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Slack 11 Is In, Baby!


V.T. Eric Layton

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Hi EricFor hdparm . . do "swaret --install hdparm" ;)As for Udev . . no it will not make the boot faster at all . . . and personally I would prefer my Slackware without udev for as long as it is not absolutely needed. ;) ( but that might be personal because I have suffered to many bugs when udev was introduced . . it was a nightmare . . . . I do agree however that these days udev is causing less problems but it still gives me a headache thinking back how buggy it was ):thumbsup: BrunoPS: If the package is in the database: http://packages.slackware.it/search.php?v=...=1&q=hdparm you can install it using swaret B)

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V.T. Eric Layton

Well, I think I got it installed, but I can't figure out where it is. In Ubuntu, I seem to remember that it's in the /etc directory. You have to manually edit the hdparm.conf file. I can't find it in Slack, though. B)

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NOTE: Where it says " Be sure to add the above line (not the test line with -tT flags!) to your /etc/rc.d/* scripts once you're sure the system is stable" . . . the file to add that line in Salckware is the /etc/rc.d/rc.local ;)B) Bruno

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V.T. Eric Layton

Ahhh... EXCELLENT info! Thanks, Bruno! It's after 3AM here, so I'll have to wait till tomorrow to tweak this. I did a "$man hdparm" and got some basic info, but those pages you posted are much more informative. It doesn't look too complicated. G'night... B)

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V.T. Eric Layton

Hmm... well, here's what's going on now:This is how I'm currently set up...

multcount = 16 (on) IO_support = 3 (32-bit w/sync) unmaskirq = 1 (on) using_dma = 0 (off) keepsettings = 0 (off) readonly = 0 (off) readahead = 8 (on) geometry = 30401/255/63, sectors = 488395055, start = 0
This is what happens when I try to turn on DMA mode...
setting using_dma to 1 (on) HDIO_SET_DMA failed: Operation not permitted using_dma = 0 (off)
These are my current hdparm statistics...
Timing cached reads: 4760 MB in 2.00 seconds = 2380.00 MB/secTiming buffered disk reads: 14 MB in 3.00 seconds = 4.67 MB/sec
Buffered dist reads doubled from 2.3 MB/sec to 4.67 MB/sec. I suppose that's an improvement, huh? I'm using UDMA. Is that maybe the reason I can't turn on DMA mode? Everything seems stable enough. I entered that hdparm startup script in the file you mentioned above. It does initialize on reboot, so that's good.On a totally different topic... what's the best way to make Slack power down completely. I read your tip about "shutdown -h now". On my system, it functions fine. Slack unmounts and shuts everything down, but then it displays "Power Down". At which point, I have to manually kill my system with the power button on the box.Off I go...
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V.T. Eric Layton

You're not being boring... you're being patient with a student. I have that Tips page printed out and sitting in front of me. I've read it two or three times, but just now realized that I have to make an amendment to rc.modules to get it to work properly. I really should stop trying to tweak my Linux systems in the wee hours of the morning after I've been up all day. I miss a lot. ;)Thanks, Prof... I'll get in there and make that edit right now. B)

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LOL . . . yep the Slackware Tips 1 has 4 sections . . .so actually 4 tips for the price of 1 . . . . LOL . . . How's that for a discount ??? B) Take your time my friend . . .you will get it down in the end :DB) Bruno

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V.T. Eric Layton

OK... done. Now, from a learning perspective, what did I actually do? The modprobe command add/removes modules to the kernel, and APM is "Advanced Power Management", so what I did was have modprobe turn on the APM module for the kernel??? Is that about right?

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sloppyslacker
Buffered dist reads doubled from 2.3 MB/sec to 4.67 MB/sec. I suppose that's an improvement, huh?
I have no idea what I'm talking about, but that seems kinda slow. My current specs on an old P4 2.0 GHz system.
root@goober:~# hdparm -tT /dev/hda/dev/hda: Timing cached reads:   856 MB in  2.01 seconds = 425.87 MB/sec Timing buffered disk reads:  174 MB in  3.02 seconds =  57.62 MB/sec

Just seems your system should beat the pants off of mine in every way. 'Course, considering your cached reads, maybe you don't need the higher numbers for buffered reads? B)

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I thought it was a typo you made in the numbers you posted . . . . B) What happens if you take out the lines you added to the rc.local ?B) Bruno

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V.T. Eric Layton

Bruno, this is now...

