Re: PROBLEM: Silicon Image 3112 Lockups

[Tejun Heo <htejun@gmail.com>]

Jeremy Smith wrote:
> 
> On Wed, 7 Sep 2005, Tejun Heo wrote:
> 
>> Tejun Heo wrote:
>>
>>> Jeff Garzik wrote:
>>>
>>>> Tejun Heo wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>  In the following mail, I've attached a patch which might alleviate 
>>>>> errors during writes (as Alexander was reporting CRC errors with 
>>>>> write commands), but it won't do any good if you're getting errors 
>>>>> during reading.
>>>>>
>>>>> http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-ide&m=112602112819183&w=2
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Note that I would put BIG CAPITAL LETTER WARNINGS on that patch, 
>>>> since it messes with the voltage.
>>>>
>>>
>>>  Alexander & Jeremy.
>>>
>>>  It's as Jeff said.
>>>
>>>  TRY THE PATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK.  IT MIGHT FRY PHY OF YOUR DRIVE. 
>>> (enough capitals?)
>>>
>>>  Even if you're brave enough to try, DO NOT GO OVER 600mV.  600mV is 
>>> at least inside specified limits.  Also, it won't change anything 
>>> regarding read errors.  All it does is increasing voltage swing while 
>>> transmitting data (writes).
>>
>>
>> Oh.. it might affect writes if errors are occurring due to CRC errors 
>> during command trasmit.  If you're getting ABRT errors instead of 
>> ICRC's, it might indicate that commands are being mistransferred 
>> (again, I'm not sure at all).
>>
>> -- 
>> tejun
>>
> 
> Did you mean reads here?  Because I think it's happening on reads as 
> well--it happens on an "e2fsck -b -n" on the drive when I'm booted off a 
> CDROM.  I'm willing to try it out if it could help, but if it's unlikely 
> too...

  Yes, I meant reads.  It would be great if somebody tries the patch 
out.  Maybe you and Alexander can coordinate and only one can take the 
risk. ;-p  If I had access to K8N-DL, I would have tested it myself, but 
sadly I don't.  I did test with my discerete sii3112 card and Samsung 
HD160JJ drive at 600mV and had no problem but this doesn't guarantee 
anything for you guys.

  I think it would be nice if Alexander or you can test it but I have to 
warn you again.

  YOU MAY FRY YOUR HARDWARE WITH THIS.

> I don't have any idea how these drivers work, but the ASUS K8N-DL also 
> has the nvidia SATA controller in it--which doesn't appear to work at 
> all, so I started by hooking up the drivers to the SI controller.  Can 
> the mere presence of this additional controller make a difference?

  I doubt that that would have anything to do with this.

> For what it's worth, I don't _think_ I was seeing similar lockups until 
> I updated the firmware on this board to the latest version (1004 from 
> 1003), but that could be a red herring because I also wasn't paying 
> attention to syslog.

  I don't know.  If some specific configurations are required for the 
controller, they are usually done by BIOS (either mainboard BIOS or 
per-controller BIOS), so BIOS update could affect the problem.  But 
these are still just wild speculations.  Maybe we should contact ASUS 
about this?

> I've tried changes to cabling...both drives experience the exact same 
> symptoms for me; it certainly could be hardware related, but it would be 
> on the board, for which I don't have a spare.
> 
> Is there any additional information I can provide?

  Well, I think two same reports for not-so-widespread mainboard 
indicate away from cabling problems.  And I cannot think of any more 
info which could be helpful yet.  I'll let you know if something comes up.

  Thanks & good luck.

-- 
tejun