* Re: Warning - Maxtor SATA II and Nvidia nforce4
2006-03-15 22:47 ` Jeff Garzik
@ 2006-03-15 23:23 ` Dax Kelson
2006-03-16 6:30 ` Sander
1 sibling, 0 replies; 4+ messages in thread
From: Dax Kelson @ 2006-03-15 23:23 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Jeff Garzik; +Cc: linux-kernel, linux-ide@vger.kernel.org
On Wed, 2006-03-15 at 17:47 -0500, Jeff Garzik wrote:
> Ah, I see this made it to LKML :)
>
> Dax Kelson wrote:
> > Short version
> > ==============
> > Nvidia Nforce4 chipset with Maxtor SATA II drives with certain firmware
> > revisions cause data corruption and system instability when under
> > moderate to heavy I/O load.
>
> I'm a bit suspicious of this.
>
> Looking at the link, there are three problem areas and two problem blame
> targets implied:
>
> Data corruption -> blame nvidia driver
> NCQ -> blame nvidia driver
> Detection -> blame maxtor firmware
>
> The first one likely applies to the Windows driver not Linux's sata_nv,
> and thus irrelevant here.
No.
Take a big file (5-10gb)
$ cp bigfile newfile
$ cp bigfile newfile2
$ cp bigfile newfile3
$ cp bigfile newfile4
$ md5sum bigfile newfile*
[results are all different, assuming kernel doesn't panic during test]
When I use the "stress" utility from
http://weather.ou.edu/~apw/projects/stress/
The box usually makes it an an hour or two before a kernel panic or I/O
errors wedge the box.
I setup a netdump/netconsole server on my network and I have several
crashes captured. If you are interested I can send them on to you. I
filed most them under the Red Hat bugzilla, but closed them after I
discovered they were a hardware problem.
> The second one OBVIOUSLY applies only to
> Windows, since sata_nv (and libata itself) don't yet enable NCQ. The
> third one could potentially apply to Linux. Lastly, your mention of
> "nforce fake raid" almost certainly indicates Windows or proprietary
> drivers.
Linux device mapper is proprietary? :)
The corruption occurs with a single disk or when using a device mapper
"nvraid".
> Therefore, I ask:
> * are you reporting a only drive detection problem?
No. Detection was never a problem for me.
> * why are you reporting unrelated Windows problems to a Linux list?
I'm not, see above.
> * if you are indeed reporting a problem on Linux, where is the kernel
> and driver version info, as requested in REPORTING-BUGS?
Well, what can Linux do about this hardware problem? Maybe there is a
workaround that can be done, but I'm not counting on it. A warning would
be nice if it possible to detect the conditions where this can occur.
This way others can troubleshoot and identify this problem quicker.
I used mostly late model FC5 rawhide kernels which I believe are based
off of 2.6.16rc5-git12/git13 or therebouts.
> * and can you provide such info *and reproduce the problems* without
> proprietary drivers loaded?
Sorry for the misunderstanding. Again, no proprietary drivers ever
loaded. Problem is 100% reproducible. See above, etc.
Dax Kelson
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 4+ messages in thread
* Re: Warning - Maxtor SATA II and Nvidia nforce4
2006-03-15 22:47 ` Jeff Garzik
2006-03-15 23:23 ` Dax Kelson
@ 2006-03-16 6:30 ` Sander
1 sibling, 0 replies; 4+ messages in thread
From: Sander @ 2006-03-16 6:30 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Jeff Garzik; +Cc: Dax Kelson, linux-kernel, linux-ide@vger.kernel.org
Jeff Garzik wrote (ao):
> Ah, I see this made it to LKML :)
I'm not the OP. The Maxtor notice is a few months old already.
> Dax Kelson wrote:
> >Short version
> >==============
> >Nvidia Nforce4 chipset with Maxtor SATA II drives with certain firmware
> >revisions cause data corruption and system instability when under
> >moderate to heavy I/O load.
>
> I'm a bit suspicious of this.
>
> Looking at the link, there are three problem areas and two problem blame
> targets implied:
>
> Data corruption -> blame nvidia driver
> NCQ -> blame nvidia driver
> Detection -> blame maxtor firmware
>
> The first one likely applies to the Windows driver not Linux's sata_nv,
> and thus irrelevant here. The second one OBVIOUSLY applies only to
> Windows, since sata_nv (and libata itself) don't yet enable NCQ. The
> third one could potentially apply to Linux. Lastly, your mention of
> "nforce fake raid" almost certainly indicates Windows or proprietary
> drivers.
>
> Therefore, I ask:
> * are you reporting a only drive detection problem?
> * why are you reporting unrelated Windows problems to a Linux list?
> * if you are indeed reporting a problem on Linux, where is the kernel
> and driver version info, as requested in REPORTING-BUGS?
> * and can you provide such info *and reproduce the problems* without
> proprietary drivers loaded?
>
> Your email is just a list of highly general symptoms. Your link seems
> to indicate two NV driver bugs on Windows, and a Maxtor firmware upgrade
> for undescribed detection problems.
>
> My recommended action for users is:
> 1) Avoid Windows.
> 2) Don't panic.
Last december I requested new firmware for my drives. Maxtor called me
and asked if I did have any problems. I did not, but just wanted to fix
the problem before I would notice any.
The Maxtor guy then told me that harddisk firmware upgrades are best not
to be done if not needed, and asked what operating system I run (answer:
Linux). He said that the problems only exists with Windows, and that
Linux should be ok.
In fact, I have yet to see a problem with my sata Maxtor disks connected
to the onboard nForce4 controller. This supports Jeff Garziks story.
I do notice that the nForce4 controller most of the times fails to
detect some of the drives (seems random) on a reboot. A powerdown and
fresh boot lets the controller detect all disks again.
Sander
--
Humilis IT Services and Solutions
http://www.humilis.net
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 4+ messages in thread