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Re: Incredibly slow to boot - any ideas?



On Fri, 31 Mar, Brian Schrock wrote:
> > debianoak:/home/nbp# hdparm -tT /dev/hda
> >
> > /dev/hda:
> >  Timing cached reads:   1192 MB in  2.00 seconds = 595.20 MB/sec
> >  Timing buffered disk reads:    6 MB in  3.24 seconds =   1.85 MB/sec
> > **
> >
> > That looks reasonable to me - very fast from the cache and a lot slower
> > when it has to be buffered (on the hard drive, presumably). But, what do I
> > know!?
> >
> 
> That is not even close to reasonable. I have never seen buffered reads THAT 
> bad.
> 
>  Timing cached reads:   1316 MB in  2.09 seconds = 629.02 MB/sec
>  Timing buffered disk reads:  158 MB in  3.02 seconds =  52.25 MB/sec
> 
> That is what I get when I run it on an HP d325.
> 
> Do this too if you want some more information on your drives.
> 
> hdparm -I /dev/hda
> 

Thanks, Brian for the reality check! I did what you suggested and the info below returned instantly.
*******
debianoak:/home/nbp# hdparm -I /dev/hda

/dev/hda:

ATA device, with non-removable media
        Model Number:       Maxtor 2F040L0
        Serial Number:      F1AS6MYE
        Firmware Revision:  VAM51JJ0
Standards:
        Supported: 7 6 5 4
        Likely used: 7
Configuration:
        Logical         max     current
        cylinders       16383   16383
        heads           16      16
        sectors/track   63      63
        --
        CHS current addressable sectors:   16514064
        LBA    user addressable sectors:   80293248
        device size with M = 1024*1024:       39205 MBytes
        device size with M = 1000*1000:       41110 MBytes (41 GB)
Capabilities:
        LBA, IORDY(can be disabled)
        Queue depth: 1
        Standby timer values: spec'd by Standard, no device specific minimum
        R/W multiple sector transfer: Max = 16  Current = 0
        Advanced power management level: unknown setting (0x0000)
        Recommended acoustic management value: 192, current value: 0
        DMA: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 udma5 *udma6
             Cycle time: min=120ns recommended=120ns
        PIO: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
             Cycle time: no flow control=120ns  IORDY flow control=120ns
Commands/features:
        Enabled Supported:
           *    NOP cmd
           *    READ BUFFER cmd
           *    WRITE BUFFER cmd
           *    Host Protected Area feature set
           *    Look-ahead
           *    Write cache
           *    Power Management feature set
                Security Mode feature set
           *    SMART feature set
           *    FLUSH CACHE EXT command
           *    Mandatory FLUSH CACHE command
           *    Device Configuration Overlay feature set
                Automatic Acoustic Management feature set
                SET MAX security extension
                Advanced Power Management feature set
           *    DOWNLOAD MICROCODE cmd
           *    SMART self-test
           *    SMART error logging
Security:
        Master password revision code = 65534
                supported
        not     enabled
        not     locked
        not     frozen
        not     expired: security count
        not     supported: enhanced erase
HW reset results:
        CBLID- above Vih
        Device num = 0 determined by the jumper
Checksum: correct
*******

I repeated 
# hdparm -tT /dev/hda
and the info came back (substantially as before) with 2 to 3 second delays after the command, after the name of the drive was returned and after the result for each timing. I think that very low value for timing buffered disk reads is a symptom of my problem with gconf.

I'm having to knock off now for a few hours, but http://www.gnome.org/projects/gconf has given me some useful troubleshooting tips.

Having said that, is there anything in what 'hdparm -I /dev/hda/' has returned that should cause concern?

Yours,
Nigel
-- 
Nigel Pauli
Network Manager
St. John's School, Northwood







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