> Suse 10.2 - Sata Speed Slower Than Kubuntu/gentoo/windows

Hi.

I have a Asus MB with SATA controller, I use the SATA_SIL driver.

The strange thing is in SUSE 10.2 The Sata speed is about 1/2 that of Kubuntu/gentoo/windows.

Here is the hdparm -tT /dev/sda benchmark on Suse:-
----------------------------------------------------------------

suse:~ # hdparm -tT /dev/sda

/dev/sda:
Timing cached reads: 844 MB in 2.00 seconds = 421.08 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 136 MB in 3.02 seconds = 44.99 MB/sec


Here is the same test on gentoo (Kubuntu is the same as this) :-
----------------------------------------------------------------

/dev/sda:
Timing cached reads: 1944 MB in 2.00 seconds = 971.71 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 170 MB in 3.01 seconds = 56.48 MB/sec

Has anyone any ideas why this is so, Suse does seem on the whole slower that other Linux distro's perhaps this is why ?

Hi.

I have a Asus MB with SATA controller, I use the SATA_SIL driver.

The strange thing is in SUSE 10.2 The Sata speed is about 1/2 that of Kubuntu/gentoo/windows.

Here is the hdparm -tT /dev/sda benchmark on Suse:-
----------------------------------------------------------------

suse:~ # hdparm -tT /dev/sda

/dev/sda:
Timing cached reads: 844 MB in 2.00 seconds = 421.08 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 136 MB in 3.02 seconds = 44.99 MB/sec
Here is the same test on gentoo (Kubuntu is the same as this) :-
----------------------------------------------------------------

/dev/sda:
Timing cached reads: 1944 MB in 2.00 seconds = 971.71 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 170 MB in 3.01 seconds = 56.48 MB/sec

Has anyone any ideas why this is so, Suse does seem on the whole slower that other Linux distro's perhaps this is why ?
[/b]

You may not have the right driver.
Sil has many versions, check that you have the right one.

As root do: "hwinfo --storage-ctrl" This will also give the cmd for activating the controller.

Here's mine:
am2:/home/jim # hwinfo --storage-ctrl
01: None 00.0: 0102 Floppy disk controller
[Created at floppy.112]
Unique ID: rdCR.3wRL2_g4d2B
Hardware Class: storage
Model: "Floppy disk controller"
I/O Ports: 0x3f2-0x3f5 (rw)
DMA: 2
IRQ: 6 (4 events)
I/O Port: 0x3f7 (rw)
Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown

19: PCI 04.0: 0101 IDE interface
[Created at pci.286]
UDI: /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_10de_36e
Unique ID: 8otl.PXyHuaPpR9D
SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.0
SysFS BusID: 0000:00:04.0
Hardware Class: storage
Model: "EPoX MCP55 IDE"
Vendor: pci 0x10de "nVidia Corporation"
Device: pci 0x036e "MCP55 IDE"
SubVendor: pci 0x1695 "EPoX Computer Co., Ltd."
SubDevice: pci 0x1026
Revision: 0xa1
Driver: "AMD_IDE"
Driver Modules: "amd74xx"
I/O Ports: 0xf400-0xf40f (rw)
I/O Ports: 0x1f0-0x1f7 (rw)
I/O Port: 0x3f6 (rw)
IRQ: 14 (19421 events)
Module Alias: "pci:v000010DEd0000036Esv00001695sd00001026bc01sc0 1i8a"
Driver Info #0:
Driver Status: amd74xx is active
Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe amd74xx"
Driver Info #1:
Driver Status: pata_amd is not active
Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe pata_amd"
Driver Info #2:
Driver Status: sata_nv is active
Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe sata_nv"
Driver Info #3:
Driver Status: generic is not active
Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe generic"
Config Status: cfg=no, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown

