Intel Turbo Cache (robson)

vanquishedangel · 2023-06-30 14:16

Hi, and thank you.

I know this is possibly farfetched as Robson was a failed tertiary technology. I also researched it a lot and there is not much information on it but there does seem to be a partial driver for the chip for linux. I also know that my case/request maybe specific and will not apply to a majority of people.

But I was hoping that since q4os was built to be lightweight and work on aging hardware, that maybe it could be incorporated into the kernel (if it is not already) or have a/the driver incorporated and that it could serve its use.

I fixed up an old dell d430 and while it actually works great (thanks to q4os and a ton of tweaks), it has the ability to use the Robson chip. Since the hard drive connector is the old apple ziff connector, its speed it limited to 80mbps despite it now having an SSD. The Robson chip could be really helpful in this case.

This could be added on the side through q4os repositories. Also having such a driver or ability to use a space as hard drive cache (different then swap) may be beneficial in the future anyway as technology improves and speeds get faster (you can add a faster chip then the hard drive to boost the computer). Similar to ready boost etc.

One of the partial drivers: https://github.com/yarrick/turbomem

I have also read up on EnhanceIO, zfs, and Bcache.

Last edited by vanquishedangel (2023-06-30 14:26)

vanquishedangel · 2023-07-07 03:37

So I received my Robson chip today and put it in the computer, I have some tests for you guys . this was just after physically installing it. The odd part is it is not listed in lspci that I can see, but appears to be seen as a USB connected device.

I think it is seen as "Bus 005 Device 003: ID 0e39:a100 Smart Modular Technologies, Inc. Dell ON Storage"

shawn@shawn-latituded430:~$ sudo hdparm -Tt /dev/sda

/dev/sdb (robson Chip):
Timing cached reads: 1396 MB in 2.00 seconds = 698.05 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 56 MB in 3.05 seconds = 18.39 MB/sec
shawn@shawn-latituded430:~$ sudo hdparm -Tt /dev/sda

/dev/sda (main Hard drive SSD with a pata connection):
Timing cached reads: 1408 MB in 2.00 seconds = 704.35 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 252 MB in 3.02 seconds = 83.52 MB/sec
shawn@shawn-latituded430:~$ sudo hdparm -Tt /dev/sdc

/dev/sdc (swap space 2gig amtron PCMCIA card):
Timing cached reads: 2 MB in 2.32 seconds = 882.25 kB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 4 MB in 4.65 seconds = 879.92 kB/sec
shawn@shawn-latituded430:~$

output of lsusb:

Bus 005 Device 004: ID 0e39:a100 Smart Modular Technologies, Inc. Dell ON Storage
Couldn't open device, some information will be missing
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 2.00
bDeviceClass 0
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 64
idVendor 0x0e39 Smart Modular Technologies, Inc.
idProduct 0xa100
bcdDevice 15.00
iManufacturer 1 SMART
iProduct 2 Dell ON Storage
iSerial 3 2011030599180364
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 0x0020
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0x80
(Bus Powered)
MaxPower 100mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 2
bInterfaceClass 8 Mass Storage
bInterfaceSubClass 6 SCSI
bInterfaceProtocol 80 Bulk-Only
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x02 EP 2 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0

Bus 005 Device 002: ID 413c:a005 Dell Computer Corp. Internal 2.0 Hub
Couldn't open device, some information will be missing
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 2.00
bDeviceClass 9 Hub
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 2 TT per port
bMaxPacketSize0 64
idVendor 0x413c Dell Computer Corp.
idProduct 0xa005 Internal 2.0 Hub
bcdDevice 50.18
iManufacturer 0
iProduct 0
iSerial 0
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 0x0029
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0xe0
Self Powered
Remote Wakeup
MaxPower 2mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 1
bInterfaceClass 9 Hub
bInterfaceSubClass 0
bInterfaceProtocol 1 Single TT
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 3
Transfer Type Interrupt
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0001 1x 1 bytes
bInterval 12
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 1
bNumEndpoints 1
bInterfaceClass 9 Hub
bInterfaceSubClass 0
bInterfaceProtocol 2 TT per port
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 3
Transfer Type Interrupt
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0001 1x 1 bytes
bInterval 12

So the odd parts are i did not install any software, The chip is not made by intel but by Dell and Smart, even though it was labeled "intel Robson". Either way it appears to be working and can be seen in gparted and smartctl. Some things are boosted on the dell latitude d430 like loading the ram disk when booting and applications do appear to be faster and smoother.

This device appears as a block device as well, it may be possible to use it for swap.

Last edited by vanquishedangel (2023-07-07 03:50)

vanquishedangel · 2023-07-07 14:13

Also to note, though the speeds seem to read at the same rate between the hard drive and the "robson" chip, originally the highest speed hdparm reported (before installing the robson chip) was 85 mbps. After installing that chip it says over 700mbps.

But it also seems the feature has been added either in the kernel, or computer bios already.

Last edited by vanquishedangel (2023-07-07 14:14)

Rademes · 2023-07-28 17:36

vanquishedangel wrote:

But I was hoping that since q4os was built to be lightweight and work on aging hardware, that maybe it could be incorporated into the kernel (if it is not already) or have a/the driver incorporated and that it could serve its use.

As far as I know, Q4OS Team does not make customized Linux kernels. They use standard Debian Linux kernels. Maybe, you could contact Debian Linux developers?

Q4OS Forum

#1 2023-06-30 14:16

Intel Turbo Cache (robson)

#2 2023-07-07 03:37

Re: Intel Turbo Cache (robson)

#3 2023-07-07 14:13

Re: Intel Turbo Cache (robson)

#4 2023-07-28 17:36

Re: Intel Turbo Cache (robson)

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