[mythtv-users] SATA and DMA (SIIG 3112)

[Preston Crow]

On Fri, 2006-03-31 at 17:10 -0500, Calvin Harrigan wrote:
> Preston Crow wrote:
> 
> >On Fri, 2006-03-31 at 15:26 -0600, leland sindt wrote:
> >  
> >
> >> Two SD and one HD stream is a *lot*  of data, you may be hitting the real limit of the drive system.
> >>
> >>Yes, it is a lot of data... My orig plan was to use a SATA II controller 
> >>(but didn't know at the it required pci-e at the time) 
> >>
> >>Hmmm... Anybody got numbers/experience with Hardware/Software Raid 0? Did it result in increased bandwidth? 
> >>(Less likely with software, I know)
> >>    
> >>
> >
> >I don't think that's the problem.  I think it's the 3112 controller.
> >
> ># lspci | grep SATA
> >01:0b.0 RAID bus controller: Silicon Image, Inc. SiI 3112 [SATALink/SATARaid] Serial ATA Controller (rev 02)
> >
> >The 3112 controller is problematic, at least under Linux.  I'm not sure
> >what the technical details are; it's either doing something to the PCI
> >bus or issuing too many interrupts.  Anyway, I found that while hdparm
> >reported double the performance on my SATA drive compared to my PATA
> >drive, HDTV recordings on my SATA drive were full of errors, but
> >recordings on my PATA drive were perfect.
> >
> >This is true of every kernel I've tried, including the new 2.6.16.
> >
> >I now record only to the PATA drive.  (And I'm looking for a PCI SATA
> >controller with something other than the 3112 chip for a good price, as
> >I don't want to upgrade my motherboard for a while.)
> >
> >
> >  
> >
> I have that controller running under 2.6.12.5  (Gentoo)  Not a single 
> issue here.  Could it be implementation specific?

Certainly it could.  Mine is integrated on my motherboard, an Asus
A7N8X-E Deluxe, I think.