Re: Promise IDE on PC164LX

[alvin <alvin iplink net>]

John Goerzen wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I own a 600MHz 21164a PC164LX machine with some SCSI and one IDE disk in
> it.  As I'm sure everyone is aware, the on-board IDE on this system runs
> almost as fast as the old 20MB full-height hard drive sitting in the
> closet :-)
>
> I'd like to add some more storage to the system without spending a
> fortune, so the obvious choice is IDE.  Maxtor sells some nice UDMA 133
> drives that come with a Promise 20269 controller (supported by the
> pdc202xx driver on Linux).
>
> Here's my question: if I slapped one of those controllers into my Alpha,
> would I get good IDE performance, or does something inherent in the
> 164LX just make IDE suck no matter what I try?
>
> Thanks,
> John
>
>
>
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>  
I have a Promise card and a couple of WD 180G drives. I have had a 
number of problems with the card/drive combinations.

the 2.4.9 kernel seemed to work well  but could not handle the larger 
drives. the 2.4.19 kernels will handle the larger drives but seems flaky.
I personally believe that it is a kernel issue since I have a few 
systems with modern IDE drives and newer kernels all of them seem to be 
giving me heartache.

I have a system that has IDE drives connected to IDE -> SCSI converters. 
I have 6 of these in a system as a raid 1 array. They seem to be working 
well.
I am starting  to think I should take my IDE interfaces and put them out 
with the firewood to be burned when the house gets cold.



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