From owner-freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG Tue May 22 07:04:21 2007 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D0F5016A41F for ; Tue, 22 May 2007 07:04:21 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from rb@gid.co.uk) Received: from gidgate.gid.co.uk (gid.co.uk [194.32.164.225]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 69B4613C48A for ; Tue, 22 May 2007 07:04:21 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from rb@gid.co.uk) Received: from [194.32.164.25] (host-83-146-60-88.bulldogdsl.com [83.146.60.88]) by gidgate.gid.co.uk (8.13.8/8.13.8) with ESMTP id l4M74IuK034144; Tue, 22 May 2007 08:04:18 +0100 (BST) (envelope-from rb@gid.co.uk) In-Reply-To: <46522517.8080100@spyderweb.com.au> References: <200705191056.25359.groot@kde.org> <46521F23.7050409@spyderweb.com.au> <465224DC.8010703@rcn.com> <46522517.8080100@spyderweb.com.au> Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v752.3) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Message-Id: <0E38A5C7-A5AE-43FD-A8A3-58568D2F50C7@gid.co.uk> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From: Bob Bishop Date: Tue, 22 May 2007 08:04:25 +0100 To: Tim Aslat X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.752.3) Cc: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Recommended SATA controllers X-BeenThere: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: General discussion of FreeBSD hardware List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 22 May 2007 07:04:21 -0000 Hi, On 22 May 2007, at 00:02, Tim Aslat wrote: > In the immortal words of Gary Corcoran on 05/22/07 08:31: > >> I've had drives go bad, such that upon powerup, the Promise >> controller BIOS >> wouldn't even see the drive. And later, as the drive got closer >> to death, >> it started making the *other* drive on the same IDE cable also >> "fail". >> Removing the dying/dead drive from the cable made the other drive >> work again. > > I've taken the drives out and hooked them up to a different > connector (external USB2) and they work flawlessly, they are also > only about 3 months old and quite underused as the machine they are > in spends more time offline than online. > >> I'd look into the possible need to replace one of your disk drives... > > I'm quite sure the drives are fine. It's either an incompatibility > with the FreeBSD & the promise card, or the mainboard is actually > on its last legs. > > > I'm going to have to see if I can chase up another board today and > see if that helps. I've had onboard SATA controller chips go bad and produce all sorts of odd symptoms. I've also had similar problems from other causes. You need to eliminate: - the drives: put them in a known good system and use the manufacturers diagnostic program - the cables: use know good - the power supply: ditto Which leaves memory/CPU/something else on the motherboard. Memory can be tested, but at this point an upgrade may be indicated :-) -- Bob Bishop +44 (0)118 940 1243 rb@gid.co.uk fax +44 (0)118 940 1295