20: PCI 05.0: 0104 RAID bus controller
[Created at pci.286]
UDI: /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_10de_37f
Unique ID: CvwD.95uObbeAv38
SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:05.0
SysFS BusID: 0000:00:05.0
Hardware Class: storage
Model: "EPoX MCP55 SATA Controller"
Vendor: pci 0x10de "nVidia Corporation"
Device: pci 0x037f "MCP55 SATA Controller"
SubVendor: pci 0x1695 "EPoX Computer Co., Ltd."
SubDevice: pci 0x1026
Revision: 0xa2
Driver: "sata_nv"
Driver Modules: "sata_nv"
I/O Ports: 0x9f0-0x9f7 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0xbf0-0xbf3 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0x970-0x977 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0xb70-0xb73 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0xe000-0xe00f (rw)
Memory Range: 0xfe02d000-0xfe02dfff (rw,non-prefetchable)
IRQ: 11 (82327 events)
Module Alias: "pci:v000010DEd0000037Fsv00001695sd00001026bc01sc0 4i85"
Driver Info #0:
Driver Status: sata_nv is active
Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe sata_nv"
Config Status: cfg=no, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown

21: PCI 05.1: 0104 RAID bus controller
[Created at pci.286]
UDI: /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_10de_37f_0
Unique ID: 4EQ3.95uObbeAv38
SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:05.1
SysFS BusID: 0000:00:05.1
Hardware Class: storage
Model: "EPoX MCP55 SATA Controller"
Vendor: pci 0x10de "nVidia Corporation"
Device: pci 0x037f "MCP55 SATA Controller"
SubVendor: pci 0x1695 "EPoX Computer Co., Ltd."
SubDevice: pci 0x1026
Revision: 0xa2
Driver: "sata_nv"
Driver Modules: "sata_nv"
I/O Ports: 0x9e0-0x9e7 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0xbe0-0xbe3 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0x960-0x967 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0xb60-0xb63 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0xcc00-0xcc0f (rw)
Memory Range: 0xfe02c000-0xfe02cfff (rw,non-prefetchable)
IRQ: 5 (22140 events)
Module Alias: "pci:v000010DEd0000037Fsv00001695sd00001026bc01sc0 4i85"
Driver Info #0:
Driver Status: sata_nv is active
Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe sata_nv"
Config Status: cfg=no, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown

22: PCI 05.2: 0104 RAID bus controller
[Created at pci.286]
UDI: /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_10de_37f_1
Unique ID: xYvu.95uObbeAv38
SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:05.2
SysFS BusID: 0000:00:05.2
Hardware Class: storage
Model: "EPoX MCP55 SATA Controller"
Vendor: pci 0x10de "nVidia Corporation"
Device: pci 0x037f "MCP55 SATA Controller"
SubVendor: pci 0x1695 "EPoX Computer Co., Ltd."
SubDevice: pci 0x1026
Revision: 0xa2
Driver: "sata_nv"
Driver Modules: "sata_nv"
I/O Ports: 0xc800-0xc807 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0xc400-0xc403 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0xc000-0xc007 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0xbc00-0xbc03 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0xb800-0xb80f (rw)
Memory Range: 0xfe02b000-0xfe02bfff (rw,non-prefetchable)
IRQ: 10 (85554 events)
Module Alias: "pci:v000010DEd0000037Fsv00001695sd00001026bc01sc0 4i85"
Driver Info #0:
Driver Status: sata_nv is active
Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe sata_nv"
Config Status: cfg=no, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
am2:/home/jim # exit


Do this in Kubuntu/gentoo/; is there a difference in the driver?

Now check on the internet for the driver you should have. If you need to change:
"rmmod existingdrivername"
install the newdriver
"modprobe newdrivername"

Run your tests again...

Hope this helps...

Thanks for the advice Snakedriver.

I have done what you said, the output from both systems is below.

The main difference seems to be

- Suse is not loading sata_nv and generic drivers
- On Kubuntu it says ' Config Status: cfg=new' instead of 'cfg=no'
- they have different PCI numbers (not sure if that is important at all)
.
.

