Ill-behaving Quantum hard-disk
1. Problem
Ever since I got a new Seagate Barracuda ATA IV hard-disk (7200 RPM) I had to move the other two IDE devices in the system around the controllers. Suddenly, my old Quantum lcd20 (4400 RPM) doesn’t stand DMA mode anymore — it would crash out of it shortly after I attempt any heavy usage, like copying a big file. I have Quantum master on ide0, Seagate master on ide1,
CD-RW Teac slave on either. My boot line says linux idebus=66 ide0=ata66 ide1=ata66. I need this in order to get max UDMA modes out of either hard-disk. Nevermind, it does the same without these options.
2. Research
It’s definitely got something to do with Linux. It works fine in Windows. It may need some drivers or tweaking. I don’t know if it’s because it’s rack mounted, but I have to keep it like that. Remember, it works fine in Windows.
3. Solution
Partial: It works fine if it’s alone in the system, or if the CD-RW is on the other controller. Somehow, this is not a perfect solution.
Definitive: After messing around with IDE cables, boot and hdparm parameters, HOWTO and man reading, various kernel images, it came down to hdparm. Some particular combination between the more sophisticated settings I used for the drives was bad for Quantum. I reduced it to just -d1 for both drives and everything works fine. I have Quantum alone in ide0 and Seagate and CD-RW on ide1; that may have helped too. Bottom line: hdparm usage can get messy; stick to the basics.