(E)IDE hard disk is slow

Support knowledgebase (kgw_ide_slow)
Applies to

SuSE Linux: All versions

Symptom:

You operate an (E)IDE hard disk in your system. However, the data throughput to this disk isn't as fast as you would like it to be :-(

Cause:

A possible cause is that improper settings for the harddisk keep it from performing at its best.

Solution:

You can try to tune your hard disk by means of the /sbin/hdparm command (package: base). After you've found the optimal settings, you can include the corresponding /sbin/hdparm commands into your /sbin/init.d/boot.local, e.g. like this:
echo -en "\nboot.local: Tuning the IDE hard disks..."
if [ -x /sbin/hdparm ]
then
    # Put the hdparm commands HERE
else
    echo " FAILED: /sbin/hdparm not found."
fi

Tip: A popular hard disk benchmark is bonnie. You can use it to estimate the results of your tuning measures. SuSE Linux version 6.3 and newer contain bonnie in an equally-named package. The original home page is http://www.textuality.com/bonnie.

A description of some particularly useful options follows. See the hdparm manual page for the complete overview. You should read it anyway before going into action, in particular the warnings!

hdx represents your IDE disk (replace it with hda, hdb ... as needed):


Keywords: EIDE, ENHANCED IDE, HARDDISK, SLOW, HDPARM

Categories: IDE

SDB-kgw_ide_slow, Copyright SuSE Linux AG, Nürnberg, Germany - Version: 18. Mai 2000
SuSE Linux AG - Last generated: 07. Mai 2002 by kgw (sdb_gen 1.40.0)