Re: beware of SiS

H. Peter Anvin (hpa@freya.yggdrasil.com)
6 Jul 1996 19:29:41 GMT

Followup to: <199607061918.VAA29505@wildsau.idv.uni-linz.ac.at>
By author: Herbert Rosmanith <herp@wildsau.idv.uni-linz.ac.at>
In newsgroup: linux.dev.kernel
>
>=20
> salam,
>=20
> I experience continous problems with a chipset known as "SiS",
> be that VLB or be that PCI boards or mixed systems. Just now I am get=
ting
>=20
> "hda: timeout: status=3D0x50"
>=20
> when trying to install RedHat from CD-ROM (connected in ide0 as maste=
r
> w/ no additional devices neither on ide0, nor on ide1, since HD=3DSCS=
I).
>=20
> the board I am using this time is labeled: P/I P55SP4
> the chipset are labeled: SiS / 5513 / (c)(m)SIS'95 / CGD0193 / 9603IT
>=20
> I know there's a boot-option ("vlbsis???") which I am not sure if it
> helps, since I am using a pure PCI board right now.
> this is the 3rd time this happens to me. other boards never give
> me this problems, i.e. triton/intel chipset, ali chipset ...
>=20
> you are warned: avoid SiS ... seems to be junkware.... not hardware.
>=20

How nice of you to check your facts before flaming. The IDE
controller on that motherboard is a CMD, not SiS. The CMD640 dual IDE
controller is a known buggy chip; Linux includes some software to fix
it but at least on my motherboard the fix doesn't work, although I can
use the CD-ROM connected to it if I give the option "ide1=3Dserialize"
and *don't* compile in the CMD640 fix.

Or you can just go out and buy a $15 PCI IDE controller and disable
the CMD chip; the SiS mainboard chipset used is actually one of the
very few chipsets out there that correctly lets you disable the
internal controller and redirect both IRQ 14 and IRQ 15 to a slot, so
you don't need a paddleboard.

SiS is actually one of the best chipset manufacturers on the market.
I have *never* seen a failure attributable to a SiS chip, and I have
seen plenty of failures of all kinds.

-hpa

--=20
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