[geeks] IDE question

[Mike F]

On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 13:24:51 -0400
Kevin <kevin at mpcf.com> wrote:

[snip] 
> The machines just basically become completely
> unresponsive during hard writes.  Even the mouse trips
> up.  When the writes are done, all is well.  It's not
> really a problem on these machines it is just a
> curiosity and to me an indication that something
> obviously isn't setup optimally.

It see this behavior all the time, with everything from
486s to Pentium IIIs, running Linux, *BSD, or Windows.
I don't know enough about OS internals to figure it out,
but I know that even while mouse movement and all GUI
activities are sluggish, CPU usage is practically nil.
On the other hand, my rescue-class machines (all SCSI)
show this behavior to a lesser extent as well. Try cp'ing
a large file within a single disk, and watch as even
CLI activity slows down. - MF