From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Jeff Garzik Subject: Re: Gigabyte i-Ram cards Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2006 18:29:38 -0500 Message-ID: <4421DDE2.60502@garzik.org> References: <441F63E6.2090204@garzik.org> <44214F92.1080901@eventmonitor.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Return-path: Received: from srv5.dvmed.net ([207.36.208.214]:45464 "EHLO mail.dvmed.net") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S932542AbWCVX3m (ORCPT ); Wed, 22 Mar 2006 18:29:42 -0500 In-Reply-To: <44214F92.1080901@eventmonitor.com> Sender: linux-ide-owner@vger.kernel.org List-Id: linux-ide@vger.kernel.org To: Bryan Fink Cc: linux-ide@vger.kernel.org Bryan Fink wrote: > Jeff Garzik wrote: > >> I'm impressed. I ordered one to help debug BZ#6163, but I think these >> cards will help expose bugs in libata due to their high speed. With >> these cards, we can push more data through libata than would normally >> be possible with a standard disk drive. > > > > Hi. I tried to respond on this topic about a week ago, but I haven't > seen my response show up on any of the mirrors, so I think it must have > not made it through. > > Anyway, I just wanted to add that I am also fiddling with the Gigabyte > i-Ram. I haven't tried modifying and recompiling the kernel yet, but I > did have some success another way: > > My desktop is a Dell Dimension 5150. In the BIOS, I can set the "SATA > Operation" to either "SATA" or "RAID". If I set it to RAID, linux will > see the i-RAM just fine (under Ubuntu 5.10 Live CD). It loads ahci, and > just takes off. If I have the setting on SATA, then linux does not load > ahci, and does not talk to the i-RAM. > > Of note is also the fact that Windows has no issue with talking to the > i-RAM when my system is in SATA-mode. > > So, I guess the question is, are Windows and my BIOS ignoring this > "invalid" feature query reply, or are the prodding the card in some way > other than how linux does, which makes the card respond properly? Your description seems to imply this is a BIOS+driver issue, not anything related to the gigabyte card. Intel ICH boards can be driven using either the ata_piix or the ahci driver, depending on BIOS mode. Most likely, when you switched to SATA mode in BIOS, it started programming the motherboard to boot in IDE-compatible mode (ata_piix) rather than SATA FIS mode (ahci). Jeff