IDE controller - HPT366. Bad disks performance

[Fluffy`]

I have a router that also has a 120 GB disk in it. The motherboard is a Abit BE6 with integreated HPT366 IDE controller. A little wierd thing with that machine is if i connect any disks to the motherboards normal IDE connections it won't start. It's like the powerbutton don't work. Becouse of that I have connected the disks to the HPT366 controller and the CD-rom to hda.

hda = cdrom
hde = system disk
hdg = 120 GB disk

Sometimes the machine can come up to 4 MB/s read and write thure the network to the disks, but that isn't often. Normal is max 2 MB/sek or spikes to around 4-5 MB/s that is around 1,5-2 MB/s. But... I can download 8 MB/s from the cdrom.

I did some little testing with hdparm:
disc0_args="-d1 -S180"
disc1_args="-d1 -S180"

/dev/hda:
Timing buffer-cache reads: 424 MB in 2.01 seconds = 210.95 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 4 MB in 3.44 seconds = 1.16 MB/sec

/dev/hde:
Timing buffer-cache reads: 416 MB in 2.01 seconds = 206.97 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 8 MB in 3.05 seconds = 2.62 MB/sec

/dev/hdg:
Timing buffer-cache reads: 412 MB in 1.99 seconds = 207.04 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 8 MB in 3.09 seconds = 2.59 MB/sec


Then:
disc0_args="-a8 -A1 -c1 -d1 -m16 -u1 -S180"
disc1_args="-a8 -A1 -c1 -d1 -m16 -u1 -S180"

/dev/hde:
Timing buffer-cache reads: 424 MB in 2.01 seconds = 210.95 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 14 MB in 3.45 seconds = 4.06 MB/sec

/dev/hdg:
Timing buffer-cache reads: 420 MB in 2.00 seconds = 210.00 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 14 MB in 3.48 seconds = 4.02 MB/sec


As you all can se the cdroms performance is very low but I download 8 MB/s from it. The disks performace got higher with thoes settings but it is still very low. With the 4 MB/s I now tried to upload a thing to the machine but it is spikes at 4 MB so it is about 2 MB/s. Transfering thru samba, ftp or scp dosn't change the speed.

The kernel the machine is running is 2.4.22 and the "driver" is baked in to the kernel.


What is the problem and how do I get decent performance?


PS: I tested to change back to the old hdparm settings ( disc0_args="-d1 -S180" ) but still the 4 MB spikes.

[reaver]

Hi, I have a Abit BP6 with the same HPT366 controller, my hdparm scores are somewhere is the twenties (mb/sec).
Did u ever update your bios?
I was having a lot of problems with this board when I first got it.
But due to the most excellent BP6.com, I got around.
If u haven't allready upgraded your bios you probably should.

[Fluffy`]

Some years ago I upgraded the BIOS. It change the look of HPT366 in boot. Can I check what BIOS-version is installed without rebooting the machine?