# NCQ Disabled [SOLVED]

## Evilguru

Hello,

For some reason NCQ is disabled for my ~AMD64 system running the 2.6.33 kernel. Dmesg shows:

```

ata3.00: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 300)

ata3.01: SATA link down (SStatus 0 SControl 300)

ata3.00: ATA-7: ST3320620AS, 3.AAE, max UDMA/133

ata3.00: 625142448 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth 0/32)

```

So while the kernel is detecting that my drive supports NCQ it is not using it. Attempting to enable it as:

```

fluorine freddie # echo 31 > /sys/block/sda/device/queue_depth

bash: /sys/block/sda/device/queue_depth: Permission denied

```

Yet I am operating as root. Can someone help me to figure out: a) why it is disabled by default; b) why I am unable to enable it as root.

Regards, Freddie.Last edited by Evilguru on Mon May 03, 2010 1:16 pm; edited 1 time in total

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## NeddySeagoon

Evilguru,

```
ata3.00: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 300) 
```

says you have a SATA 1 chipset or drive.

NCQ is part of SATA II. It needs more that drive support.

----------

## chithanh

It is also possible that you are using a generic driver for your SATA chipset, which will not support NCQ. Verify with 

```
lspci -k
```

----------

## Evilguru

My motherboard is an ASUS P5B Deluxe, which has an Intel P965 chipset. A quick look on the Intel website shows this to support SATA-II.

So I guess the question now becomes: why is the ATA driver misidentifying my chipset?

The relevant lspci bits:

```

00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) 4 port SATA IDE Controller (rev 02)

        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 81ec                                             

        Kernel driver in use: ata_piix        

00:1f.5 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) 2 port SATA IDE Controller (rev 02)

        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 81ec                                             

        Kernel driver in use: ata_piix   

```

Regards, Freddie.

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## NeddySeagoon

Evilguru,

From memory, the ICH8 Family is SATA 1, hence the 150Gb/sec link speed.

Do you have a JMicron chipset too ?

Round about ICH8, Intel made its SATA chipsets AHCI compatible, so you could could try the AHCI driver.

Of course, if your chipset is not AHCI compatible, the system won't boot.

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## chithanh

I think for NCQ support in Intel SATA chipsets, they must be in AHCI mode. This can usually be switched in the BIOS and is often disabled by default because older versions of Windows don't like it.

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## Evilguru

 *chithanh wrote:*   

> I think for NCQ support in Intel SATA chipsets, they must be in AHCI mode. This can usually be switched in the BIOS and is often disabled by default because older versions of Windows don't like it.

 

Switching to AHCI in the BIOS did the trick. It now shows 31/32 as expected upon boot.

Regards, Freddie.

----------

