DRDY errors again

DRDY errors again

[J.A. Magallón]

Hi all...

Well, I'm getting all those errors on SATA disks again. I have just returned
one thinkin it was faulty. But I don't buy I got all the bad drives in the
store...

Disks:

werewolf:~> lsscsi -H
[0]    aic79xx
[1]    aic79xx
[2]    ata_piix
[3]    ata_piix
[4]    ata_piix
[5]    ata_piix
werewolf:~> lsscsi
[1:0:0:0]    disk    SEAGATE  ST336807LW       0C01  /dev/sda
[1:0:1:0]    disk    SEAGATE  ST336807LW       0C01  /dev/sdb
[2:0:0:0]    disk    ATA      ST3120022A       3.06  /dev/sdc
[2:0:1:0]    cd/dvd  HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H10N  JL12  /dev/sr0
[4:0:0:0]    disk    ATA      WDC WD3200AVJS-6 12.0  /dev/sdd
[5:0:0:0]    disk    ATA      ST3500820AS      SD25  /dev/sde

dmesg:

scsi0 : Adaptec AIC79XX PCI-X SCSI HBA DRIVER, Rev 3.0
        <Adaptec 29320 Ultra320 SCSI adapter>
        aic7902: Ultra320 Wide Channel A, SCSI Id=7, PCI 33 or 66Mhz, 512 SCBs
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:03:0a.1[B] -> GSI 23 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
scsi1 : Adaptec AIC79XX PCI-X SCSI HBA DRIVER, Rev 3.0
        <Adaptec 29320 Ultra320 SCSI adapter>
        aic7902: Ultra320 Wide Channel B, SCSI Id=7, PCI 33 or 66Mhz, 512 SCBs
scsi 1:0:0:0: Direct-Access     SEAGATE  ST336807LW       0C01 PQ: 0 ANSI: 3
 target1:0:0: asynchronous
scsi1:A:0:0: Tagged Queuing enabled.  Depth 32
 target1:0:0: Beginning Domain Validation
 target1:0:0: wide asynchronous
 target1:0:0: FAST-160 WIDE SCSI 320.0 MB/s DT IU QAS RDSTRM WRFLOW PCOMP (6.25 ns, offset 63)
 target1:0:0: Ending Domain Validation
scsi 1:0:1:0: Direct-Access     SEAGATE  ST336807LW       0C01 PQ: 0 ANSI: 3
 target1:0:1: asynchronous
scsi1:A:1:0: Tagged Queuing enabled.  Depth 32
 target1:0:1: Beginning Domain Validation
 target1:0:1: wide asynchronous
 target1:0:1: FAST-160 WIDE SCSI 320.0 MB/s DT IU QAS RDSTRM WRFLOW PCOMP (6.25 ns, offset 63)
 target1:0:1: Ending Domain Validation
Driver 'sd' needs updating - please use bus_type methods
sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] 71687372 512-byte hardware sectors (36704 MB)
sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: ab 00 10 08
sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, supports DPO and FUA
sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] 71687372 512-byte hardware sectors (36704 MB)
sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: ab 00 10 08
sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, supports DPO and FUA
 sda: sda1 sda2
sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI disk
sd 1:0:1:0: [sdb] 71687372 512-byte hardware sectors (36704 MB)
sd 1:0:1:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
sd 1:0:1:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: ab 00 10 08
sd 1:0:1:0: [sdb] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, supports DPO and FUA
sd 1:0:1:0: [sdb] 71687372 512-byte hardware sectors (36704 MB)
sd 1:0:1:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
sd 1:0:1:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: ab 00 10 08
sd 1:0:1:0: [sdb] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, supports DPO and FUA
 sdb: sdb1
sd 1:0:1:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI disk
Driver 'sr' needs updating - please use bus_type methods
ata_piix 0000:00:1f.1: version 2.12
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:1f.1[A] -> GSI 18 (level, low) -> IRQ 18
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:1f.1 to 64
scsi2 : ata_piix
scsi3 : ata_piix
ata1: PATA max UDMA/100 cmd 0x1f0 ctl 0x3f6 bmdma 0xf000 irq 14
ata2: PATA max UDMA/100 cmd 0x170 ctl 0x376 bmdma 0xf008 irq 15
ata1.00: ATA-6: ST3120022A, 3.06, max UDMA/100
ata1.00: 234441648 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 
ata1.01: ATAPI: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H10N, JL12, max UDMA/33
ata1.00: configured for UDMA/100
ata1.01: configured for UDMA/33
scsi 2:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ATA      ST3120022A       3.06 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] 234441648 512-byte hardware sectors (120034 MB)
sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] 234441648 512-byte hardware sectors (120034 MB)
sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
 sdc: sdc1
sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI disk
scsi 2:0:1:0: CD-ROM            HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H10N  JL12 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
sr0: scsi3-mmc drive: 48x/48x writer dvd-ram cd/rw xa/form2 cdda tray
Uniform CD-ROM driver Revision: 3.20
sr 2:0:1:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr0
ata_piix 0000:00:1f.2: MAP [ P0 -- P1 -- ]
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:1f.2[A] -> GSI 18 (level, low) -> IRQ 18
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:1f.2 to 64
scsi4 : ata_piix
scsi5 : ata_piix
ata3: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0xc000 ctl 0xc400 bmdma 0xd000 irq 18
ata4: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0xc800 ctl 0xcc00 bmdma 0xd008 irq 18
ata3.00: ATA-8: WDC WD3200AVJS-63WDA0, 12.01B02, max UDMA/133
ata3.00: 625142448 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth 0/32)
ata3.00: configured for UDMA/133
ata4.00: ATA-8: ST3500820AS, SD25, max UDMA/133
ata4.00: 976773168 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth 0/32)
ata4.00: configured for UDMA/133
scsi 4:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ATA      WDC WD3200AVJS-6 12.0 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] 625142448 512-byte hardware sectors (320073 MB)
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Write Protect is off
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] 625142448 512-byte hardware sectors (320073 MB)
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Write Protect is off
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
 sdd: sdd1
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Attached SCSI disk
scsi 5:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ATA      ST3500820AS      SD25 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] 976773168 512-byte hardware sectors (500108 MB)
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Write Protect is off
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] 976773168 512-byte hardware sectors (500108 MB)
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Write Protect is off
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
 sde: sde1
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Attached SCSI disk

