Re: Is it the hardware or the OS?

[Jason Hackney <unicycle@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> > ...  I can't seem to find any problems with the drive
> >causing the problem and I suspect it's my motherboard (IDE1 controller)
> >but can't find a way to confirm that.
> >Has anybody experienced anything similar?
>
> Yes, many times, those exact error messages. Is this system a Compaq?

No, it's something that's been rebuilt twice. It was a Comtrade originally,
and the only original parts left are the video card, power supply and the
case bearing the Comtrade name.


>
>
> >Or have an idea what's going
> >on here?  I have a Windows98 machine connected to the Linux box
>
> What IDE controller does it have?  Look in "dmesg".  Any reported bugs
> for that controller? (search from www.google.com).  Have you messed about
> with hdparm?

I have no idea what the controller is. The manual indicates I have an
Enhanced PCI Busmaster PCI Controller with UDMA/33, which, as far as I know,
could be anything. It is a VIA board however, FIC VA-503+ (the old model).
No hdparm and it's not overclocked.

relevant output from dmesg:

jason@kerrville:~ > dmesg | grep -i ide
Uniform Multi-Platform E-IDE driver Revision: 6.20
VP_IDE: IDE controller on PCI bus 00 dev 39
VP_IDE: not 100% native mode: will probe irqs later
    ide0: BM-DMA at 0x6400-0x6407, BIOS settings: hda:DMA, hdb:DMA
    ide1: BM-DMA at 0x6408-0x640f, BIOS settings: hdc:DMA, hdd:DMA
ide0 at 0x1f0-0x1f7,0x3f6 on irq 14
ide1 at 0x170-0x177,0x376 on irq 15
VFS: Disk change detected on device ide1(22,64)
jason@kerrville:~ >

> So it is becoming more frequent?

Seems to be. I can't reliably duplicate the problem or find a way to trace
it.

> Cheap hardware is usually cheap, as in cheap other than inexpensive.

I try to avoid the $11 FastEthernet cards, the $50 4GB hard drives, the $3
floppy drives, etc. I do try to stick with name brands ... and that's about
all I have in my defense.

Went to Google, Tom's Hardware, a few unofficial FAQ sites for the board, and
FIC's site with no luck. I guess I'll start looking to upgrade again.  )o:

Cheers,
Jason