Speed Up IDE Disk Access

Problem:

By default, some linux distributions rely on somewhat conservative settings for accessing IDE devices. Unfortunately, this may cause some potential, unnecessary slowdown.

Solution:

If the system is at all recent (since 2000), it should support UltraDMA mode transfers, which can speed up access significantly.

HOWTO:

• Check the settings on the drive in question with hdparm:

hdparm -c -d -a /dev/hdX

If 32-bit I/O support, DMA, and readahead are already enabled, then you're done. Otherwise, you will need to edit a configuration file, depending on your distribution.

• On Ubuntu, edit /etc/hdparm.conf. Uncomment the following lines: lookahead = on, io32_support = 1, dma = on.
• On Fedora, edit /etc/sysconfig/harddisks. Uncomment the following lines: USE_DMA=1, EIDE_32BIT=3, LOOKAHEAD=1.

These settings will take effect after your next reboot. You may also manually enable them with the following command:
/sbin/hdparm -A 1 -c 1 -d 1 /dev/hdX