From owner-freebsd-performance@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Apr 6 09:21:48 2007 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-performance@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-performance@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9346F16A405 for ; Fri, 6 Apr 2007 09:21:48 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from knaggsy2000@googlemail.com) Received: from mail13-kcom.uk.cleanport.com (mail13-kcom.uk.cleanport.com [212.79.248.222]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id F161F13C48A for ; Fri, 6 Apr 2007 09:21:47 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from knaggsy2000@googlemail.com) X-VirusChecked: NOT checked Received: from (unresolved) ([212.50.160.34] HELO=smtpout.karoo.kcom.com) by mail23-kcom.uk.cleanport.com (CleanSMTPd 1.6.0) with ESMTP id 461DDD93-0 for ; Fri, 06 Apr 2007 11:06:34 +0200 Received: from adsl-83-100-231-141.karoo.kcom.com ([83.100.231.141] helo=sedna.local) by smtpout.karoo.kcom.comwith esmtp (Exim 4.30) id 1HZkOv-0004XO-66 server-id smtp-in1 for freebsd-performance@freebsd.org; Fri, 06 Apr 2007 10:06:33 +0100 Received: from [10.1.1.1] (asteroid.local [10.1.1.1]) by sedna.local (Postfix) with ESMTP id 38A3833C35 for ; Fri, 6 Apr 2007 09:09:05 +0100 (BST) Message-ID: <46160016.8080504@googlemail.com> Date: Fri, 06 Apr 2007 09:08:54 +0100 From: Danny Knaggs User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.9 (X11/20070117) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: freebsd-performance@freebsd.org Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: FreeBSD 6.2 on SPARC64/x86 with Promise IDE Controller X-BeenThere: freebsd-performance@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Performance/tuning List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 06 Apr 2007 09:21:48 -0000 Hello all! This is first time I've used a mailing list, so bear with me! I've been asked to submit my findings of the ata driver in FreeBSD 6.2 on my sparc64 and x86 box from bsdforums.org. Link to my thread: http://www.bsdforums.org/forums/showthread.php?t=48682 I've just installed a Promise IDE Controller card (Ultra 133 TX2 - PDC20269) in my Sun Ultra 10 and have come across a slight snag. If I don't put in "hw.ata.ata_dma=0" in the loader options I get DMA timeout errors after it has queried the HDD on the Promise controller. I have found a link which someone else has a similar problem (NetBSD on Alpha) which maybe useful: http://archive.netbsd.se/?ml=freebsd-alpha&a=2007-02&t=3177803 Now, after BSD has loaded I can successfully change the DMA mode to UDMA66 on the HDD without any problems (get ~30MB/s transfer rate, compared to ~15MB/s when using the on-board controller using "dd"). Any higher and I get DMA timeout messages. The HDD works fine when it's attached to the on-board controller. Now, I thought I try the same Promise IDE card in x86 box with FreeBSD 6.2 and found something interesting... The HDD will not operate correctly at UDMA133 - it performs very slowly (<15Mb/s). Forcing the HDD to run at UDMA100 gives me 64Mb/s transfer. Which is roughly what I expect. So, it seems something is broken with the ATA driver - Sparc/Alpha getting the worse of it! If anyone has ideas/brainwaves/etc - I'm willing to give it a whirl! Thanks in advance. Dan.