Is this slow?

[jrsx13]

I think this is slower than it should be.. but it might just be because it is a few years old. Think this is the proper speed?

hdparm -Tt /dev/hda
/dev/hda:
Timing buffer-cache reads: 1724 MB in 2.00 seconds = 861.27 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 78 MB in 3.02 seconds = 25.79 MB/sec

This is a western digital on its own 80 pin cable/channel
Model Number: WDC WD400BB-00AUA1
DMA: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 *udma5


hdparm /dev/hda

/dev/hda:
multcount = 16 (on)
IO_support = 1 (32-bit)
unmaskirq = 1 (on)
using_dma = 1 (on)
keepsettings = 0 (off)
readonly = 0 (off)
readahead = 256 (on)
geometry = 65535/16/63, sectors = 78165360, start = 0


lspci
0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce2 AGP (different version?) (rev c1)
0000:00:00.1 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 0 (rev c1)
0000:00:00.2 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 4 (rev c1)
0000:00:00.3 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 3 (rev c1)
0000:00:00.4 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 2 (rev c1)
0000:00:00.5 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 5 (rev c1)
0000:00:01.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce2 ISA Bridge (rev a4)
0000:00:01.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation nForce2 SMBus (MCP) (rev a2)
0000:00:02.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation nForce2 USB Controller (rev a4)
0000:00:02.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation nForce2 USB Controller (rev a4)
0000:00:02.2 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation nForce2 USB Controller (rev a4)
0000:00:04.0 Ethernet controller: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Ethernet Controller (rev a1)
0000:00:06.0 Multimedia audio controller: nVidia Corporation nForce2 AC97 Audio Controler (MCP) (rev a1)
0000:00:08.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce2 External PCI Bridge (rev a3)
0000:00:09.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation nForce2 IDE (rev a2)
0000:00:1e.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce2 AGP (rev c1)
0000:01:09.0 Multimedia controller: Sigma Designs, Inc. REALmagic Hollywood Plus DVD Decoder (rev 02)
0000:01:0a.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Live! EMU10k1 (rev 04)
0000:01:0a.1 Input device controller: Creative Labs SB Live! MIDI/Game Port (rev 01)
0000:02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV31 [GeForce FX 5600] (rev a1)

[aetius]

localhost root # hdparm -Tt /dev/hda

/dev/hda:
Timing buffer-cache reads: 1472 MB in 2.00 seconds = 735.38 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 54 MB in 3.06 seconds = 17.66 MB/sec


This is my laptop's ATA-100 drive (Thinkpad A31, made in 2002, P4 1.6Ghz). You're fine if your machine is several years old.

If you're worried about speed or want more performance, you might try some of the hdparm optimizations in the install guide.

[Rainmaker]

dannie@Medusa dannie $ sudo /sbin/hdparm -tT /dev/md0

/dev/md0:
Timing buffer-cache reads: 1780 MB in 2.00 seconds = 889.25 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 182 MB in 3.01 seconds = 60.43 MB/sec

it's not dazingly fast, but as mentioned above, you're fine if your system is 2-3 years old. Although I must say, my system is quite simiair:

[jrsx13]

No just the hard drive is a few years old..... but it is a ata 100 disk... I think it is 7200 rpm... I thought it would be faster

[jrsx13]

Rainmaker, what ide driver are you using? Nvidia's or the AMD74XX in the kernel. I am using AMD74XX in the 2.6.8 kernel. It is also slower than the 2.4 kernel I was using a while back. Does it matter what filesystems you have on your computer for hdparm?

[kargig]

That 40Gb western digital is not really udma5, is it ?
Your readahead looks quite large to me...try setting it to 64 or 128...

[jrsx13]

at -a64 my hdparm -t /dev/hda jumps to 31.2 MB/sec... must have been what 2.4 kernel was set to.

at -a128 it is about the same at 31.41 MB/sec... so I leave it at that

hdparm -i /dev/hda indicates it supports udma5.

although
hdparm -Xudma5 /dev/hda && hdparm -t /dev/hda
gives 31.28
hdparm -Xudma4 /dev/hda && hdparm -t /dev/hda
gives 31.27
hdparm -Xudma3 /dev/hda && hdparm -t /dev/hda
gives 31.18
hdparm -Xudma2 /dev/hda && hdparm -t /dev/hda
gives 21.54


so we can see where it stops improving.

[jrsx13]

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=248&p_created=1017429038&p_sid=UG8kMamh&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MyZwX3NlYXJjaF90eXBlPXNlYXJjaF9mbmwmcF9wcm9kX2x2bDE9JnBfcHJvZF9sdmwyPSZwX2NhdF9sdmwxPSZwX3BhZ2U9MSZwX3NlYXJjaF90ZXh0PVdENDAwQkI*&p_li=

and

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=715&p_created=1037285785&p_sid=UG8kMamh&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MyZwX3NlYXJjaF90eXBlPXNlYXJjaF9mbmwmcF9wcm9kX2x2bDE9JnBfcHJvZF9sdmwyPSZwX2NhdF9sdmwxPSZwX3BhZ2U9MSZwX3NlYXJjaF90ZXh0PVdENDAwQkI*&p_li=

Do show that this drive supports ata100 and might the first might be interesting to western digital owners

[Rainmaker]

I'm using the AMD74XX driver. Notice that my disks are in a RAID0 array, which increases performance anyway.

2.6.8-r3 kernel.

I'm alsa using reiser4. Not sure if this has any influernce on hdparm though
_________________
If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.

[basse1989]

# hdparm -Tt /dev/hda

/dev/hda:
Timing cached reads: 1084 MB in 2.01 seconds = 540.19 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 138 MB in 3.02 seconds = 45.66 MB/sec

# cat /proc/ide/hda/model
WDC WD800BB-00CAA1

My computer is > 3 years old.
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emerge life

jabber: basse@jabberme.net

[TL_Amitola]

My System is pretty much brand new (except for the HDD which are appx 1 and 3 years old respectively)