SUSE LINUX data corruption between CD-ROM and IDE drives - IBM eServer xSeries 330

Resolving The Problem

RETAIN tip: H176416

You may see corruption when transferring data from the CD-ROM to an IDE hard disk. Files may not compare properly, and so on.

The system may be any of the following IBM eServer xSeries servers:

• An IBM eServer xSeries 330, type 8675, any model
• An IBM eServer xSeries 330, type 8674, any model
• An IBM eServer xSeries 330, type 8654, any model

The following network operating systems are affected:  

• SUSE LINUX version 8.0 and lower
• SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 7
  
  Note: This list of affected configurations does not imply that the network operating system will work under all combinations of hardware and software. Please see the compatibility page for more information: http://www.ibm.com/servers/eserver/serverproven/compat/us/

Disable DMA on the hard disk. To do this, use the following command:
 
hdparm -d 0 /dev/<drive name>
 
However, upon reboot, DMA will be enabled again. If you desire to disable DMA for all operation, the command can be added to a file like /etc/init.d/boot.local. Then the command to disable DMA will be run each time the system boots.
 
Note: The file location /etc/init.d/boot.local is for SUSE LINUX version 8.0. This file location can vary.
 
Perform the following steps to add the command to the file:
 
1. Edit the file /etc/init.d/boot.local
 
2. Insert a line that looks like this:
 
hdparm -d 0 /dev/<drive name>
 
3. Save the file and run the command:
 
. /etc/init.d/boot.local

This behavior occurs on problematic hard drives that do not handle DMA access very well across the IDE bus. Disabling DMA resolves this issue. Many operating systems will automatically detect and disable DMA for chipsets that are known to be problematic; however, some versions of SUSE LINUX do not automatically disable DMA for these chipsets.