Help - slow performance on a Toshiba laptop

[Chuck Hallenbeck]

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Mike,

I am getting similarly slow performance on my desktop system and
am also puzzled. I have set multcount to 16, but am unable to set
dma on. I am wondering if there are kernel options for dma that I
ought to be selecting so that dma can be activated. I am using
2.4.24 kernel, and my config file has 8 or 10 options concerning
dma, most of which I do not understand.

What about your power management setting? Is your disk preserving
power by spinning down sometimes? Is your dma set? Is your
multcount set to its max value?


On Wed, 18 Feb 2004, Mike Keithley wrote:

> Hello list.
>
> I installed Linux on a Toshiba laptop.  It is a 266 MHz Pentium machine
> with 96 MB of ram.  Linux is under the 2.4.22 kernel (Slackware 9.1) and
> is on a dedicated partition on the hard drive.
>
> The problem is that, although the systems works fine, performance is slow.
> I believe the problem is the IDE controller and the hard disk.  I'm
> wondering if someone knows how I can speed up the IDE controller/hard disk.
> In the boot-up messages, I see something like "Assuming 33 MHz bus speed"
> in relation to the IDE controller.
>
> When I do hdparm -t /dev/hda, the buffered write rate to the disk is only
> 3.5 MB/sec whereas hdparm -T (internal buffered write), the result is over
> 25 MB/sec.  From this I figure the hard disk is really slowing the system
> down.
>
> Because of the small amount of memory, the system soon starts using the
> swap partition (128 MB) and processes often crash, presumably because of
> time outs.  Pipes are not reliable.
>
> Any help is appreciated.
>
> The reason I'm trying to use this slow machine is that it uses a Yamaha
> sound chip that, although a bit noisy, has really smooth high-frequency
> performance without corners and there is a line-input jack.
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
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>

- -- 
The Moon is Waning Crescent (1% of Full)
In a world without Fences or Walls no one needs Windows or Gates.
My home page is now at http://www.mhcable.com/~chuckh
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