On 21/04/06, Rhialto <rhialto@falu.nl> wrote:
> Due to apparent disk problems, I now have a usb2 + firewire external
> disk enclosure. I tried it with firewire first, and it seemed to work ok
> for mounting (read-only) and some directory listings.
> Then I tried a large recursive diff; it reported an I/O error in some
> file. When I went to look in that file, the disk (or at least the data
> stream from the disk) stalled. Leaving it for a while made no change.
> As a desperate measure I yanked the firewire cable. I should not have
> done that since it froze the entire system immediately (just like it
> does with usb).
>

What are you running? I used to have similar problems earlier, but
from certain point on -current it seems to have been sorted out. This
is the relevant part of my dmesg:

........
pci5 at ppb4 bus 2
pci5: i/o space, memory space enabled
fwohci0 at pci5 dev 8 function 0: NEC product 0x00e7 (rev. 0x01)
fwohci0: interrupting at ioapic0 pin 19 (irq 9)
fwohci0: OHCI version 1.10 (ROM=3D1)
fwohci0: No. of Isochronous channels is 4.
fwohci0: EUI64 00:00:4c:01:07:00:0e:bf
fwohci0: Phy 1394a available S400, 2 ports.
fwohci0: Link S400, max_rec 2048 bytes.
ieee1394if0 at fwohci0: IEEE1394 bus
fwip0 at ieee1394if0: IP over IEEE1394
fwohci0: Initiate bus reset
ohci0 at pci5 dev 9 function 0: NEC USB Host Controller (rev. 0x43)
ohci0: interrupting at ioapic0 pin 16 (irq 11)
ohci0: OHCI version 1.0
usb0 at ohci0: USB revision 1.0
uhub0 at usb0
uhub0: NEC OHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1
uhub0: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
ohci1 at pci5 dev 9 function 1: NEC USB Host Controller (rev. 0x43)
ohci1: interrupting at ioapic0 pin 17 (irq 5)
ohci1: OHCI version 1.0
usb1 at ohci1: USB revision 1.0
uhub1 at usb1
uhub1: NEC OHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1
uhub1: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
ehci0 at pci5 dev 9 function 2: NEC USB Host Controller (rev. 0x04)
ehci0: interrupting at ioapic0 pin 18 (irq 10)
ehci0: BIOS has given up ownership
ehci0: EHCI version 1.0
ehci0: companion controllers, 2 ports each: ohci0 ohci1
usb2 at ehci0: USB revision 2.0
uhub2 at usb2
uhub2: NEC EHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 2.00/1.00, addr 1
uhub2: 4 ports with 4 removable, self powered
......

fwohci0: BUS reset
fwohci0: node_id=3D0xc000ffc1, gen=3D3, CYCLEMASTER mode
ieee1394if0: 2 nodes, maxhop <=3D 1, cable IRM =3D 1 (me)
ieee1394if0: bus manager 1 (me)
fwohci0: txd err=3D14 ack busy_X
fwohci0: txd err=3D14 ack busy_X
fwohci0: txd err=3D14 ack busy_X
fwohci0: BUS reset
fwohci0: node_id=3D0xc000ffc1, gen=3D4, CYCLEMASTER mode
ieee1394if0: 2 nodes, maxhop <=3D 1, cable IRM =3D 1 (me)
ieee1394if0: bus manager 1 (me)
ieee1394if0: New S400 device ID:0050770e0000156e
sbp0 at ieee1394if0: SBP-2/SCSI over IEEE1394
scsibus1 at sbp0: 1 target, 0 luns per target
sd1 at scsibus1 target 0 lun 0: <Prolific, (1394 ATAPI,Rev, 2804>
simplified direct fixed
RBC size: mode sense=3D80418240, get cap=3D120103200
sd1: 58644 MB, 58644 cyl, 64 head, 32 sec, 512 bytes/sect x 120103200 secto=
rs
RBC size: mode sense=3D80418240, get cap=3D120103200
RBC size: mode sense=3D80418240, get cap=3D120103200

.....

# df -h | grep sd1
/dev/sd1f                     26G     8.7G       15G    37%    /mnt/nbsd
/dev/sd1e                     27G      21G      3.6G    84%    /mnt/nbsd2



> I remember from a while ago that it was known that firewire mass storage
> doesn't work that well, but since I didn't have any equipment I didn't
> track that. Is it known in some fashion what the problem is? Is there
> anything I can do (not knowing anything about the firewire protocol or
> such things) to help?
>
> (the usb connection seems to work better, so far)
>
> -Olaf.
> --
> ___ Olaf 'Rhialto' Seibert      -- You author it, and I'll reader it.
> \X/ rhialto/at/xs4all.nl        -- Cetero censeo "authored" delendum esse=