote: > > hdparam is not a daemon that runs, it just sets some parameters to be > > used > > for your HD > > > > > > ----Original Message Follows---- > > From: b5dave <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what? > > Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 18:32:28 -0500 (EST) > > > > I initially thought that install option would engage hdparm since the > > warning is the same, but hdparm was definitely not running.. That leaves > > the kernel. Does anyone know what config options get set? > > > > Thanks > > Dave. > > > > - > > 21-Dec-2000 > > 18:32:28 > > - > > > > > > _ > > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com > > - > 21-Dec-2000 > 21:17:22 > - I've got mine as the last line of rc.sysinit. It works. begin:vcard n:Piety;Bill x-mozilla-html:FALSE adr:;; version:2.1 email;internet:[EMAIL PROTECTED] x-mozilla-cpt:;0 fn:Bill Piety end:vcard
Re: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what?
Yes, I understand. In lieu of "engaged" I should have said "setup" , because somewhere there would have to be a line like: 'hdparm -m 8 -d 1 -u 1 -c 1 /dev/hda' to ensure that it is set on subsequent re-boots. If you think you have it set, just try # hdparm -tT /dev/whatever and look at the buffered disk reads. I went from something like 4 MB/sec to 19.88 MB/sec. I figure its some DMA setting in the kernel config that relates to the mobo's ide chipset. There's a whole slew of block device settings in .config which is kinda why I wanted to know. I'm positive I checked that off during the install, but hell, who knows. As Eric suggested, the only reasonable place to put the command would be somewhere under /etc/rc.d like runlevel 3 or 5 or rc.local (which is where I've put it). So the burning question is: Does anybody have the hdparm command in their rc scripts or elsewhere??? Cheers, Dave. On 22-Dec-2000 Amit Bapat wrote: > hdparam is not a daemon that runs, it just sets some parameters to be > used > for your HD > > > Original Message Follows > From: b5dave <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what? > Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 18:32:28 -0500 (EST) > > I initially thought that install option would engage hdparm since the > warning is the same, but hdparm was definitely not running.. That leaves > the kernel. Does anyone know what config options get set? > > Thanks > Dave. > > - > 21-Dec-2000 > 18:32:28 > - > > > _ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com - 21-Dec-2000 21:17:22 -
Re: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what?
hdparam is not a daemon that runs, it just sets some parameters to be used for your HD Original Message Follows From: b5dave <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what? Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 18:32:28 -0500 (EST) I initially thought that install option would engage hdparm since the warning is the same, but hdparm was definitely not running.. That leaves the kernel. Does anyone know what config options get set? Thanks Dave. - 21-Dec-2000 18:32:28 - _ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
Re: [expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what?
Wouldn't their by a hdparm line in one of the /etc/rc.??? files I'm almost posotive if you grep'd these directories for hdparm their would be a line their. Try a : grep -i -r hdparm /etc/rc* HTH Eric b5dave wrote: > > I initially thought that install option would engage hdparm since the > warning is the same, but hdparm was definitely not running.. That leaves > the kernel. Does anyone know what config options get set? > > Thanks > Dave. > > - > 21-Dec-2000 > 18:32:28 > -
[expert] 'Use hard drive optimizations' does what?
I initially thought that install option would engage hdparm since the warning is the same, but hdparm was definitely not running.. That leaves the kernel. Does anyone know what config options get set? Thanks Dave. - 21-Dec-2000 18:32:28 -
