really bad performance with ICH7 SATA controller

[Baeckham <baeckham@gmx.net>]

Hi,

on my laptop (noname; MSI hardware) system it seems that the SATA controller 
causes many trouble, at least it is running stable but the performance is 
bad. When copying data from a dvd to hard disk the system reacts really slow 
so it is almost not usable. I got up to 80% iowaits on top when simply 
copying data from dvd to hd.

I think it might be the IDE/SATA controller. I tried several configurations of 
my kernel (tried 2.6.19 to 2.6.20.1 now) but I was not able to improve the 
performance.

I have a notebook with this SATA controller:
00:1f.2 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) 
Serial ATA Storage Controller IDE [8086:27c4] (rev 02)

So this device seems not to be AHCI conform. I found in the web the mostly 
this controllers are named "Serial ATA Storage Controller AHCI".

Further I do have this optical drive:
# hdparm -I /dev/hdd

/dev/hdd:

ATAPI CD-ROM, with removable media
        Model Number:       TSSTcorpCD/DVDW SN-S082D
        Serial Number:
        Firmware Revision:  SS02
Standards:
        Likely used CD-ROM ATAPI-1
Configuration:
        DRQ response: 50us.
        Packet size: 12 bytes
Capabilities:
        LBA, IORDY(can be disabled)
        DMA: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 *udma2
             Cycle time: min=120ns recommended=120ns
        PIO: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
             Cycle time: no flow control=227ns  IORDY flow control=120ns
Commands/features:
        Enabled Supported:
HW reset results:
        CBLID- below Vih
        Device num = 0

Does someone know what is the best way to use this hardware - the best kernel 
config. Maybe some options do interfere.
My IDE/SATA config on my 2.6.20.1 kernel looks like this:
 #
# ATA/ATAPI/MFM/RLL support
#
CONFIG_IDE=y
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDE=y

#
# Please see Documentation/ide.txt for help/info on IDE drives
#
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDE_SATA is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_HD_IDE is not set
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEDISK=y
CONFIG_IDEDISK_MULTI_MODE=y
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDECS is not set
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDECD=y
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDETAPE is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEFLOPPY is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDESCSI is not set
# CONFIG_IDE_TASK_IOCTL is not set

#
# IDE chipset support/bugfixes
#
CONFIG_IDE_GENERIC=y
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_CMD640 is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEPNP is not set
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEPCI=y
CONFIG_IDEPCI_SHARE_IRQ=y
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_OFFBOARD is not set
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_GENERIC=y
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_OPTI621 is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_RZ1000 is not set
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEDMA_PCI=y
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEDMA_FORCED is not set
CONFIG_IDEDMA_PCI_AUTO=y
# CONFIG_IDEDMA_ONLYDISK is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_AEC62XX is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_ALI15X3 is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_AMD74XX is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_ATIIXP is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_CMD64X is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_TRIFLEX is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_CY82C693 is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_CS5520 is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_CS5530 is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_HPT34X is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_HPT366 is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_JMICRON is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SC1200 is not set
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_PIIX=y
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IT821X is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_NS87415 is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_PDC202XX_OLD is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_PDC202XX_NEW is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SVWKS is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SIIMAGE is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SIS5513 is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SLC90E66 is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_TRM290 is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_VIA82CXXX is not set
# CONFIG_IDE_ARM is not set
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEDMA=y
# CONFIG_IDEDMA_IVB is not set
CONFIG_IDEDMA_AUTO=y
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_HD is not set

#
# SCSI device support
#
# CONFIG_RAID_ATTRS is not set
CONFIG_SCSI=y
# CONFIG_SCSI_TGT is not set
CONFIG_SCSI_NETLINK=y
# CONFIG_SCSI_PROC_FS is not set

#
# SCSI support type (disk, tape, CD-ROM)
#
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SD=y
# CONFIG_CHR_DEV_ST is not set
# CONFIG_CHR_DEV_OSST is not set
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SR=y
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SR_VENDOR is not set
CONFIG_CHR_DEV_SG=y
# CONFIG_CHR_DEV_SCH is not set

#
# Some SCSI devices (e.g. CD jukebox) support multiple LUNs
#
# CONFIG_SCSI_MULTI_LUN is not set
CONFIG_SCSI_CONSTANTS=y
# CONFIG_SCSI_LOGGING is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_SCAN_ASYNC is not set

#
# SCSI Transports
#
CONFIG_SCSI_SPI_ATTRS=y
CONFIG_SCSI_FC_ATTRS=y
# CONFIG_SCSI_ISCSI_ATTRS is not set
CONFIG_SCSI_SAS_ATTRS=y
# CONFIG_SCSI_SAS_LIBSAS is not set

