From owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Oct 11 18:55:12 2006 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 003DD16A4C9 for ; Wed, 11 Oct 2006 18:55:11 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from sos@freebsd.org) Received: from spider.deepcore.dk (cpe.atm2-0-53484.0x50a6c9a6.abnxx9.customer.tele.dk [80.166.201.166]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C893743D5A for ; Wed, 11 Oct 2006 18:55:10 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from sos@freebsd.org) Received: from [194.192.25.130] (sos.deepcore.dk [194.192.25.130]) by spider.deepcore.dk (8.13.6/8.13.4) with ESMTP id k9BIt9Jf087816; Wed, 11 Oct 2006 20:55:09 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from sos@freebsd.org) Message-ID: <452D3E0E.5060206@freebsd.org> Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 20:55:10 +0200 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?S=F8ren_Schmidt?= User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.2 (X11/20060531) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Rich Wales References: <20061003053303.9249A3C36B@whodunit.richw.org> <20061011171404.637123C36B@whodunit.richw.org> In-Reply-To: <20061011171404.637123C36B@whodunit.richw.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-mail-scanned: by DeepCore Virus & Spam killer v2.0beta Cc: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Sata controller headache X-BeenThere: freebsd-current@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Discussions about the use of FreeBSD-current List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 18:55:12 -0000 Rich Wales wrote: > Earlier, I wrote in -current: > > >> I've been seeing the same kinds of errors [as Paul Bliss was having] >> with a Promise SATA300 TX4 controller and a pair of Seagate 300GB >> SATA drives. Apparently, people have been having similar problems >> with SATA drives on Promise controllers for quite some time now, in >> both FreeBSD and Linux systems. Lots of reports and requests for >> help, but no one so far has admitted to having a clue as to what is >> causing it. >> > > I wanted to let people know that I managed to fix (or, at least, work > around) my problem by adjusting the BIOS settings for my (old "Slot A" > Athlon system) motherboard. Specifically, I disabled PCI master burst > mode, and although this slowed down disk I/O significantly, it made > the instabilities w/r/t the Promise card go away completely. > > I'm not sure whether the fundamental problem is flaky PCI bus design > in some motherboards, or overly picky bus expectations by Promise, but > this experience suggests to me that people who are having timeouts and > hanging errors with Promise SATA controllers might want to try playing > with the PCI-related BIOS settings on their motherboards and see if > that gives them relief. If anyone is having trouble with a Promise > card in a recent-design motherboard with normal BIOS settings, of > course, that would strongly point to Promise as the guilty party. > As I told you (in private mail) some of the Promise chips does get close to the edges of the PCI spec, but usually its only a problem on motherboards that haunted as well with bugs in that area. > Whether anything can be done to relieve this problem in the device > driver is a question I'm not in a position to answer. > Thats a bridge I'd rather not cross in this life :) -Søren