Re: Promise SATA 300 TX4

Am 31.08.2007 um 21:20 schrieb Arno J. Klaassen:
> Hi,
>
> I changed motherboard :
>
>   -SMP-kernel iso UP
>   -bge netowork iso msk
>
>   -same disks
>   -same cables
>   -same card
>
>   - just one TX4 card (this is a Tyan with only 2 PCI-X slots
>     (and since at delivery I discovered that the on-board Adaptec
>      was missing ;((( I need one slot for a 29320 card))
>
> Quickly testing with a 3-disk graid3 scratch and things seem
> far better :
>
> I only get occasionaly :
>
>  ad16: FAILURE - out of memory in start
>  ad16: FAILURE - out of memory in start
>  ad14: FAILURE - out of memory in start
>  ad18: FAILURE - out of memory in start
>  ad18: FAILURE - out of memory in start
>  ad18: FAILURE - out of memory in start
>
> but for now they seem harmless.
>
> There is a PR talking about interaction between
> the BIOS and the [s]ata-driver being problematic (wrt PCI-settings)
> ( http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/query-pr.cgi?pr=103435 )
>
> And some kind of allocation seems problematic:
> on the former MB  pci_alloc_map() gave an error, now it is
> an occassionaly failing ata_alloc_request().
>
> Arno
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Hello,

I'm writing this message because I think that I am experiencing  
similar problems. I am running 200708-current but I had the same  
problems with 200706-current.

My hardware:
* Elitegroup K7S5A v3.1
* Duron 800
* 4x Maxtor DiamondMax 10 SATA
* Promise SATA 300 TX4
* 400W power supply
* and a Netgear gigabit NIC

I have the four Maxtor HDs plugged into the Promise TX4. When I boot  
the system that last 2 lines in dmesg say something like

Aug 30 00:22:58 ebichu kernel: subdisk4: detached
Aug 30 00:22:58 ebichu kernel: ad4: detached

but without any other error messages.

The disappearing HD is always a different one, so I don't think that  
the HDs have a problem. I also checked the HDs' S.M.A.R.T. status and  
all 4 have no errors. Sometimes two HDs disappear. It is possible to  
attach the HDs again by using "atacontrol detach ata4;atacontrol  
attach ata4" but as soon as I try to access data on the drive (for  
example mount it) it disappears again.

I have already changed mainboard, SATA controller (I tried a SiI3112  
and a SiI3124 based controller), the SATA cables and even the power  
supply. As far as the HDs are concerned, they seem to work fine when  
used in an external USB2 case.

I can send a complete dmesg if you want, but the system is currently  
turned off.

I believe that this might be an issue with the ata driver. If so,  
please tell me if I can be of assistance in finding the bug. I could  
try different releases, but I am afraid my time is pretty limited. :/

Thank you all,

- Mathias Müller