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01.21.2008 at 03:08AM PST, ID: 23097883

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7.6

Linux AHCI/NCQ problem

Zones: Linux Administration, Computer Hard Drives, SuSE Linux

Tags: Novell, Opensuse, 10.3

Hi,

Im having problems activating NCQ on Asus P5B-MX , Seagate Barracuda ST3250410AS (250GB) with Opensuse 10.3 installed.
Before installation Ive set in BIOS Enhanced IDE configuration for S-ATA mode (from my understanding that enables advanced features like NCQ), installed the system no problem. After first boot Ive noticed ahci driver wasnt loaded, only ata_piix, so Ive edited /etc/sysconfig/kernel and added ahci before ata_piix driver, rebuilt initrd, edited modprobe.conf and replaced ata_piix occurrences with ahci.
Original line:
# ata_piix can't handle ICH6 in AHCI mode install ata_piix /sbin/modprobe ahci 2>&1 |:; /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install ata_piix

My line:
# ata_piix can't handle ICH6 in AHCI mode install ahci /sbin/modprobe ahci 2>&1 |:; /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install ahci

After reboot I saw ahci loaded under libata but after ata_piix libata | ata_piix, ahci

and actually used was ata_piix despite being loaded first. Ive then:
# dmesg|grep NCQ

And got a line back like:

ata3.00: ATA-7, 321672960 sectors: LBA48 NCQ (depth 0/32)

# echo 31 > /sys/block/sda/device/queue_depth

resulted in permission denied. (as I found on linux-ata FAQ) Further reading on linux-ata FAQ says:
If the line containing the sector count and maximum UDMA speed does not mention NCQ, your drive does not support it.
Im puzzled since I have UDMA showing on:
# dmesg|grep ata3

Which displays all disk info, and NCQ (depth 0/32) would mean NCQ is present but disabled.

From what I can see disk should support NCQ and I was informed by person who sold it to me that it was NCQ ready. (I specifically wanted NCQ disk).

I dont know if Im making a mistake somewhere or disk just doesnt support it. Im in for some help please!

P.S. Yes Ive rebooted ;)

--
Best regards,
Nick Zeljkovic

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Question Stats

Zone: OS

Question Asked By: jamation

Solution Provided By: Computer101

Participating Experts: 2

Solution Grade: A

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01.21.2008 at 06:44AM PST, ID: 20706347

RockChalk:

You stated:
Before installation Ive set in BIOS Enhanced IDE configuration for S-ATA mode (from my understanding that enables advanced features like NCQ).

This is not correct. Enhanced IDE mode is the legacy mode of the controller. It will be make the disk controller look like a regular old IDE controller, not an AHCI controller that will export all the great new functionality. I'm not as sure of the linux side of things as I haven't put together a linux box in a while, but on the Windows side the only real reason to pick the IDE mode of the controller is so you don't have to install 3rd party drivers (with WinXP, you have to do an F6 install if the chipset is set to either RAID or AHCI mode).

01.21.2008 at 07:14AM PST, ID: 20706539

jamation:

There is only standard and enhanced mode, with P-ATA, S-ATA + P-ATA and S-ATA mode. Standard mode has no additional options AFAIK, either nothing I've noticed that could mention advanced features.

01.21.2008 at 08:28AM PST, ID: 20707209

RockChalk:

jamation-

I was wrong-- I just looked up the manual for your motherboard, and it does look like your setting is correct. A number of other motherboards use the term "Enhanced IDE" for the legacy mode. The Intel chipset itself has three modes "Enhanced IDE, SATA, and RAID" The former being legacy mode, and the latter two being AHCI modes. (RAID mode is not supported on all chipsets).

Anyway, it looks like you need a linux guru to help, and that's not me. Good luck!

01.21.2008 at 08:44AM PST, ID: 20707360

jamation:

Thank you for looking it up, I appreciate it.

01.22.2008 at 01:42PM PST, ID: 20718692

jamation:

Greg Freemyer replied to my question on OpenSUSE mailing list, I'm pasting it here if anyone else encounters the problem!

Nick,

Linux'es implementation of NCQ had some fundamental problems that have been fixed in the soon to be released 2.6.24

Due to the bug, a bunch of drives got blacklisted. The majority of that blacklist has been removed from the 2.6.24 rc series.

I have not read about those patches having been released by Novell for the SUSE kernels. (A Novell employee found the problem and wrote the fix so I would hope his work will get into their kernel eventually.)

So, you can either wait for that to happen (if it happens), or you can move to a recent KOTD kernel.

FYI: I don't know how stable the KOTD kernels are right now. 2.6.24 has been very slow to get released, so I assume there must be some
regression(s) they are trying to resolve currently.

Greg

02.17.2008 at 11:32AM PST, ID: 20915141

Rank: Master

Cyclops3590:

No comment has been added to this question in more than 21 days, so it is now classified as abandoned.

I will leave the following recommendation for this question in the Cleanup topic area:
PAQ with points refunded

Any objections should be posted here in the next 4 days. After that time, the question will be closed.

Cyclops3590
EE Cleanup Volunteer

02.21.2008 at 03:55PM PST, ID: 20953317

Computer101:

PAQed with points refunded (500)

Computer101
Community Support Moderator

Accepted Solution

20080236-EE-VQP-29 / EE_QW_2_20070628