Here is the Kubuntu output (correctly working sata)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
25: PCI 09.0: 0101 IDE interface
[Created at pci.281]
UDI: /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_10de_65
Unique ID: WL76.rwV8JTbQ6E2
SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:09.0
SysFS BusID: 0000:00:09.0
Hardware Class: storage
Model: "ASUSTeK nForce2 IDE"
Vendor: pci 0x10de "nVidia Corporation"
Device: pci 0x0065 "nForce2 IDE"
SubVendor: pci 0x1043 "ASUSTeK Computer Inc."
SubDevice: pci 0x0c11
Revision: 0xa2
Driver: "AMD_IDE"
Driver Modules: "amd74xx"
I/O Ports: 0xf000-0xf00f (rw)
I/O Ports: 0x170-0x177 (rw)
I/O Port: 0x376 (rw)
IRQ: 15 (2351 events)
Module Alias: "pci:v000010DEd00000065sv00001043sd00000C11bc01sc0 1i8a"
Driver Info #0:
Driver Status: amd74xx is active
Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe amd74xx"
Driver Info #1:
Driver Status: sata_nv is active
Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe sata_nv"
Driver Info #2:
Driver Status: generic is active
Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe generic"
Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown

29: PCI 10b.0: 0104 RAID bus controller
[Created at pci.281]
UDI: /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_1095_3112
Unique ID: LQQB.RFnPD3DuWg0
Parent ID: RE4e.f9Q95vpHUcA
SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.0/0000:01:0b.0
SysFS BusID: 0000:01:0b.0
Hardware Class: storage
Model: "Silicon Image SiI 3112 SATARaid Controller"
Vendor: pci 0x1095 "Silicon Image, Inc."
Device: pci 0x3112 "SiI 3112 [SATALink/SATARaid] Serial ATA Controller"
SubVendor: pci 0x1095 "Silicon Image, Inc."
SubDevice: pci 0x6112 "SiI 3112 SATARaid Controller"
Revision: 0x02
Driver: "sata_sil"
Driver Modules: "sata_sil"
I/O Ports: 0xa400-0xa407 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0xa800-0xa803 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0xac00-0xac07 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0xb000-0xb003 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0xb400-0xb40f (rw)
Memory Range: 0xdc004000-0xdc0041ff (rw,non-prefetchable)
Memory Range: 0x40000000-0x4007ffff (ro,prefetchable,disabled)
IRQ: 177 (12894 events)
Module Alias: "pci:v00001095d00003112sv00001095sd00006112bc01sc0 4i00"
Driver Info #0:
Driver Status: sata_sil is active
Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe sata_sil"
Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
Attached to: #24 (PCI bridge)


Here is the Suse output
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
27: PCI 09.0: 0101 IDE interface
[Created at pci.286]
UDI: /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_10de_65
Unique ID: WL76.rwV8JTbQ6E2
SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:09.0
SysFS BusID: 0000:00:09.0
Hardware Class: storage
Model: "ASUSTeK nForce2 IDE"
Vendor: pci 0x10de "nVidia Corporation"
Device: pci 0x0065 "nForce2 IDE"
SubVendor: pci 0x1043 "ASUSTeK Computer Inc."
SubDevice: pci 0x0c11
Revision: 0xa2
Driver: "AMD_IDE"
Driver Modules: "amd74xx"
I/O Ports: 0xf000-0xf00f (rw)
I/O Ports: 0x170-0x177 (rw)
I/O Port: 0x376 (rw)
IRQ: 15 (392 events)
Module Alias: "pci:v000010DEd00000065sv00001043sd00000C11bc01sc0 1i8a"
Driver Info #0:
Driver Status: amd74xx is active
Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe amd74xx"
Driver Info #1:
Driver Status: pata_amd is not active
Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe pata_amd"
Driver Info #2:
Driver Status: sata_nv is not active
Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe sata_nv"
Driver Info #3:
Driver Status: generic is not active
Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe generic"
Config Status: cfg=no, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown

