Ahhh, that is the problem. You already have the fastest DMA mode enabled, however, you should be able to switch to udma with the command.

hdparm -d1 -X00 /dev/hda

which should automatically select the fastest UDMA setting the HD supports.

from the manual

'(usually defaults to the fastest speed the drive can handle and is safer than explicitly setting it to UDMA 33,66,100, etc)'

Again, and I have verifed this....

'There is one last thing. The moment you reboot, your drive settings will go back to the defaults.'

so, try the above command, then retest and hopefully you have a 3-4 times performance improvement.

You can verify that the udma3 level is set by re-running the -v command that gives the full output. The * indicates the current mode.

I also learned a lot and why I get 40+ Mbytes/sec !

RO

why is it not permitted?

root@darkstar:/home/h1tman# hdparm -c 1 -d 1 /dev/hda

/dev/hda:
setting 32-bit IO_support flag to 1
setting using_dma to 1 (on)
HDIO_SET_DMA failed: Operation not permitted
IO_support = 1 (32-bit)
using_dma = 0 (off)
root@darkstar:/home/h1tman#


hmm maybe i just didnt build dma in my kernel or maybe i just recomile zee kernel

What are the results of
hdparm -v -i /dev/hda

Does your hard drive show any dma modes available? I see that you are root, however, did you
su - root
and pick up all roots environment or did you
su
and keep all h1tman's environment?

RO

i did su root

heres the results you asked for bro

root@darkstar:/usr/src/linux# hdparm -v -i /dev/hda

/dev/hda:
multcount = 16 (on)
IO_support = 1 (32-bit)
unmaskirq = 0 (off)
using_dma = 0 (off)
keepsettings = 1 (on)
readonly = 0 (off)
readahead = 8 (on)
geometry = 4864/255/63, sectors = 78140160, start = 0

Model=IC25N040ATCS04-0, FwRev=CA4OA71A, SerialNo=CSL405DCLJM6PA
Config={ HardSect NotMFM HdSw>15uSec Fixed DTR>10Mbs }
RawCHS=16383/16/63, TrkSize=0, SectSize=0, ECCbytes=4
BuffType=DualPortCache, BuffSize=1768kB, MaxMultSect=16, MultSect=16
CurCHS=16383/16/63, CurSects=16514064, LBA=yes, LBAsects=78140160
IORDY=on/off, tPIO={min:240,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
AdvancedPM=yes: mode=0x80 (128) WriteCache=enabled
Drive conforms to: ATA/ATAPI-5 T13 1321D revision 3: 2 3 4 5

You already have max performance. udma5 is the fastest that your HD can run. For grins, what are the test numbers with

hdparm -t /dev/hda

I am guess that slackware has a little more smarts built in and tells you it ins't going to allow DMA on unless you turn UDMA off (or Redhat just ignores that weird setting?). I am by no means an expert on hdparm, but that is my guess.

RO

SuSE, Debian, Libranet, Alt will all run much faster on older machines. All run well, including X, on anything from a 486DX2 w/64MB edo ram or better. You can peak and tweak Red Hat until the cows come home(and may have to) to get close to acceptable performance. Even then, I believe the above distros will outperform Red Hat out of the box. None of the above are among my favorites(running Mandy9.1 on XP2300)but I have set them up for friends and neighbors and was quite impressed with their speed. Not promoting these distros to the detriment of Red Hat, but you might want to keep them in mind if you can't get Red Hat to where you want it.

root@darkstar:/home/h1tman# hdparm -t /dev/hda

/dev/hda:
Timing buffered disk reads: 64 MB in 21.29 seconds = 3.01 MB/sec

friggin sucks bro

h1tman, it sure does. Everything I have read indicates that this means that the kernel is not compiled with DMA support.

http://lists.debian.org/debian-user/.../msg00263.html

RO

yeah i seen that but having trouble finding it in my .config when i make menuconfig


is it

"Enable DMA only for disks"
?

cuz everything else saying DMA i say yes to

good hdparm article:

http://linux.oreillynet.com/pub/a/li...29/hdparm.html

I don't know. I have never compiled my kernel. I am wondering if
coolamit78 ever switched to udma though?

RO