The WDC is the new brand disk I received in change for the 'faulty' Seagate.
The ST3500820AS is also new.

This happened burning a data DVD:

ata4.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x2 frozen
ata4.00: cmd b0/d8:00:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 tag 0
         res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
ata4.00: status: { DRDY }
ata4: soft resetting link
ata4.00: configured for UDMA/133
ata4: EH complete
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] 976773168 512-byte hardware sectors (500108 MB)
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Write Protect is off
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
ata3.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x2 frozen
ata3.00: cmd c8/00:00:b7:f7:a0/00:00:00:00:00/ed tag 0 dma 131072 in
         res 40/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
ata3.00: status: { DRDY }
ata3: soft resetting link
ata3.00: configured for UDMA/133
ata3: EH complete
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] 625142448 512-byte hardware sectors (320073 MB)
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Write Protect is off
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
ata4.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x2 frozen
ata4.00: cmd b0/d0:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 tag 0 pio 512 in
         res 40/00:00:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
ata4.00: status: { DRDY }
ata4: port is slow to respond, please be patient (Status 0x80)
ata4: soft resetting link
ata4.00: configured for UDMA/133
ata4: EH complete
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] 976773168 512-byte hardware sectors (500108 MB)
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Write Protect is off
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
ata3.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x2 frozen
ata3.00: cmd c8/00:00:c7:26:a1/00:00:00:00:00/ed tag 0 dma 131072 in
         res 40/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
ata3.00: status: { DRDY }
ata3: soft resetting link
ata3.00: configured for UDMA/133
ata3: EH complete
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] 625142448 512-byte hardware sectors (320073 MB)
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Write Protect is off
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
ata3.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x2 frozen
ata3.00: cmd c8/00:00:ef:d9:a1/00:00:00:00:00/ed tag 0 dma 131072 in
         res 40/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
ata3.00: status: { DRDY }
ata3: soft resetting link
ata3.00: configured for UDMA/133
ata3: EH complete
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] 625142448 512-byte hardware sectors (320073 MB)
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Write Protect is off
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
usb 1-8: USB disconnect, address 4
ata4.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x2 frozen
ata4.00: cmd b0/d8:00:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 tag 0
         res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
ata4.00: status: { DRDY }
ata4: port is slow to respond, please be patient (Status 0x80)
ata4: soft resetting link
ata4.00: configured for UDMA/133
ata4: EH complete
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] 976773168 512-byte hardware sectors (500108 MB)
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Write Protect is off
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
ata4.00: limiting speed to UDMA/100:PIO4
ata4.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x2 frozen
ata4.00: cmd b0/d8:00:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 tag 0
         res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
ata4.00: status: { DRDY }
ata4: port is slow to respond, please be patient (Status 0x80)
ata4: device not ready (errno=-16), forcing hardreset
ata4: soft resetting link
ata4.00: revalidation failed (errno=-2)
ata4: failed to recover some devices, retrying in 5 secs
ata4: soft resetting link
ata4.00: configured for UDMA/100
ata4: EH complete
ata4.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x2 frozen
ata4.00: cmd b0/d0:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 tag 0 pio 512 in
         res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
ata4.00: status: { DRDY }

So the 2 SATA drives begin to spit errors when writing the DVD. This must
be a kernel bug...One other disk that was flaky in this box has survived
a full erase with SeaTools, a long test, and a Vista install on it.
Kernel is 2.6.24.4.