#
# SCSI low-level drivers
#
# CONFIG_ISCSI_TCP is not set
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_3W_XXXX_RAID is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_3W_9XXX is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_ACARD is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_AACRAID is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_AIC7XXX is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_AIC7XXX_OLD is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_AIC79XX is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_AIC94XX is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_ARCMSR is not set
# CONFIG_MEGARAID_NEWGEN is not set
# CONFIG_MEGARAID_LEGACY is not set
# CONFIG_MEGARAID_SAS is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_HPTIOP is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_BUSLOGIC is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_DMX3191D is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_EATA is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_FUTURE_DOMAIN is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_GDTH is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_IPS is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_INITIO is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_INIA100 is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_STEX is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_SYM53C8XX_2 is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_IPR is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_QLOGIC_1280 is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_QLA_FC is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_QLA_ISCSI is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_LPFC is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_DC395x is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_DC390T is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_DEBUG is not set
# CONFIG_SCSI_SRP is not set

#
# PCMCIA SCSI adapter support
#
# CONFIG_PCMCIA_FDOMAIN is not set
# CONFIG_PCMCIA_QLOGIC is not set
# CONFIG_PCMCIA_SYM53C500 is not set

#
# Serial ATA (prod) and Parallel ATA (experimental) drivers
#
CONFIG_ATA=y
# CONFIG_ATA_NONSTANDARD is not set
# CONFIG_SATA_AHCI is not set
# CONFIG_SATA_SVW is not set
CONFIG_ATA_PIIX=y
# CONFIG_SATA_MV is not set
# CONFIG_SATA_NV is not set
# CONFIG_PDC_ADMA is not set
# CONFIG_SATA_QSTOR is not set
# CONFIG_SATA_PROMISE is not set
# CONFIG_SATA_SX4 is not set
# CONFIG_SATA_SIL is not set
# CONFIG_SATA_SIL24 is not set
# CONFIG_SATA_SIS is not set
# CONFIG_SATA_ULI is not set
# CONFIG_SATA_VIA is not set
# CONFIG_SATA_VITESSE is not set
CONFIG_SATA_INTEL_COMBINED=y
# CONFIG_PATA_ALI is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_AMD is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_ARTOP is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_ATIIXP is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_CMD64X is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_CS5520 is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_CS5530 is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_CYPRESS is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_EFAR is not set
CONFIG_ATA_GENERIC=y
# CONFIG_PATA_HPT366 is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_HPT37X is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_HPT3X2N is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_HPT3X3 is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_IT821X is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_JMICRON is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_TRIFLEX is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_MARVELL is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_MPIIX is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_OLDPIIX is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_NETCELL is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_NS87410 is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_OPTI is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_OPTIDMA is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_PCMCIA is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_PDC_OLD is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_RADISYS is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_RZ1000 is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_SC1200 is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_SERVERWORKS is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_PDC2027X is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_SIL680 is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_SIS is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_VIA is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_WINBOND is not set

Some output from dmesg:
...
ide: Assuming 33MHz system bus speed for PIO modes; override with idebus=xx
ide0: I/O resource 0x1F0-0x1F7 not free.
ide0: ports already in use, skipping probe
Probing IDE interface ide1...
hdd: TSSTcorpCD/DVDW SN-S082D, ATAPI CD/DVD-ROM drive
ide1 at 0x170-0x177,0x376 on irq 15
hdd: ATAPI 24X DVD-ROM DVD-R-RAM CD-R/RW drive, 2048kB Cache
Uniform CD-ROM driver Revision: 3.20
ata_piix 0000:00:1f.2: version 2.00ac7
ata_piix 0000:00:1f.2: MAP [ P0 P2 IDE IDE ]
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:1f.2[B] -> GSI 19 (level, low) -> IRQ 19
ata: 0x170 IDE port busy
ata: conflict with ide1
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:1f.2 to 64
ata1: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0x1F0 ctl 0x3F6 bmdma 0xFFA0 irq 14
ata2: DUMMY
scsi0 : ata_piix
ata1.00: ATA-7, max UDMA/100, 234441648 sectors: LBA48 NCQ (depth 0/32)
ata1.00: ata1: dev 0 multi count 16
ata1.00: configured for UDMA/100
scsi1 : ata_piix
scsi 0:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ATA      FUJITSU MHV2120B 0000 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
SCSI device sda: 234441648 512-byte hdwr sectors (120034 MB)
sda: Write Protect is off
sda: Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
SCSI device sda: write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support 
DPO or FUA
SCSI device sda: 234441648 512-byte hdwr sectors (120034 MB)
sda: Write Protect is off
sda: Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
SCSI device sda: write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support 
DPO or FUA
 sda: sda1 sda2 sda3 sda4 < sda5 sda6 sda7 >
sd 0:0:0:0: Attached scsi disk sda
sd 0:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 0
...
ISO 9660 Extensions: RRIP_1991A
Losing some ticks... checking if CPU frequency changed.
warning: many lost ticks.
Your time source seems to be instable or some driver is hogging interupts
rip handle_IRQ_event+0x1a/0x53
hdd: drive_cmd: status=0x51 { DriveReady SeekComplete Error }
hdd: drive_cmd: error=0x04 { AbortedCommand }
ide: failed opcode was: 0xec


Thanks for any support
Steffen