Usually the default 2.4.x kernels if configured correctly enable DMA on the PCI IDE interfaces for devices that support it. This is PCI DMA not isa dma. If the device does not react well to DMA transferrs and times out or returns errors then Linux may disable dma. If there is only the DMA disabled message the device will run less efficiently without dma. If there are other errors like irq timeouts then the device has either locked up (requires a power cycle) or in some cases had died or an IDE drie has bad sectors. It's nice that the IDE works again; but I'd keep my eyes peeled for any problems that may occurr especially if the waranty is almost up on either of the devices. I wouldn't trust the devices if they did this to me and would look for any signs of failure this is not normal behaviour. Regards, Kerry. On Tue, May 28, 2002 at 12:28:44PM -0400, jwantz at hpcc2.hpcc.noaa.gov wrote: > Hi Cheryl, > Well, DMA means Direct Memory Access. I'm not sure why a DMA channel > would timeout--but its possible that you have a chip that is overheating > somewhere. You may have the dreaded intermittent problem in electronics > because it is so hard to diagnose. Kerry, have you ever heard of DMA > failure? > > Jim Wantz WB0TFK > On Tue, 28 May 2002, Cheryl Homiak wrote: > > > Hey, this is kind of strange, because this is not the first time I've shut the > > computer down since i started having the problem with ide1 (my cdrom and cdrw0. > > I had also shut it down for several hours sunday night/Monday morning. However, > > early this morning when I went to bed, I still had no irq for ide1 and only hdc > > was opening. This morning I got up and turned on the computer and booted linux. > > Just to re-confirm the worst, I tried opening the cdrom and it opened. then i > > tried mounting both and they mounted. I assume that when hdd timed out it took > > the whole ide with it somehow but I don't know why it finally came back or what > > i could have maybe killed or reactiviated to have fixed it sooner. anyway, I'm > > very happy I don't have to pay to get it fixed. > > > > Cheryl > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Speakup mailing list > > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup > -- Kerry Hoath: kerry at gotss.net kerry at gotss.eu.org or kerry at gotss.spice.net.au ICQ: 8226547 msn: kerry at gotss.net Yahoo: kerryhoath at yahoo.com.au
