Date: Sun, 12 Jan 2003 12:18:33 -0800 From: David Schultz <dschultz@uclink.Berkeley.EDU> To: jjramsey@pobox.com Cc: freebsd-bugs@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Semirandom bug in FreeBSD's ATA querying Message-ID: <20030112201833.GA4253@HAL9000.homeunix.com> In-Reply-To: <20030112191931.26473.qmail@web10703.mail.yahoo.com> References: <20030112183638.I5726-100000@gamplex.bde.org> <20030112191931.26473.qmail@web10703.mail.yahoo.com>
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Thus spake James J. Ramsey <jjramsey_6x9eq42@yahoo.com>: > --- Bruce Evans <bde@zeta.org.au> wrote: > > > > Actually, it is indicative of a timing bug, which > > may be > > in either the hardware or the driver but is most > > likely > > in the hardware. Linux and the old FreeBSD driver > > (wd) > > have more compatibility cruft including delays to > > support broken drives. > > You are probably right about it being a timing bug, > although I'm not sure how that explains why FreeBSD > gets correct, or at least consistent, results for the > sector and head counts. (Only the cylinder count, disk > capacity, and name are garbage under FreeBSD.) > > As far as the bug being in the hardware, I call > bullsh*t. The drive I have has worked fine under > several version of Linux, Win98, and WinXP. It is a > very ordinary drive from a non-obscure, major > manufacturer. This is not the picture of a "broken > drive." The only ATA driver that chokes on the drive > is FreeBSD's. That suggests that what is broken is the > driver, not the drive. Saying that the Linux driver > works because it has "more compatibility cruft" is no > excuse. The ATA standard is crufty by nature. If an > ATA driver can't properly drive an ATA device because > it doesn't have the requisite cruft, that suggests > that the driver is incomplete. I have the same model drive as you do, and I haven't had any problems on FreeBSD 4.X or 5.0-CURRENT with any of three IDE controllers. The line I get from dmesg is: ad0: 19595MB <QUANTUM FIREBALLP LM20.5> [39813/16/63] at ata0-master UDMA66 I have used the drive with the integrated IDE controllers on an ASUS P2B-F motherboard (440BX-based, ATA33) and an ASUS P3V4X (VIA 82C596 ATA66 controller), as well as with a Promise Ultra66 card. A subset of those controllers have been used with the drive in both master and slave configurations. Therefore, if you're having problems, they seem to be specific to the firmware revision of your drive, or perhaps to the drive itself. Here are some other possible differences that might explain why you're having problems, although I consider it HIGHLY UNLIKELY that any of these would produce the symptoms you are seeing. - You have the ``disable ATA66'' bit set in your firmware. See the following (wrapped) URL: http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/ fireball_plus_lm_udma33to66.htm - You have an older AWARD BIOS. See the above URL. - Some other BIOS quirk or setting is causing the problem. - You are trying to use the drive in ATA66 mode without an 80-conductor cable. - Your jumper settings on the drive are incorrect, or you have a conflicting device on the same controller. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-bugs" in the body of the message
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