Failed to enable DMA after upgrade to a DVD writer

Hi,

I have upgraded from an LG Cdrom player to a philips dvd dual-layer writer.
Boot time shows that Direct Memory Access not enabled on hdb (the writer).
I tried hdparm but it says (as root) that command is not found.
I am at a loss now.
I have sarge on a 2.6.8-2 kernel, from netinstall.

What is strange is this 'command not found'. Is there another command
tp enable DMA ?

Thanks in advance.

Maybe you haven't yet installed hdparm?

Originally posted by samael26 Hi, I have upgraded from an LG Cdrom player to a philips dvd dual-layer writer. Boot time shows that Direct Memory Access not enabled on hdb (the writer). I tried hdparm but it says (as root) that command is not found. I am at a loss now. I have sarge on a 2.6.8-2 kernel, from netinstall. What is strange is this 'command not found'. Is there another command tp enable DMA ? Thanks in advance.

First apt-get install hdparm then once installed edit the file /etc/hdparm.conf and put this at the bottom of the file.

}
/dev/hdb {
        dma = on
}

Now on boot it will activate the DMA on the drive and you will not have to worry about it again. If you wish to save a reboot to activate it then use hdparm -d1 /dev/hdb

Thanks Stephen,

Worked like a charm. I didn't have it installed, that's all. Sure it was installed, though.
I begin to get old..

cheers