31: PCI 10b.0: 0104 RAID bus controller
[Created at pci.286]
UDI: /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_1095_3112
Unique ID: LQQB.RFnPD3DuWg0
Parent ID: RE4e.f9Q95vpHUcA
SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.0/0000:01:0b.0
SysFS BusID: 0000:01:0b.0
Hardware Class: storage
Model: "Silicon Image SiI 3112 SATARaid Controller"
Vendor: pci 0x1095 "Silicon Image, Inc."
Device: pci 0x3112 "SiI 3112 [SATALink/SATARaid] Serial ATA Controller"
SubVendor: pci 0x1095 "Silicon Image, Inc."
SubDevice: pci 0x6112 "SiI 3112 SATARaid Controller"
Revision: 0x02
Driver: "sata_sil"
Driver Modules: "sata_sil"
I/O Ports: 0xa400-0xa407 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0xa800-0xa803 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0xac00-0xac07 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0xb000-0xb003 (rw)
I/O Ports: 0xb400-0xb40f (rw)
Memory Range: 0xdc004000-0xdc0041ff (rw,non-prefetchable)
Memory Range: 0x40000000-0x4007ffff (ro,prefetchable,disabled)
IRQ: 177 (14453 events)
Module Alias: "pci:v00001095d00003112sv00001095sd00006112bc01sc0 4i00"
Driver Info #0:
Driver Status: sata_sil is active
Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe sata_sil"
Config Status: cfg=no, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
Attached to: #26 (PCI bridge)

.
.

Any ideas of how to get the drivers working in Suse ?

Thanks for the advice Snakedriver.

I have done what you said, the output from both systems is below.

The main difference seems to be

- Suse is not loading sata_nv and generic drivers
- On Kubuntu it says ' Config Status: cfg=new' instead of 'cfg=no'
- they have different PCI numbers (not sure if that is important at all)
.
Any ideas of how to get the drivers working in Suse ?
[/b]

Q- Suse is not loading sata_nv and generic drivers

A-Does SuSE have any reason to load the drivers ( Driver Status: sata_nv is not active)? I mean have you setup fstab such that SuSE would call the drivers in the 1st place? Did you config the install to use the sata-nv bus? If you want to look in that raid array say to copy/write files it needs to be in fstab config-ed with a mount point. Warning if it is an NTFS, don't do any writing!

Q- they have different PCI numbers (not sure if that is important at all)

A-I would not worry about that; it all has to do with the order that they are set up depending on the OS.

Q- On Kubuntu it says ' Config Status: cfg=new' instead of 'cfg=no'

A-
My only experience with sil2112 came with an old nforce2 mobo and an early version of suse that did not have the driver compiled into the kernel, so I can't be of much help. Then I had to get the driver from silicon image and load it using a floppy at install using that 3rd party driver @ install feature. I also did one by installing to ide pata, configuring the raid & then copying it over. I was just happy to get it working; didn't worry about speed.

As best as I can tell from here: http://www.siliconimage.com/support/suppor...amp;osid=1&, the sil2112 driver is now integral to the kernel as expected -not much to do there except to check your kernel .config and make sure everything needed is loaded.

This one: http://www.siliconimage.com/support/suppor...amp;osid=1& shows that there are some Sil SATARAID tools and a SATARAID Management Utility.
It would probably help if you read the documentation that came with those tools/utility.

Lastly, I recommend looking at the Kubuntu install and try to see how it has it config'd; transfer that config setup over to SuSE; it seems that the ' Config Status: cfg=new' instead of 'cfg=no' means that it rewrote the config for some reason.

Wish I could help more, but, this is a very old driver and there's not much to find searching what with all the new stuff that's out there now.

You may want to post on the openSuSE mailing list and see what some of the experts have to say @ http://en.opensuse.org/Mailing_Lists

You may also wish to investigate trying out a different kernel, like which one is Kubuntu using? "uname -a" in a terminal.

Get back if you find something...

Hi.

Just to confirm it is the SATA_SIL driver i am using on all 3 linux distros, just on Suse it is 1/2 the speed.

I originally thought it may be the version of kernel that suse comes with (2.6.18) which is different to kubuntu 2.6.17, as i test I compiled my own from kernel.org (2.6.19 with ck patch) on kubuntu using the kubuntu config, I then compiled again a kernel from kernel.org (2.6.19) on Suse using the exact same config as i used for kubutu.

So - both kubuntu and suse are using the same kernel (from www.kernel.org) with the same config -

- Suse is still showing the same speed as before, kubuntu is also showing the same (faster) speed.

Any ideas ?