SMP ATA woes on 6.0-RELEASE

[Ted Mittelstaedt]

Steve,

You need to search the bug database to see if this is reported, and if
not then use send-pr to file the bug.  This is documented in the handbook
for FreeBSD.  And you should know also that a dmesg output is probably
the
minimum needed for anyone that knows anything to even bother looking
at your problem.  Much better would be supplying things like the BIOS
revision on the motherboard, what the CMOS settings are, etc.

Once all that is done then it is acceptable to post a message in this
forum, referring to the assigned PR number, and asking if anyone else
has seen the problem.

Ted

PS  Dell Computers is not known to be particularly friendly to FreeBSD
or Linux for that matter.  They would not be my first choice for a
FreeBSD
server.

>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-freebsd-questions at freebsd.org
>[mailto:owner-freebsd-questions at freebsd.org]On Behalf Of Steve Coles
>Sent: Monday, February 13, 2006 5:29 AM
>To: freebsd-questions at freebsd.org
>Subject: SMP ATA woes on 6.0-RELEASE
>
>
>I have a strange deterministic boot problem with ATA devices on
>2-way dell
>precision machines which boot from their SCSI disks. I have 4 of these
>boxes, and the only difference is the add-in ATA controller in
>the affected
>box.
>
>A good summary would be "which kernels work":
>
>a) GENERIC from the distribution boots fine (uniprocessor)
>b) GENERIC built from 6.0-RELEASE boots fine
>c) SMP built from 6.0-RELEASE hangs during the ATA probe of my disks
>d) <custom> SMP kernel built from 6.0-RELEASE with no ATA
>options/devices
>boots fine
>e) <custom> SMP kernel built from 6.0-RELEASE with ATA
>options/devices hangs
>as in c) above
>
>.. It gets weirder
>
>F) <custom> SMP kernel built from 6.0-RELEASE with no ATA
>options/devices
>boots fine (same as option d) above, then I load the ata modules from my
>normal login shell:
>
>$> kldload atapci (loads ata.ko etc )
>$> Kldload atadisk
>
>.. And it produces a stable, fast, ATA disk subsystem
>
>G) <custom> SMP kernel built from 6.0-RELEASE with no ATA
>options/devices
>boots fine (option d) above with a
>
>atapci_load="YES"
>atadisk_load="YES"
>
>In loader.conf produces the same hang as c)
>
>So...I presume the problem is related to the fact that the
>second CPU must
>be launched else the ATA code gets confused with my ATA
>subsystem (Naieve
>explanation of facts)
>
>Q: Is this a known bug ?
>Q: If it is, is it fixed in -STABLE ?
>Q: If so - when is a good cvsup date that gives me a fixed ata
>driver with a
>"stable stable"
>
>Help is much appreciated
>
>Cheers
>
>Steve
>
>
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