NotebookForums.com › Forums › General Notebook Discussions › Linux & Other OS's › linux on hp dv9500t
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

linux on hp dv9500t

post #1 of 13
6/30/07 at 6:36pm
Thread Starter 
Works like a champ!

Currently have Gentoo installed with the two internal 7200 rpm 100 GB disks in a software RAID1 mirror. 4 partitions on the disk, all mirrored: /, swap, /boot, and /home. Grub installed to both MBR's so I'm FULLY redundant - can lose either disk and system still boots and runs perfectly (tested).

Core2Duo CPU, memory, SATA, PATA, DVD-RW, Realtek Gig-E, GeForce 8600M GS, audio, USB, 1394, ExpressCard slot, cpu throttling, ACPI all tested and working perfectly with kernel 2.6.20.r8 with SMP support using both CPU cores.

I'm surprised at the speed of the software RAID1. I'm seeing ~48 MB/s write speed at the beginning of the disk.
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 13
6/30/07 at 9:25pm
In all honesty RAID1 shouldn't affect Write speeds much compared to a single disk.

Read Speeds on the other hand you can see a large improvement on.

Seablade
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 13
7/1/07 at 12:44pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, with hardware based RAID1, the write speeds should be about identical. I had heard rumors that Linux kernel-based software RAID was slow 'in general', but pleased to see that at least with RAID1, software RAID can be a nice solution. Software RAID5 is likely much slower due to parity calculation eating up CPU cycles.

I wish 3ware made an ExpressCard card RAID controller. I've used their 7000, 8000, and 9550sx PCI based cards and was very pleased with the ease of configuration, really great Linux support, and very high performance.

In all honesty though, software RAID1 was much easier to setup than I anticipated, and seems to work very nicely with SATA. I was surprised how easy it was to get a clean Stage3 Gentoo installed (and booting) on software RAID.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 13
7/1/07 at 2:11pm
Quote:
I had heard rumors that Linux kernel-based software RAID was slow 'in general', but pleased to see that at least with RAID1, software RAID can be a nice solution.
Not sure who told you that, but Linux software raid is actually known for being pretty comparable in speed with little in used resources. In other words, its pretty good. Many people will use it over poorly implemented hardware raid, that is little more than software raid in the BIOS in some cases. Seablade
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 13
7/2/07 at 2:53pm
Thread Starter 
I put together a Gentoo Linux compatibility page, here:
http://home.earthlink.net/~george164...t/dv9500t.html

and submitted it to linux-laptop.net
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 13
7/2/07 at 6:09pm
Thanks, always a good thing to keep that updated.

Seablade
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 13
7/5/07 at 12:45am
Not many people realize that those crap Promise and Highpoint SATA raid controllers are software raids with a hardware interface for configuration. I actually think those controllers are completely obsolete if you're not using windows.

I've configured 3ware raid controllers in linux before and they are awesome. I had really good luck with those, and horrible luck with broadcom comtrollers.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 13
7/5/07 at 1:36am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigtrouble77 View Post
Not many people realize that those crap Promise and Highpoint SATA raid controllers are software raids with a hardware interface for configuration. I actually think those controllers are completely obsolete if you're not using windows.
I agree. But what does that have to do with the dv9500t? It does not have any of those. So what exactly is your point?
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigtrouble77 View Post
I've configured 3ware raid controllers in linux before and they are awesome. I had really good luck with those, and horrible luck with broadcom comtrollers.
Absolutely, 3ware is the best. I've used the 7000, 8000, 8500, and 9550sx with Linux, all with great results. Extreme performance and reliability. Too bad 3ware doesn't make an ExpressCard controller for 1394b or eSATA, that would be a welcome product. But again, what does this have to do with the dv9500t?
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 13
7/5/07 at 3:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lupin..the..3rd View Post
I agree. But what does that have to do with the dv9500t? It does not have any of those. So what exactly is your point?



Absolutely, 3ware is the best. I've used the 7000, 8000, 8500, and 9550sx with Linux, all with great results. Extreme performance and reliability. Too bad 3ware doesn't make an ExpressCard controller for 1394b or eSATA, that would be a welcome product. But again, what does this have to do with the dv9500t?

To answer both questions... He was likely making a comment in response to my post about poorly implemented 'hardware' raids being little more than software raids in BIOS.

Seablade
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 13
7/5/07 at 8:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lupin..the..3rd View Post
I agree. But what does that have to do with the dv9500t? It does not have any of those. So what exactly is your point?

Lol, maybe you should define the rules to your threads in the future so we don't offend you, heir lupin.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 13
7/5/07 at 10:11am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigtrouble77 View Post
Lol, maybe you should define the rules to your threads in the future so we don't offend you, heir lupin.
No offense at all, in fact I agreed with both your comments 100%. But I'll admit, I am a keep-the-thread-on-topic kind of guy.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 13
7/5/07 at 9:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lupin..the..3rd View Post
No offense at all, in fact I agreed with both your comments 100%. But I'll admit, I am a keep-the-thread-on-topic kind of guy.
Things have been dead here so I needed an excuse to post something.
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 13
7/6/07 at 1:35am
It has been quiet around here lately... Where the heck is ABF trying new distros every week?

By the way on that topic, Elive GEM is out for those unaware. Need to try it, but since I only have my workstation out here if I do an install it will likely be in a VirtualBox VM.

Seablade
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Linux & Other OS's
NotebookForums.com › Forums › General Notebook Discussions › Linux & Other OS's › linux on hp dv9500t