IDE BM-DMA on Dell GXPro

Neilski (neil.conway@ukaea.org.uk)
Thu, 6 Nov 1997 17:06:57 +0000


Just wondering why I get:

kernel: ide: i82371 PIIX (Triton) on PCI bus 0 function 105
kernel: ide: BM-DMA feature is not enabled (BIOS)

on 2.0.30, Dell PPro 200 (GXPro model).

Is this something I am really stuck with cos of the BIOS or is it
get-round-able ?

Can't see much discussion in the kernel source code about the
meaning of the bit in question, but it *looks* to me to be fairly
terminal for this BIOS.

Next stop Dell I guess, but I can't believe they would release a
motherboard with crippled IDE ports ? This would imply that NT
would be in the same boat with this motherboard, yes ?

ta for suggestions
Neil