Skipping UDMA on boot command line?Forum: HD Install Topic: Skipping UDMA on boot command line? started by: dallas7 Posted by dallas7 on Nov. 25 2004,15:50
Well, after having 0.7.something on this ol' Thinkpad for, well, since that version came out, I finally got off my kiester and I'm running 0.8.4 now.What's perplexing me is this boot message: Skipping DMA acceleration as requested on boot command line. I can whup it up with hdparm because this IBM hd subsystem supports UDMA2. 0.7 supported that by default, so there's something a little bit different about 0.8. Either that, or I botched something. So I'd like to get that boot command line thing changed. Can some on point me to the file that needs to be tweaked? Thanks! Posted by ico2 on Nov. 25 2004,17:35
lilo.conf might help (you must run lilo from xterm after editing or your pc may never boot again)just look and see if the relavent is there, if so then ask for further help before editing. Posted by dallas7 on Nov. 25 2004,18:32
Nope. There doesn't seem to be anything in there to tweak unless there's something MISSING that needs to be added to turn on UDMA2.I was also thinking of merely adding the hdparm thing in Linux's equivalent of autoexec.bat. But, I forgot where and what that is. I humbly seek a memory jog. Thanks! Posted by ico2 on Nov. 25 2004,20:31
dma is turned off by default, do you really need it?
Posted by cbagger01 on Nov. 26 2004,03:33
Did you place:dsl dma in the boot command line? Posted by dallas7 on Nov. 26 2004,12:47
I'm not running off the Live CD.I've got DSL installed on my hard drive. I see in my original post I didn't make that clear. Sorry. Thanks! Posted by cbagger01 on Nov. 26 2004,20:24
OK,Then edit the "append" line in your lilo configuration file. Save it, and then run lilo -v Posted by dallas7 on Dec. 02 2004,00:22
With dma off Firefox takes 18 seconds to load. With dma on, 3 seconds. This behavior is consistently demonstratable and repeatable. Do I need it? No. Do I want it? Yep. Posted by cbagger01 on Dec. 02 2004,03:00
dma is used by default whenever possible for most operating systems.The only downside for dma is that it causes problem with a small number of IDE disk controllers, especially for IDE/ATAPI CD drives. Chances are, if you have a modern computer it will work just fine for your hard drives and will also work for many CD drives. If you start to get a bunch of "cloop errors" at boot time then it can mean that your CD drive is not working properly with your IDE controller with DMA turned ON. In this situation, it is better to start DSL without the "dma" boot command and then pick and choose the individual drives to be enabled with the hdparm command line utility. Posted by Barry on Dec. 11 2004,02:55
Where is the lilo configuration file located?
Posted by cbagger01 on Dec. 11 2004,03:12
I don't have a hard disk install, but I think it is located at/etc/lilo.conf You will need root "superuser" authority to edit this file. You can either open up an xterminal and type: sudo nano lilo.conf or you could start "Emelfm as Super user" and double-click on the /etc/lilo.conf file. You will need to re-run lilo after making your changes: sudo lilo -v Posted by Barry on Dec. 19 2004,05:52
Dallas, this is from the gentoo handbook:Activate DMA:
I haven't tried it yet, I'm just getting back to my DSL project after installing Suse on my desktop. I'm Winless! Posted by Yoey on June 20 2005,15:33
Man this thread frustrates me... it gets me so close, but doesn't make it clear what exactly to type in the lilo.conf append line. Do I type "dsl dma" or that hdparam command and where exactly, neither of them seem to be formated similar to anything else in the append quotes. . . vga=normal default=Knoppix image=/vmlinuz append="lang=de apm=power-off hda=scsi hdb=scsi hdc=scsi hdd=scsi hde=scsi hdf=scsi hdg=scsi hdh=scsi vga=791 quiet BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix" root=/dev/hda5 label=Knoppix read-write . . . Posted by Caspar_s on June 21 2005,16:28
The hdparm line is for the command line once booted.You add "dma" to the append line - if it is there it runs it, so it doesn't need an = Basically append=" " is what you would normally type after boot:dsl So any or all of the options in the F2 screen/file go into the append=" " line |