[mythtv-users] Enable DMA

[Bill Williamson]

On 3/23/07, Mitch Gore <mitchell.gore at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am trying to enable DMA on my HD Myth box to increase performance.  It
> works fine not but I have read so much about how DMA increases performance
> so i figured I would give it a shot...
>
> Here is my system config
> Chipset - SiS
> Western Digital HDD 500GB SATA
>
> Heres some term output...
>
> [root at Mitchell_mc myth]# /sbin/hdparm /dev/sda
>
> /dev/sda:
>  IO_support   =  0 (default 16-bit)
>  readonly     =  0 (off)
>  readahead    = 256 (on)
>  geometry     = 60801/255/63, sectors = 976773168, start = 0
> (I take it that DMA is not ON)
>
> Trying to enable it....
> [root at Mitchell_mc myth]# echo "/sbin/hdparm -d1 /dev/hda" >>
> /etc/rc.d/rc.local
>
> Still not working...
> [root at Mitchell_mc myth]# /sbin/hdparm /dev/sda
>
> /dev/sda:
>  IO_support   =  0 (default 16-bit)
>  readonly     =  0 (off)
>  readahead    = 256 (on)
>  geometry     = 60801/255/63, sectors = 976773168, start = 0
>
> Thinking maybe i need to reboot for it to take effect but it gives me the
> same thing.
>
> Trying to get more info on if my drive does DMA...
> [root at Mitchell_mc myth]# /sbin/hdparm -I /dev/sda
>
> /dev/sda:
>
> ATA device, with non-removable media
>         Model Number:       WDC WD5000KS-60MNB0
>
>         Serial Number:      WD-WCANXXXXXXXX
>         Firmware Revision:  08.02E08
> Standards:
>         Supported: 7 6 5 4
>         Likely used: 7
> Configuration:
>         Logical         max     current
>         cylinders       16383   16383
>         heads           16      16
>         sectors/track   63      63
>         --
>         CHS current addressable sectors:   16514064
>         LBA    user addressable sectors:  268435455
>         LBA48  user addressable sectors:  976773168
>         device size with M = 1024*1024:      476940 MBytes
>         device size with M = 1000*1000:      500107 MBytes (500 GB)
> Capabilities:
>         LBA, IORDY(can be disabled)
>         Queue depth: 32
>         Standby timer values: spec'd by Standard, with device specific
> minimum
>         R/W multiple sector transfer: Max = 16  Current = 16
>         DMA: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 *udma5
>              Cycle time: min=120ns recommended=120ns
>         PIO: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
>              Cycle time: no flow control=120ns  IORDY flow control=120ns
> Commands/features:
>         Enabled Supported:
>            *    SMART feature set
>            *    Power Management feature set
>            *    Write cache
>            *    Look-ahead
>            *    WRITE_BUFFER command
>            *    READ_BUFFER command
>            *    NOP cmd
>            *    DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
>                 Power-Up In Standby feature set
>            *    SET_FEATURES required to spinup after power up
>            *    48-bit Address feature set
>            *    Device Configuration Overlay feature set
>            *    Mandatory FLUSH_CACHE
>            *    FLUSH_CACHE_EXT
>            *    SMART error logging
>            *    SMART self-test
>            *    General Purpose Logging feature set
>            *    WRITE_{DMA|MULTIPLE}_FUA_EXT
>            *    SATA-I signaling speed ( 1.5Gb/s)
>            *    SATA-II signaling speed (3.0Gb/s)
>            *    Native Command Queueing (NCQ)
>            *    Phy event counters
>                 DMA Setup Auto-Activate optimization
>                 Device-initiated interface power management
>            *    Software settings preservation
> Security:
>         Master password revision code = XXXX4
>         146min for SECURITY ERASE UNIT.
> Checksum: correct
> [root at Mitchell_mc myth]#
>
> From what i can tell it does.  So what am i doing wrong?
>
> Thanks,
> Mitchell
>
>
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>


Someone may correct me, but I don't believe you can turn it OFF for a
SATA drive, hence it not listing it in the options.  Notice that you
access SATA drives through the SCSI nomenclature.