Hi,
Has anybody seen this error when system just hangs and hard disk light is continuously on? The following messages appear in /var/log/messages file.

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Aug 29 12:10:28 tv_dxr kernel: hdb: dma_timer_expiry: dma status == 0x40
Aug 29 12:10:28 tv_dxr kernel: hdb: (__ide_dma_test_irq) called while not waiting
Aug 29 12:10:28 tv_dxr kernel: hdb: status timeout: status=0xd0 { Busy }
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The machine is giga-byte GA-7DXR and the same machine runs Fedora Core 2 without any such problem. KnoppMyth is R4.1(the latest one).

Currently I am running the hard disks with DMA disabled but this does not give me optimal performance.

Any suggestions? I have tried googling but all I could see was that many many people have this problem with kernel 2.4.25 but could not find solution.

thanks in advance.
PK

That's a Via chipset. Search for "DMA" and "Via". Be sure to check the box to require all terms. Bottom line is that there is a known DMA bug in the chipset. Fedora core is using a newer kernel than the current version of KnoppMyth. The next version will have an updated kernel by all reports.

Thanks tjc for the reply. By new version having updated kernel, did you mean new version of KnoppyMyth? I am now more eager to see new KnoppMyth as I like this distro very much.

Thanks again.
PK

Yes, for the next version (R5) of Knoppmyth I believe Cesman has mentioned a 2.6 kernel.