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Old 02-09-2006, 11:49 PM   #1
kyletriggs
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Registered: Feb 2006
Distribution: Fedora Core 6
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Extremely poor SATA performance (Inappropriate ioctl for device)


I recently built a new Fedora box using Fedora Core 4 with kernel version 2.6.11-1.1369_FC4. The current setup is listed in my sig below. I first installed Fedora using the onboard SATA VIA VT6420 chipset and I received the exact same error messages listed below while using the silicon 3112 card. The performance for these sata drives is pretty low considering my IDE drives in my FC3 box run way quicker. when running hdparm -tT, this is what I get:

[root@haze ~]# /sbin/hdparm -tT /dev/sda

/dev/sda:
Timing cached reads: 1364 MB in 2.00 seconds = 681.08 MB/sec
HDIO_DRIVE_CMD(null) (wait for flush complete) failed: Inappropriate ioctl for device
Timing buffered disk reads: 66 MB in 3.32 seconds = 19.85 MB/sec
HDIO_DRIVE_CMD(null) (wait for flush complete) failed: Inappropriate ioctl for device
[root@haze ~]# /sbin/hdparm -tT /dev/sdb

/dev/sdb:
Timing cached reads: 1336 MB in 2.00 seconds = 667.10 MB/sec
HDIO_DRIVE_CMD(null) (wait for flush complete) failed: Inappropriate ioctl for device
Timing buffered disk reads: 72 MB in 3.04 seconds = 23.65 MB/sec
HDIO_DRIVE_CMD(null) (wait for flush complete) failed: Inappropriate ioctl for device

I'm currently running the drives with the Silicon controller card and both sata_via and sata_sil are listed as host adapters in the modprobe.conf. Is there anything I can do to make these drives perform at there suggested speeds? Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
Old 02-10-2006, 10:24 PM   #2
HappyTux
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I would say upgrade to the most recent version of the kernel available for your distro or build your own from the kernel.org sometimes these things can be solved by a newer driver.
 
Old 02-13-2006, 03:50 PM   #3
kyletriggs
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Ok, so I did an update via yum and got all the updates including the new kernel. I'm currently running 2.6.15-1.1831_FC4 and I no longer get the error message. I am just curious if my drives are running at the correct speed...below is what it shows.

[root@haze ~]# /sbin/hdparm -tT /dev/sda

/dev/sda:
Timing cached reads: 1404 MB in 2.00 seconds = 700.56 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 168 MB in 3.02 seconds = 55.70 MB/sec

/dev/sdb:
Timing cached reads: 1368 MB in 2.00 seconds = 683.96 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 174 MB in 3.01 seconds = 57.77 MB/sec

I did notice the speed changing a bit on sdb. It was 42.38 mb/s instead of the 57.77 above.

Thanks again!
 
Old 02-13-2006, 04:33 PM   #4
HappyTux
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Your doing good I get low to mid 50s on my SATA drive the error/warning disappeared because the newer kernel supports the hdparm command better on SATA drives.
 
Old 02-13-2006, 10:16 PM   #5
kyletriggs
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Thanks so much HappyTux. I'm sure I could have figured out that I needed to update it, but I'm a noobie to linux and you helped me...thanks again!
 
Old 02-13-2006, 10:46 PM   #6
KimVette
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Location: Lee, NH
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wow that's a heck of a lot better than I get from my root drive:

Code:
kimp4:/home/kim # hdparm -tT /dev/hda

/dev/hda: (root on ICH5)
 Timing cached reads:   3472 MB in  2.00 seconds = 1735.89 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads:   24 MB in  3.08 seconds =   7.80 MB/sec
kimp4:/home/kim # hdparm -tT /dev/hdb

/dev/hdb: (root on ICH5)
 Timing cached reads:   3476 MB in  2.00 seconds = 1737.89 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads:   48 MB in  3.06 seconds =  15.71 MB/sec
kimp4:/home/kim # hdparm -tT /dev/hde

/dev/hde: (/mnt/bigDisk2 on Promise controller)
 Timing cached reads:   3452 MB in  2.00 seconds = 1725.89 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads:  200 MB in  3.00 seconds =  66.66 MB/sec
kimp4:/home/kim # hdparm -tT /dev/hdg

/dev/hdg: (/mnt/bigDisk2 on Promise controller)
 Timing cached reads:   3524 MB in  2.00 seconds = 1761.89 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads:  186 MB in  3.00 seconds =  61.91 MB/sec
kimp4:/home/kim #
Conclusion? The IHC5 on-board controller stinks. I should move / to the promise controller.

Last edited by KimVette; 02-13-2006 at 10:48 PM.
 
Old 02-14-2006, 12:07 AM   #7
daihard
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kyletriggs
Thanks so much HappyTux. I'm sure I could have figured out that I needed to update it, but I'm a noobie to linux and you helped me...thanks again!
Yeah, your drives seem to be performing very well now. I used to get the same error message when running hdparm on my SATA drives, though I did not observe the kind of performance degradation you experienced. Just FYI, here's the output for my SATA drive:

/dev/sda:
Timing cached reads: 2484 MB in 2.00 seconds = 1241.92 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 186 MB in 3.01 seconds = 61.75 MB/sec

I don't think cached reads matter nearly as much as buffered disk reads, though I forgot the details...
 
Old 02-14-2006, 01:14 AM   #8
kyletriggs
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Registered: Feb 2006
Distribution: Fedora Core 6
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awesome. I really appreciate the input from everyone.
 
  


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