Re: Linux 2.6.24 sata_promise SATA300TX4 problems

[Peter Favrholdt <linux-ide@how.dk>]

Hi Mikael,

Thanks for your reply :-)

Mikael Pettersson wrote:
> Mysterious. What you have there is a transmission error between the
> controller and the disk, which is bad in and by itself, but then there's
> a sequence of COMRESETs that fail to bring the port or disk back to life.
> 
> The original error is not a driver error but something caused by your
> system, be it a dodgy cable, a poorly seated cable, or electrical
> interference. But the failed COMRESETs is a concern as I've seen them
> in other reports as well.

Maybe I should try switching cables (again). Or it could be a 
motherboard issue (NFORCE2)?

> Me worried ...
> 
> So going back to 2.6.21-rc2 makes the system stable again? Can you do some
> more testing to see at what point the system becomes less stable? I.e.,
> 2.6.21-rcI, 2.6.22, 2.6.22-rcJ, 2.6.23, or 2.6.24-rcJ?

I believe the important part is your 1.5Gbps patch which I applied to 
2.6.21-rc2. Maybe the reason for being stable is that the transmission 
error will not show up at that speed - thus not having anything to do 
with the kernel version. I'm quite sure the problem is there using 
2.6.21-rc2 at 3Gbps.

> FWIW, I just completed some testing of a 300 TX4 card with kernel 2.6.24,
> including dd:s, fscks, mkfs:s, and copying about 400GB of data from one drive
> (Samsung) to another (Seagate 7200.10) on that card, and I cannot seem to break it.

I believe it only happens if I stress all four drives simultanously. So 
maybe the transmission error is somehow related to the overall stress of 
the PCI bus/card/chip/whatever?

If it is not too much of a hassle, could you please make a 1.5Gbps patch 
for 2.6.24 for me to try out? If it solves the problem (without me ever 
touching the cables) we know for sure it is speed-related and not due to 
kernel version.

Still strange that the com resets does not help though (but maybe this 
is the drive which locks up?) :-/

Best regards,

Peter