Timing cached reads: 4916 MB in 2.00 seconds = 2458.00 MB/sec Timing buffered disk reads: 16 MB in 3.40 seconds = 4.71 MB/sec
Before the script it was 2.91 MB/sec. Here's what the settings look like currently...
multcount = 16 (on) IO_support = 3 (32-bit w/sync) unmaskirq = 1 (on) using_dma = 0 (off) keepsettings = 0 (off) readonly = 0 (off) readahead = 8 (on) geometry = 30401/255/63, sectors = 488395055, start = 0
I wanted to compare in Fedora, but I can't get hdparm to work. It says it's installed, but the terminal won't recognize the "hdparm" command. B)
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V.T. Eric Layton
How about if you do?
You mean in Fedora, Sloppy?Here's what hdparm looks like in Ubuntu:
vtel57@ericsbane03:~$ sudo hdparm -tT /dev/hda/dev/hda: Timing cached reads: 2304 MB in 2.00 seconds = 1151.93 MB/sec Timing buffered disk reads: 166 MB in 3.01 seconds = 55.11 MB/secvtel57@ericsbane03:~$ sudo hdparm /dev/hda/dev/hda: multcount = 0 (off) IO_support = 1 (32-bit) unmaskirq = 1 (on) using_dma = 1 (on) keepsettings = 0 (off) readonly = 0 (off) readahead = 256 (on) geometry = 30401/255/63, sectors = 488397168, start = 0vtel57@ericsbane03:~$ sudo hdparm -m16c3 /dev/hda/dev/hda: setting 32-bit IO_support flag to 3 setting multcount to 16 multcount = 16 (on) IO_support = 3 (32-bit w/sync)vtel57@ericsbane03:~$ sudo hdparm /dev/hda/dev/hda: multcount = 16 (on) IO_support = 3 (32-bit w/sync) unmaskirq = 1 (on) using_dma = 1 (on) keepsettings = 0 (off) readonly = 0 (off) readahead = 256 (on) geometry = 30401/255/63, sectors = 488397168, start = 0vtel57@ericsbane03:~$ sudo hdparm -tT /dev/hda/dev/hda: Timing cached reads: 2348 MB in 2.00 seconds = 1173.93 MB/sec Timing buffered disk reads: 172 MB in 3.01 seconds = 57.10 MB/sec
Seems a little speedier in Ubuntu than in Slack.Here are the drive specs from Ubuntu (hdparm -i /dev/hda):
vtel57@ericsbane03:~$ sudo hdparm -i /dev/hda/dev/hda: Model=WDC WD2500JB-00REA0, FwRev=20.00K20, SerialNo=WD-WMANK3280060 Config={ HardSect NotMFM HdSw>15uSec SpinMotCtl Fixed DTR>5Mbs FmtGapReq } RawCHS=16383/16/63, TrkSize=0, SectSize=0, ECCbytes=50 BuffType=unknown, BuffSize=8192kB, MaxMultSect=16, MultSect=16 CurCHS=16383/16/63, CurSects=16514064, LBA=yes, LBAsects=268435455 IORDY=on/off, tPIO={min:120,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120} PIO modes: pio0 pio3 pio4 DMA modes: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 *udma5 AdvancedPM=no WriteCache=enabled Drive conforms to: Unspecified: ATA/ATAPI-1 ATA/ATAPI-2 ATA/ATAPI-3 ATA/ATAPI-4 ATA/ATAPI-5 ATA/ATAPI-6 ATA/ATAPI-7 * signifies the current active mode
I'll reboot into Slack and check it there.
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V.T. Eric Layton

Here it is in Slack:

root@ericsbane03:/home/vtel57# hdparm -i /dev/hda/dev/hda: Model=WDC WD2500JB-00REA0, FwRev=20.00K20, SerialNo=WD-WMANK3280060 Config={ HardSect NotMFM HdSw>15uSec SpinMotCtl Fixed DTR>5Mbs FmtGapReq } RawCHS=16383/16/63, TrkSize=0, SectSize=0, ECCbytes=50 BuffType=unknown, BuffSize=8192kB, MaxMultSect=16, MultSect=16 CurCHS=16383/16/63, CurSects=16514064, LBA=yes, LBAsects=268435455 IORDY=on/off, tPIO={min:120,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120} PIO modes: pio0 pio3 pio4 DMA modes: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 *udma2 udma3 udma4 udma5 AdvancedPM=no WriteCache=enabled Drive conforms to: Unspecified: ATA/ATAPI-1 ATA/ATAPI-2 ATA/ATAPI-3 ATA/ATAPI-4 ATA/ATAPI-5 ATA/ATAPI-6 ATA/ATAPI-7 * signifies the current active mode
I think the difference is the UDMA mode. In Ubuntu it's mode 5; in Slack it's mode 2. Could that be the problem? How can I change modes in Slack?
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Indeed the only difference is the UDMA 2 and 5 . . . . . . I am researching it, will let you know.:P BrunoUPDATE: the command to set UDMA to 5 is: "# hdparm -X69 /dev/hda"Have a look here: http://axljab.homelinux.org/Hdparm ( Section: Xfer mode (PIO/SDMA/MDMA/UDMA) -X )A question out of curiosity: does Slackware as distro run slower then Ubuntu ? ( because if it does you do have a problem B) )

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V.T. Eric Layton

Thank you, as always, Bruno! I know compliments make you uncomfortable, but truthfully... you've made my Linux Adventure much less stressful than it could have been. Besides, think of it this way, I really can't afford to be stomping on my system again. B)~Eric

Indeed the only difference is the UDMA 2 and 5 . . . . . . I am researching it, will let you know.B) BrunoUPDATE: the command to set UDMA to 5 is: "# hdparm -X69 /dev/hda"Have a look here: http://axljab.homelinux.org/Hdparm ( Section: Xfer mode (PIO/SDMA/MDMA/UDMA) -X )
I'm in Ubuntu... rebooting into FC 6 to answer a question for Striker, then I'm off to Slack. I'll let you know what happens. Thanks! :)
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V.T. Eric Layton

Myeh... it's not noticeably slower under normal circumstances, but it does display a jerky mouse occasionally when I have numerous things going on.

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Myeh... it's not noticeably slower under normal circumstances, but it does display a jerky mouse occasionally when I have numerous things going on.
It should be noticeable faster . . . and that jerky mouse does not please me at all.B) Bruno
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You're not alone Eric and I didn't even touch any hdparm settings at all. It's the only distro which shows this behavior, for the rest it's quite fast.

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