Any ideas ?

TIA

-- 
J.A. Magallon <jamagallon()ono!com>     \               Software is like sex:
                                         \         It's better when it's free
Mandriva Linux release 2008.1 (Cooker) for i586
Linux 2.6.23-jam05 (gcc 4.2.2 20071128 (4.2.2-2mdv2008.1)) SMP PREEMPT

Re: DRDY errors again

[Jeff Garzik]

J.A. Magallón wrote:
> scsi4 : ata_piix
> scsi5 : ata_piix
> ata3: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0xc000 ctl 0xc400 bmdma 0xd000 irq 18
> ata4: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0xc800 ctl 0xcc00 bmdma 0xd008 irq 18

> ata4.00: ATA-8: ST3500820AS, SD25, max UDMA/133
> ata4.00: 976773168 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth 0/32)
> ata4.00: configured for UDMA/133

> ata4.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x2 frozen
> ata4.00: cmd b0/d8:00:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 tag 0
>          res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
> ata4.00: status: { DRDY }

Can you bisect to see when this problem starts?  I'm pretty sure it's 
software, either interrupt-related or the libata driver itself.

See http://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Libata_error_messages for a 
full explanation of that error message.

Most notable:  "DRDY" == device ready == device says everything is OK, 
from it's perspective.  "timeout" usually means an interrupt wasn't 
delivered from your ATA controller, when we were expecting one.

	Jeff

Re: DRDY errors again

[Bernd Eckenfels]

In article <20080408171311.69441c8b@werewolf> you wrote:
> Well, I'm getting all those errors on SATA disks again. I have just returned
> one thinkin it was faulty. But I don't buy I got all the bad drives in the
> store...

It could be, that it is a driver problem, but just to be sure:

I would recommend to run the vendors diag program again, and also look at
the s.m.a.r.t output. (Typically you need an error code to return the drive,
did you had one for your last return?)

Besides the disk it could also be a voltage problem (voltage control on
mainboard or power supply). I asume you ruled out thermal problems...

Gruss
Bernd

Re: DRDY errors again

[Philippe Troin]

Bernd Eckenfels <ecki@lina.inka.de> writes:

> Besides the disk it could also be a voltage problem (voltage control on
> mainboard or power supply). I asume you ruled out thermal problems...

I would completely second that.  In multiple instances, I've had
different disks behave very strangely when the power supply became
flaky (12V at 11.3V and/or 5V hovering around 4.5V).  And there seems
to be lots of flaky power supplies around these days.

Phil.

Re: DRDY errors again

[J.A. Magallón]

On 08 Apr 2008 20:42:36 -0700, Philippe Troin <phil@fifi.org> wrote:

> Bernd Eckenfels <ecki@lina.inka.de> writes:
> 
> > Besides the disk it could also be a voltage problem (voltage control on
> > mainboard or power supply). I asume you ruled out thermal problems...
> 
> I would completely second that.  In multiple instances, I've had
> different disks behave very strangely when the power supply became
> flaky (12V at 11.3V and/or 5V hovering around 4.5V).  And there seems
> to be lots of flaky power supplies around these days.
> 

Acording to my sensors...:

werewolf:/etc# sensors
w83627thf-isa-0290
Adapter: ISA adapter
VCore:       +1.48 V  (min =  +0.70 V, max =  +1.87 V)
+12V:       +12.22 V  (min = +10.82 V, max = +13.19 V)
+3.3V:       +3.34 V  (min =  +3.14 V, max =  +3.47 V)
+5V:         +5.04 V  (min =  +4.75 V, max =  +5.25 V)
V5SB:        +5.08 V  (min =  +4.76 V, max =  +5.24 V)
VBat:        +3.09 V  (min =  +2.40 V, max =  +3.60 V)
CPU0 Fan:   2343 RPM  (min =  499 RPM, div = 16)
CPU1 Fan:   2280 RPM  (min =  499 RPM, div = 16)
Chas Fan:   2343 RPM  (min =  499 RPM, div = 16)
VRM  Temp:   +50.0°C  (high = +60.0°C, hyst = +35.0°C)  sensor = thermistor
CPU0 Temp:   +43.0°C  (high = +70.0°C, hyst = +40.0°C)  sensor = thermistor
CPU1 Temp:   +41.5°C  (high = +70.0°C, hyst = +40.0°C)  sensor = thermistor

so it all look correct.

