[ltp] general performance question on R51

[Takis Diakoumis]

ok, this could be it.
running hdparm i get:

/dev/hda:
 multcount    =  0 (off)
 IO_support   =  0 (default 16-bit)
 unmaskirq    =  0 (off)
 using_dma    =  0 (off)
 keepsettings =  0 (off)
 readonly     =  0 (off)
 readahead    = 256 (on)
 geometry     = 65535/16/63, sectors = 117210240, start = 0

so dma is off and all other settings a safe defaults.

i tried tweaking this to no avail. attempting to switch on dma i get:
/dev/hda:
 setting using_dma to 1 (on)
 HDIO_SET_DMA failed: Operation not permitted
 using_dma    =  0 (off)

i know i need the correct controller compiled into the kernel. lspci
reports:
0000:00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801DBM (ICH4) Ultra ATA
Storage Controller (rev 01)

i'm not sure which controller this is in the kernel config and what i
may have missed.

can anyone shed some light on this - perhaps some values from .config or
optimal hdparm settings???

thanks
Takis


On Mon, 2005-08-01 at 11:20 -0700, Paul H. Yoshimune wrote:
> Takis Diakoumis wrote:
> 
> >Hi
> >
> >i have a thinkpad r51 (1.6Ghz, 512MB RAM) running debian etch with
> >custom kernel 2.6.11.
> >
> >i have installed and configured everything nicely (including the ir -
> >which i don't use but is pretty cool to have).
> >
> >anyway, i've noticed what i would consider strange behaviour - though
> >i've never owned a laptop before so i'm not sure.
> >
> >i notice very brief system hangs every now and then - usually when
> >accessing a large directory through something like nautilus, or starting
> >an application or even compiling some small code snippet. the hang is
> >usually not for longer than about a second or two. the mouse if in
> >motion will skip across the screen, gkrellm which i have running will
> >freeze, if i'm playing some music with xmms or similar it will pause
> >briefly then continue as if a cd is skipping or something. i understand
> >that single drive reads across partitions can be pretty intesive though
> >i did not expect this sort of performance.
> >
> >(i have switched gkrellm thinking it was its constant updating was the
> >problem - but no change)
> >
> >its pretty annoying to be listening to some music or something while
> >browsing the web and then skip skip skip..... hang hang hang.... (i'm
> >being a little dramatic - but you get the picture).
> >
> >basically, is this normal or have i screwed something up!!??
> >
> >it happens when the system is on ac power and battery.
> >i do have the latest ibm-acpi installed and it seems to be working fine.
> >i don't really know where to look.
> >
> >any suggestions would be appreciated.
> >thanks.
> >
> >Takis
> >
> >  
> >
> Check to be sure you have DMA enabled, and that the various 'hdparm' 
> settings are reasonable.  RH9 on a T42 stalls constantly under heavy HD 
> usage (i.e., untarring a large file, compiles, etc.) - essentially 
> locking up for second at a time, and then recovers.  RHEL4 enables DMA 
> on this machine, which VASTLY reduces this behavior...
> 
> -Paul
>