Re: hdparm for lib_pata

From: Robert Hancock
Date: Tue Feb 06 2007 - 18:46:29 EST


Bill Davidsen wrote:
Support for that ioctl could likely be added, but these days I don't think there's much use for it. I can't see how anybody in their right mind would want to disable DMA on a modern drive, and if libata turns it off automatically then there's likely some serious hardware or driver problem that will end up biting you some other way if you force it back on.

I think deciding to turn off DMA which works fine in old kernels qualifies as a "serious driver problem," which is why it should be under user control.

Point is, if the DMA's not working such that the system decides to turn it off, it's obviously having some issues, and thus turning it back on without fixing the problem could cause problems or even cause data corruption.

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Robert Hancock Saskatoon, SK, Canada
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