-- 
J.A. Magallon <jamagallon()ono!com>     \               Software is like sex:
                                         \         It's better when it's free
Mandriva Linux release 2008.1 (Cooker) for i586
Linux 2.6.23-jam05 (gcc 4.2.2 20071128 (4.2.2-2mdv2008.1)) SMP PREEMPT

Re: DRDY errors again

[J.A. Magallón]

On Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:59:51 -0400, Jeff Garzik <jeff@garzik.org> wrote:

> J.A. Magallón wrote:
> > scsi4 : ata_piix
> > scsi5 : ata_piix
> > ata3: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0xc000 ctl 0xc400 bmdma 0xd000 irq 18
> > ata4: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0xc800 ctl 0xcc00 bmdma 0xd008 irq 18
> 
> > ata4.00: ATA-8: ST3500820AS, SD25, max UDMA/133
> > ata4.00: 976773168 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth 0/32)
> > ata4.00: configured for UDMA/133
> 
> > ata4.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x2 frozen
> > ata4.00: cmd b0/d8:00:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 tag 0
> >          res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
> > ata4.00: status: { DRDY }
> 
> Can you bisect to see when this problem starts?  I'm pretty sure it's 
> software, either interrupt-related or the libata driver itself.
> 
> See http://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Libata_error_messages for a 
> full explanation of that error message.
> 
> Most notable:  "DRDY" == device ready == device says everything is OK, 
> from it's perspective.  "timeout" usually means an interrupt wasn't 
> delivered from your ATA controller, when we were expecting one.
> 

I'm trying to get a good starting point for bisection, but at 2.6.22
it still begins to give errors at a few seconds of start copying:

ata4.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x2 frozen
ata4.00: cmd 35/00:00:77:0a:c2/00:04:1c:00:00/e0 tag 0 cdb 0x0 data 524288 out
         res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
ata4: soft resetting port
ata4.00: configured for UDMA/133
ata4: EH complete
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] 976773168 512-byte hardware sectors (500108 MB)
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Write Protect is off
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
ata4.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x2 frozen
ata4.00: cmd 35/00:00:47:71:11/00:04:1d:00:00/e0 tag 0 cdb 0x0 data 524288 out
         res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
ata4: soft resetting port
ata4.00: configured for UDMA/133
ata4: EH complete
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] 976773168 512-byte hardware sectors (500108 MB)
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Write Protect is off
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
sd 5:0:0:0: [sde] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA

I will have to go backwards more and more...

-- 
J.A. Magallon <jamagallon()ono!com>     \               Software is like sex:
                                         \         It's better when it's free
Mandriva Linux release 2008.1 (Cooker) for i586
Linux 2.6.23-jam05 (gcc 4.2.2 20071128 (4.2.2-2mdv2008.1)) SMP PREEMPT

Re: DRDY errors again

[J.A. Magallón]

On Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:59:51 -0400, Jeff Garzik <jeff@garzik.org> wrote:

> J.A. Magallón wrote:
> > scsi4 : ata_piix
> > scsi5 : ata_piix
> > ata3: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0xc000 ctl 0xc400 bmdma 0xd000 irq 18
> > ata4: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0xc800 ctl 0xcc00 bmdma 0xd008 irq 18
> 
> > ata4.00: ATA-8: ST3500820AS, SD25, max UDMA/133
> > ata4.00: 976773168 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth 0/32)
> > ata4.00: configured for UDMA/133
> 
> > ata4.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x2 frozen
> > ata4.00: cmd b0/d8:00:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 tag 0
> >          res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
> > ata4.00: status: { DRDY }
> 

I'm still trying to dig this...

After googling sometime I saw several reports like mine (it looks like a too
common problem). In those repots, kernel messages were a bit different from
mine. For example, from http://marc.info/?l=linux-kernel&m=119498755206823&w=2:

ata1.00: status: { DRDY }
ata1: soft resetting link
ata1: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 300)
ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133
ata1: EH complete

Why I don't have any "SATA link up..." message ?

And at device init, some logs read like:

ata1.00: ATA-8: WDC WD2500BEVS-22UST0, 01.01A01, max UDMA/133
ata1.00: 488397168 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth 31/32)
ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133

Mine is like:

ata3.00: ATA-8: WDC WD3200AVJS-63WDA0, 12.01B02, max UDMA/133
ata3.00: 625142448 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth 0/32)  <===== 0, not 31 ??
ata3.00: configured for UDMA/133
ata4.00: ATA-8: ST3500820AS, SD25, max UDMA/133
ata4.00: 976773168 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth 0/32)  <===== 0, not 31 ??
ata4.00: configured for UDMA/133

Just to see if I have some strange behaviour...

-- 
J.A. Magallon <jamagallon()ono!com>     \               Software is like sex:
                                         \         It's better when it's free
Mandriva Linux release 2008.1 (Cooker) for i586
Linux 2.6.23-jam05 (gcc 4.2.2 20071128 (4.2.2-2mdv2008.1)) SMP PREEMPT