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Re: SATA->IDE emulation on IBM P4 bogs down on HD writes

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"Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@invalid.es> writes:

> On 2016-05-20 01:23, Mike Spencer wrote:
>
>> This probably isn't a hardware matter per se but maybe a hardware
>> wizard here will have a solution.
>> 
>> IBM P4 desktop came with an IDE HD.  HD failed.  Mobo has two plugs
>> labeled "SATA IDE n" where n is "1" and "2".  Plugging a SATA drive
>> into one of those (suitable cable and power adapter) results in the
>> SATA drive being seen by Linux as hda. (?!) It works just fine in
>> every respect except one:
>> 
>> Large writes to the HD, e.g. cp bigfile-from-foo /dir/on/HD, runs as
>> expected for a few seconds, then the system bogs down.  X cursor gets
>> jerky, key strokes may take a minute to elicit visible response.
>> Copy proceeds at an acceptable speed but the box is unusable until the
>> copy is finished and sync'd.
> 
> This is typical on Linux. The write to file is cached in RAM while there
> is free RAM, then it slows down as the media is not capable of writing
> down that lot. And, as there is no more free RAM, the rest of the
> processes slow down considerably. The slowest the destination media is,
> and the fastest the originating media is, the worst the issue is. Ie, if
> the destination is on USB, issue is bad. If it is to a USB stick it is
> worst.

That doesn't appear to nail my problem.

I just finished a series of big copies -- 700M to 2G -- (a) from my HD
to and external IDE HD connected by USB adapter, (b) from another external
IDE HD to a USB stick and (c) from the USB stick to the first external HD.
None of these copies caused the problem.  The bogging down only occurs
during writes to the main SATA HD connected to the "SATA IDE" plug on
the mobo.

> There are some tweeks you can do if the copy uses "dd", telling it to
> not cache the write. Try "oflag=direct" or "nocache".

I'll think about that.

> Some machines and kernel combinations are worst than others.

I cinfess to an old kernel.  The IBM P4 has otherwise done everything
as expected.

> You can check the write speed of the disk with "hdparm -tT /dev/device".

Okay, another crevice to peer into.  I'll have a look, tnx.


-- 
Mike Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada

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SATA->IDE emulation on IBM P4 bogs down on HD writes Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2016-05-19 20:23 -0300
  Re: SATA->IDE emulation on IBM P4 bogs down on HD writes Bobbie Sellers <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com> - 2016-05-19 16:32 -0700
    Re: SATA->IDE emulation on IBM P4 bogs down on HD writes Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2016-05-20 12:28 -0300
      Re: SATA->IDE emulation on IBM P4 bogs down on HD writes Bobbie Sellers <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com> - 2016-05-20 09:10 -0700
  Re: SATA->IDE emulation on IBM P4 bogs down on HD writes Pascal Hambourg <boite-a-spam@plouf.fr.eu.org> - 2016-05-22 11:37 +0200
  Re: SATA->IDE emulation on IBM P4 bogs down on HD writes "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@invalid.es> - 2016-05-24 21:52 +0200
    Re: SATA->IDE emulation on IBM P4 bogs down on HD writes Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2016-05-28 04:07 -0300
      Re: SATA->IDE emulation on IBM P4 bogs down on HD writes Henrik Carlqvist <Henrik.Carlqvist@deadspam.com> - 2016-05-28 11:09 +0000
        Re: SATA->IDE emulation on IBM P4 bogs down on HD writes "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@invalid.es> - 2016-05-28 17:12 +0200
        Re: SATA->IDE emulation on IBM P4 bogs down on HD writes Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2016-05-29 01:50 -0300
          Re: SATA->IDE emulation on IBM P4 bogs down on HD writes ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) - 2016-05-29 11:41 -0500
        Re: SATA->IDE emulation on IBM P4 bogs down on HD writes Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2016-05-29 02:41 -0300
          Re: SATA->IDE emulation on IBM P4 bogs down on HD writes "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@invalid.es> - 2016-05-29 14:06 +0200
            Re: SATA->IDE emulation on IBM P4 bogs down on HD writes ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) - 2016-05-29 11:42 -0500
              Re: SATA->IDE emulation on IBM P4 bogs down on HD writes "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@invalid.es> - 2016-05-29 21:09 +0200
                Re: SATA->IDE emulation on IBM P4 bogs down on HD writes Aragorn <thorongil@telenet.be.invalid> - 2016-05-30 10:57 +0200
                Re: SATA->IDE emulation on IBM P4 bogs down on HD writes "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@invalid.es> - 2016-05-30 14:21 +0200
                Re: SATA->IDE emulation on IBM P4 bogs down on HD writes Aragorn <thorongil@telenet.be.invalid> - 2016-05-30 15:49 +0200

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