New SATA hard drive errors

[davidshere]

bumped for adding #7 and #8. I'm starting to wonder if I should file a bug...

[hal8000]

Your last question was how do I change UDMA mode.
Normally the hdparm program sets these options on IDE/PATA drives.
there is a similar program sdparm for SATA drives.

However I would suggest using hapr, -i option to first see what settings your HD uses, example below:

[root@orac anc]# hdparm -i /dev/sda

/dev/sda:

Model=Hitachi HDS721616PLA380, FwRev=P22OABEA, SerialNo=PVG904ZFTBZJDV
Config={ HardSect NotMFM HdSw>15uSec Fixed DTR>10Mbs }
RawCHS=16383/16/63, TrkSize=0, SectSize=0, ECCbytes=52
BuffType=DualPortCache, BuffSize=7376kB, MaxMultSect=16, MultSect=16
CurCHS=16383/16/63, CurSects=16514064, LBA=yes, LBAsects=312581808
IORDY=on/off, tPIO={min:120,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120}
PIO modes: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
DMA modes: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2
UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 udma5 *udma6
AdvancedPM=yes: disabled (255) WriteCache=enabled
Drive conforms to: ATA/ATAPI-7 T13 1532D revision 1: ATA/ATAPI-2,3,4,5,6,7

* signifies the current active mode


My SATA type 1 drive is automatically set to use udma6 mode and timing
can be found using the -tT options, example below:

[root@orac anc]# hdparm -tT /dev/sda

/dev/sda:
Timing cached reads: 1982 MB in 2.00 seconds = 991.21 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 226 MB in 3.02 seconds = 74.85 MB/sec


There is another thread on this:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=844717

It also states that hdparm is for IDE drives only and that SATA drives are already tuned for optimum performance. Try also searching google for SATA tuneup using sdparm

[davidshere]

Thanks! I'll investigate that. This is the current configuration:

david@thebone:~$ sudo hdparm -i /dev/sdd
[sudo] password for david:

/dev/sdd:

 Model=WDC WD10EADS-65M2B0                     , FwRev=01.00A01, SerialNo=     WD-WCAV53094176
 Config={ HardSect NotMFM HdSw>15uSec SpinMotCtl Fixed DTR>5Mbs FmtGapReq }
 RawCHS=16383/16/63, TrkSize=0, SectSize=0, ECCbytes=50
 BuffType=unknown, BuffSize=32767kB, MaxMultSect=16, MultSect=?0?
 CurCHS=16383/16/63, CurSects=16514064, LBA=yes, LBAsects=1953525168
 IORDY=on/off, tPIO={min:120,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120}
 PIO modes:  pio0 pio3 pio4
 DMA modes:  mdma0 mdma1 mdma2
 UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 *udma2 udma3 udma4 udma5 udma6
 AdvancedPM=no WriteCache=enabled
 Drive conforms to: Unspecified:  ATA/ATAPI-1,2,3,4,5,6,7

 * signifies the current active mode

david@thebone:~$ sudo hdparm -tT /dev/sdd

/dev/sdd:
 Timing cached reads:   344 MB in  2.01 seconds = 171.32 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads:   16 MB in  3.00 seconds =   5.33 MB/sec

david@thebone:~$ sudo sdparm -i /dev/sdd
    /dev/sdd: ATA       WDC WD10EADS-65M  01.0
Device identification VPD page:
  Addressed logical unit:
    designator type: vendor specific [0x0],  code set: ASCII
 00     20 20 20 20 20 57 44 2d  57 43 41 56 35 33 30 39         WD-WCAV5309
 10     34 31 37 36                                         4176
    designator type: T10 vendor identification,  code set: ASCII
      vendor id: ATA
      vendor specific: WDC WD10EADS-65M2B0                          WD-WCAV53094176

[davidshere]

I just tried the drive in a Dell Dimension E521, and did not use the PCI controller card, because the motherboard has an onboard SATA controller. I experienced no errors. I then tried the drive in the same computer using the PCI controller card, and the errors came back.

So it's either the card, or this particular card/drive combination. I previously tried a Seagate ST380819AS SATA drive with this card, and did not experience the errors. (As I mentioned in #6 of my original post).

The speeds are much better:

david@bone-test:~$ sudo hdparm -tT /dev/sdb

/dev/sdb:
 Timing cached reads:   1516 MB in  2.00 seconds = 757.52 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads:  302 MB in  3.03 seconds =  99.81 MB/sec
david@bone-test:~$ sudo hdparm -i /dev/sdb

/dev/sdb:

 Model=WDC WD10EADS-65M2B0                     , FwRev=01.00A01, SerialNo=     W                                                    D-WCAV53094176
 Config={ HardSect NotMFM HdSw>15uSec SpinMotCtl Fixed DTR>5Mbs FmtGapReq }
 RawCHS=16383/16/63, TrkSize=0, SectSize=0, ECCbytes=50
 BuffType=unknown, BuffSize=32767kB, MaxMultSect=16, MultSect=?0?
 CurCHS=16383/16/63, CurSects=16514064, LBA=yes, LBAsects=1953525168
 IORDY=on/off, tPIO={min:120,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120}
 PIO modes:  pio0 pio3 pio4
 DMA modes:  mdma0 mdma1 mdma2
 UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 udma5 *udma6
 AdvancedPM=no WriteCache=enabled
 Drive conforms to: Unspecified:  ATA/ATAPI-1,2,3,4,5,6,7

 * signifies the current active mode

david@bone-test:/etc/apt$ sudo sdparm -i /dev/sdb
    /dev/sdb: ATA       WDC WD10EADS-65M  01.0
Device identification VPD page:
  Addressed logical unit:
    designator type: vendor specific [0x0],  code set: ASCII
 00     20 20 20 20 20 57 44 2d  57 43 41 56 35 33 30 39         WD-WCAV5309
 10     34 31 37 36                                         4176
    designator type: T10 vendor identification,  code set: ASCII
      vendor id: ATA
      vendor specific: WDC WD10EADS-65M2B0                          WD-WCAV53094                                                    176

My eventual solution to this problem is going to be to buy a new barebones system, since I think the problem here basically boils down to "new hard drive on old motherboard". I did want to test the drive on a new(ish) motherboard first, because my big fear was that I would spend the money on a new machine and this problem wouldn't go away. Right now I feel pretty confident that that won't happen.