Thinkpads Forum

OK, this is really bugging me now... I got OS X 10.4.6 installed on my T60p (specs in my sig) and it even works with AHCI on. This mostly means I do not have to go to the BIOS and disable it every time I boot OSX86.

However during my exploration I noticed that while AHCI seems to be suported by OS X 10.4.6, the Hard Drive itself does not seem to support NCQ (Native Command Queuing) which is the reason AHCI exists in the first place.

Can anyone confirm that the Hitachi Travelstar 7K100 HD (model HTS721010G9SA00) that comes standard and seems to be the top of the line offered by Lenovo & with this machine, actually DOES support NCQ????

Is the AHCI implementation of OSX lacking or is this truly a limitation of the actual Hard Drive????

Here is a screenshot of what OSX86 10.4.6 shows:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/s ... no_NCQ.jpg

Is the AHCI implementation of OSX lacking or is this truly a limitation of the actual Hard Drive????

Note: If the image is over 50Kb, please post a link instead or a warning; Thanks -Wolf

Yes, the drive supports it: http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/7 ... 100_ov.htm

The T60 uses the Intel 82801GBM SATA AHCI controller, which satisfies Intel's requirement for NCQ: http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/i ... 012304.htm

So the only thing left to go wrong, I think, is the driver. If you were running Windows, I'd say that you need to downloaded the latest Intel Matrix Storage Manager from here http://support.intel.com/support/chipsets/imst/

But you're using OSX which I know nothing about.

Thanks RonS!

Actually I am not just running OSX86 10.4.6, I am pentuple booting with 3 XP's, 1 Vista & OSX86 (had to use logical partitions for XP to accomplish that

Glad to hear it is just an OSX86 driver issue...

Now if I can only get the Audio and the FireGL V5200 to work at high-res I'll be happy

UPDATE: I'm almost 100% functional now! See my post HERE

ssimon: I received the following response when I asked Hitachi how to disable NCQ on the 7K100:

John,

Native command queuing requires a controller capable of using the feature.
To disable the feature simply requires you to turn the feature off in the controller or system BIOS. The feature is not disabled at the drive end, but rather within the controller. If the controller does not support the feature, the drive does not use it.

I am also aware that you can disable queuing through the operating system.
In XP the feature is found under device management... ATA/Atapi/IDE controllers... select the appropriate Serial ATA controller...
within the channel tab(s) should be a check option to 'Enable command queuing'. You need to uncheck the option to disable the function. One again, if the controller does not support the feature this option is greyed out.

I hope this clarifies the situation.

Good luck and have a nice day!

Regards,
Paul H
Hitachi GST technical support team

_______________________________
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies
US toll-free: 888.426.5214
Fax: 507.322.2419
support_usa@hitachigst.com
www.hitachigst.com

hoya wrote:ssimon: I received the following response when I asked Hitachi how to disable NCQ on the 7K100:

John,

Native command queuing requires a controller capable of using the feature.
To disable the feature simply requires you to turn the feature off in the controller or system BIOS. The feature is not disabled at the drive end, but rather within the controller. If the controller does not support the feature, the drive does not use it.

I am also aware that you can disable queuing through the operating system.
In XP the feature is found under device management... ATA/Atapi/IDE controllers... select the appropriate Serial ATA controller...
within the channel tab(s) should be a check option to 'Enable command queuing'. You need to uncheck the option to disable the function. One again, if the controller does not support the feature this option is greyed out.

I hope this clarifies the situation.

Good luck and have a nice day!

Regards,
Paul H
Hitachi GST technical support team

_______________________________
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies
US toll-free: 888.426.5214
Fax: 507.322.2419
support_usa@hitachigst.com
www.hitachigst.com

Interesting going to device manager and IDE ATA/ATAPI controller I see nothing like "within the channel tab(s) should be a check option to 'Enable command queuing'. You need to uncheck the option to disable the function. One again, if the controller does not support the feature this option is greyed out." not even a channel tab!

I installed the intel chipset support & Intel Matrix Storage Manager.

I am reported as being in AHCI mode, but I see

Native Command Queuing Support: No

My Model is HTS721010G9SA00

After enabling AHCI+NCQ on my home PC, I'm convinced it makes a significant difference to multitasking workloads..

So why no ACQ...

Hi ssimon,

unfortunately you will not get it to run.
The Hitachi Drive that is shipped with your Thinkpad has a IBM BIOS, and that has NCQ disabled.
Also just forget this NCQ stuff, it will slow down your machine. Just search the forum for AHCI, I was too lazy to search the old posts.
To summarize:
I did benchmarks with a original Hitachi drive (Hitachi BIOS with NCQ) and a original Thinkpad (IBM bios) drive. The Hitachi drive was much slower than the IBM.
Forget NCQ, perhaps it works in a few years. I disabled AHCI in bios and since then both my drives are equally fast.

Wolfgang