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authorTejun Heo <htejun@gmail.com>2007-05-04 21:28:48 +0200
committerJeff Garzik <jeff@garzik.org>2007-05-11 18:01:04 -0400
commit920a4b1038e442700a1cfac77ea7e20bd615a2c3 (patch)
tree4209c04b64b021a3e4253a484b108b2475a2860a /Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt
parent9666f4009c22f6520ac3fb8a19c9e32ab973e828 (diff)
libata: implement libata.spindown_compat
Now that libata uses sd->manage_start_stop, libata spins down disk on shutdown. In an attempt to compensate libata's previous shortcoming, some distros sync and spin down disks attached via libata in their shutdown(8). Some disks spin back up just to spin down again on STANDBYNOW1 if the command is issued when the disk is spun down, so this double spinning down causes problem. This patch implements module parameter libata.spindown_compat which, when set to one (default value), prevents libata from spinning down disks on shutdown thus avoiding double spinning down. Note that libata spins down disks for suspend to mem and disk, so with libata.spindown_compat set to one, disks should be properly spun down in all cases without modifying shutdown(8). shutdown(8) should be fixed eventually. Some drive do spin up on SYNCHRONZE_CACHE even when their cache is clean. Those disks currently spin up briefly when sd tries to shutdown the device and then the machine powers off immediately, which can't be good for the head. We can't skip SYNCHRONIZE_CACHE during shudown as it can be dangerous data integrity-wise. So, this spindown_compat parameter is already scheduled for removal by the end of the next year and here's what shutdown(8) should do. * Check whether /sys/modules/libata/parameters/spindown_compat exists. If it does, write 0 to it. * For each libata harddisk { * Check whether /sys/class/scsi_disk/h:c:i:l/manage_start_stop exists. Iff it doesn't, synchronize cache and spin the disk down as before. } The above procedure will make shutdown(8) work properly with kernels before this change, ones with this workaround and later ones without it. To accelerate shutdown(8) updates, if the compat mode is in use, this patch prints BIG FAT warning for five seconds during shutdown (the optimal interval to annoy the user just the right amount discovered by hours of tireless usability testing). Signed-off-by: Tejun Heo <htejun@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Jeff Garzik <jeff@garzik.org>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt19
1 files changed, 19 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt b/Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt
index c6322c76034..498ff31f3aa 100644
--- a/Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt
+++ b/Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt
@@ -328,3 +328,22 @@ Who: Adrian Bunk <bunk@stusta.de>
---------------------------
+What: libata.spindown_compat module parameter
+When: Dec 2008
+Why: halt(8) synchronizes caches for and spins down libata disks
+ because libata didn't use to spin down disk on system halt
+ (only synchronized caches).
+ Spin down on system halt is now implemented and can be tested
+ using sysfs node /sys/class/scsi_disk/h:c:i:l/manage_start_stop.
+ Because issuing spin down command to an already spun down disk
+ makes some disks spin up just to spin down again, the old
+ behavior needs to be maintained till userspace tool is updated
+ to check the sysfs node and not to spin down disks with the
+ node set to one.
+ This module parameter is to give userspace tool the time to
+ get updated and should be removed after userspace is
+ reasonably updated.
+Who: Tejun Heo <htejun@gmail.com>
+
+---------------------------
+