DMA randomly shuts itself off

RemusX2 · 03-15-2007, 02:51 PM

I have two optical drives installed, one CD-Rom and one DVD-Rom.
The CD drive is /dev/hda/ while the DVD drive is /dev/hdb/. I have had the ongoing problem of DMA turning itself off randomly for the DVD drive. I am have not a clue how to fix this, and it's not too big of a deal as I can just turn it back on through a terminal, but randomly it will be off when I burn a disc and it will bog down the system horribly while the media is being written.

Any ideas?

Thanks
Brandon

Lenard · 03-17-2007, 05:24 AM

Check for firmware updates for both the CD and DVD devices, also check for a system BIOS upgrade from the manufacturer also and install as needed.

GrapefruiTgirl · 03-17-2007, 10:22 AM

Meanwhile you could make a little tiny script and put it in the hourly cron folder, or even in another more frequent cron folder, like half-hourly, and simply have it apply the hdparm setting to the drive which turns DMA on.
Check 'man hdparm' for details.