I had a really poorly partitioned FreeBSD slice, where I would always run out of space on /usr. Also, there are more pre-compiled desktop packages for Linux than there are for FreeBSD. I mean EclipseTrader and RSSOwl 2 mostly, but it’s also the BOINC server and BOINC project executables.
So, I decided to format the slice and try Debian again. Trying to find an unused CD or DVD was a pain.
After installing it, I immediately remembered the reason why I dumped Debian/Ubuntu in favor of FreeBSD in the first place: the nasty hard drive timeouts. But it’s not just timeouts: it’s the driver gradually reducing the mode from UDMA/133 to the lowest low of PIOs.
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: ata2: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0x1F0 ctl 0x3F6 bmdma 0xFFA0 irq 14
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: scsi1 : ata_piix
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: ATA: abnormal status 0x7F on port 0x1F7
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: ata3: PATA max UDMA/100 cmd 0x170 ctl 0x376 bmdma 0xFFA8 irq 15
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: scsi2 : ata_piix
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: ata3.00: ATA-6, max UDMA/100, 156301488 sectors: LBA48
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: ata3.00: ata3: dev 0 multi count 16
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: usb 5-6: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: usb 5-6: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: ata3.01: ATAPI, max UDMA/33
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: ata3.00: configured for UDMA/33
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: usb 4-2: USB disconnect, address 2
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: ata3.01: configured for UDMA/33
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: Vendor: ATA Model: HTS541080G9AT00 Rev: MB4O
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: Vendor: TSSTcorp Model: CD/DVDW SN-S082D Rev: SS03
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: Type: CD-ROM ANSI SCSI revision: 05
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:06:01.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
...
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 17:18:49 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
May 30 17:20:57 heaven kernel: ata3: port is slow to respond, please be patient
May 30 17:20:57 heaven kernel: ata3: soft resetting port
May 30 17:20:57 heaven kernel: ata3.00: configured for UDMA/33
May 30 17:20:57 heaven kernel: ata3.01: configured for UDMA/33
May 30 17:20:57 heaven kernel: ata3: EH complete
May 30 17:20:57 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 17:20:57 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 17:20:57 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
May 30 17:20:57 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 17:20:57 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 17:20:57 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
May 30 17:24:34 heaven kernel: ata3: port is slow to respond, please be patient
May 30 17:24:57 heaven kernel: ata3: soft resetting port
May 30 17:24:58 heaven kernel: ata3.00: configured for UDMA/33
May 30 17:24:58 heaven kernel: ata3.01: configured for UDMA/33
May 30 17:24:58 heaven kernel: ata3: EH complete
May 30 17:24:58 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 17:24:58 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 17:24:58 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
May 30 17:24:58 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 17:24:58 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 17:24:58 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
May 30 17:26:45 heaven kernel: ata3: port is slow to respond, please be patient
May 30 17:27:00 heaven kernel: usb 4-2: USB disconnect, address 3
May 30 17:27:08 heaven kernel: ata3: soft resetting port
May 30 17:27:08 heaven kernel: ata3.00: configured for UDMA/33
May 30 17:27:08 heaven kernel: ata3.01: configured for UDMA/33
May 30 17:27:08 heaven kernel: ata3: EH complete
May 30 17:27:08 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 17:27:08 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 17:27:08 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
May 30 17:27:09 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 17:27:09 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 17:27:09 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
May 30 17:28:45 heaven kernel: ata3.01: limiting speed to UDMA/25
May 30 17:28:45 heaven kernel: ata3: port is slow to respond, please be patient
May
30 17:28:45 heaven kernel: ata3: soft resetting port
May 30 17:28:45 heaven kernel: ata3.00: configured for UDMA/25
May 30 17:28:45 heaven kernel: ata3.01: configured for UDMA/25
May 30 17:28:45 heaven kernel: ata3: EH complete
May 30 17:28:45 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 17:28:45 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 17:28:45 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
May 30 17:28:45 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 17:28:45 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 17:28:45 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
May 30 17:30:56 heaven kernel: ata3.01: limiting speed to UDMA/16
May 30 17:31:27 heaven kernel: ata3: port is slow to respond, please be patient
May 30 17:31:27 heaven kernel: ata3: soft resetting port
May 30 17:31:27 heaven kernel: ata3.00: configured for UDMA/16
May 30 17:31:27 heaven kernel: ata3.01: configured for UDMA/16
May 30 17:31:27 heaven kernel: ata3: EH complete
May 30 17:31:27 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 17:31:27 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 17:31:27 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
May 30 17:31:27 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 17:31:27 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 17:31:27 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
May 30 17:32:13 heaven kernel: ata3.01: limiting speed to PIO4
May 30 17:32:44 heaven kernel: ata3: port is slow to respond, please be patient
May 30 17:32:44 heaven kernel: ata3: soft resetting port
May 30 17:32:44 heaven kernel: ata3.00: configured for PIO4
May 30 17:32:44 heaven kernel: ata3.01: configured for PIO4
May 30 17:32:44 heaven kernel: ata3: EH complete
May 30 17:32:44 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 17:32:44 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 17:32:44 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
May 30 17:32:44 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 17:32:44 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 17:32:44 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
May 30 17:33:16 heaven kernel: ata3.01: limiting speed to PIO3
May 30 17:33:23 heaven kernel: ata3: port is slow to respond, please be patient
May 30 17:33:46 heaven kernel: ata3: soft resetting port
May 30 17:33:46 heaven kernel: ata3.00: configured for PIO3
May 30 17:33:46 heaven kernel: ata3.01: configured for PIO3
May 30 17:33:46 heaven kernel: ata3: EH complete
May 30 17:33:47 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 17:33:47 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 17:33:47 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
May 30 17:33:47 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 17:33:47 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 17:33:47 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
May 30 17:40:17 heaven kernel: ata3.01: limiting speed to PIO2
May 30 17:40:24 heaven kernel: ata3: port is slow to respond, please be patient
May 30 17:40:47 heaven kernel: ata3: soft resetting port
May 30 17:40:47 heaven kernel: ata3.00: configured for PIO2
May 30 17:40:47 heaven kernel: ata3.01: configured for PIO2
May 30 17:40:47 heaven kernel: ata3: EH complete
May 30 17:40:47 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 17:40:47 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 17:40:47 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
May 30 17:40:47 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 17:40:47 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 17:40:47 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
...
May 30 18:00:18 heaven -- MARK --
May 30 18:03:04 heaven kernel: ata3: port is slow to respond, please be patient
May 30 18:03:04 heaven kernel: ata3: soft resetting port
May 30 18:03:04 heaven kernel: ata3.00: configured for PIO2
May 30 18:03:04 heaven kernel: ata3.01: configured for PIO2
May 30 18:03:04 heaven kernel: ata3: EH complete
May 30 18:03:04 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 18:03:04 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 18:03:04 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
May 30 18:03:04 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: 156301488 512-byte hdwr sectors (80026 MB)
May 30 18:03:04 heaven kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
May 30 18:03:04 heaven kernel: SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
IDE/ATA disk being recognized as SCSI, timeouts, lags, 2 Mb/s I/O speed… No, really, I’d rather dump this kind of usability and switch back to my FreeBSD, “where everything is different from how it should be on a normal Linux box”.
Oh, and I’m calling it “hell” this time. Quite unoriginal, of course, but does anyone care.
geektivities 