External eSATA drive downgraded to 1.5Gbs

[Konstantin Svist]

On 10/26/2009 11:32 AM, Kam Leo wrote:
> On Sat, Oct 24, 2009 at 5:12 AM, Andy Campbell
[snip]
>> [trantor] ~ $dmesg | grep ata7
>>
>> ata7: SATA max UDMA/133 abar m8192 at 0xfeafe000 port 0xfeafe100 irq 10
>> ata7: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
>> ata7.00: ATA-8: WDC WD10EACS-00D6B1, 01.01A01, max UDMA/133
>> ata7.00: 1953525168 sectors, multi 0: LBA48 NCQ (depth 31/32)
>>   sda:<6>ata7.00: configured for UDMA/133
>>   sde:<3>ata7.00: exception Emask 0x10 SAct 0x1 SErr 0x780100 action 0x6
>> ata7.00: irq_stat 0x08000000
>>
>> ata7: SError: { UnrecovData 10B8B Dispar BadCRC Handshk }
>
>                                                       ^
>                                                       |
>
> This says that your controller and external drive can not reliably
> communicate at 3Gbps.
>
> Things to do to troubleshoot problem:
>
> 1. Make sure that your computer and external drive have proper
> electrical ground. Suggest both be plugged into same electrical outlet
> or power strip.  Use a tester (it's a three prong device with three
> indicator lights) to verify that the AC is wired correctly.
> 2. Check your cable. Is it the proper length, in good condition,
> making good connection, etc.?
> 3. Exchange or replace the cable.
> 4. Test your drive on a different computer.
>
[snip]


My drives are internal SATA & I have multiple nodes all showing this 
message:

Oct 25 04:30:57 rele406 kernel: ata5.01: qc timeout (cmd 0xa0)
Oct 25 04:30:57 rele406 kernel: ata5.01: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 
SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
Oct 25 04:30:57 rele406 kernel: ata5.01: cmd 
a0/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/b0 tag 0
Oct 25 04:30:57 rele406 kernel:         cdb 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Oct 25 04:30:57 rele406 kernel:         res 
51/20:03:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/b0 Emask 0x5 (timeout)
Oct 25 04:30:57 rele406 kernel: ata5.01: status: { DRDY ERR }
Oct 25 04:31:02 rele406 kernel: ata5: link is slow to respond, please be 
patient (ready=0)
Oct 25 04:31:07 rele406 kernel: ata5: device not ready (errno=-16), 
forcing hardreset
Oct 25 04:31:07 rele406 kernel: ata5: soft resetting link
Oct 25 04:31:07 rele406 kernel: ata5.01: configured for UDMA/33
Oct 25 04:31:07 rele406 kernel: ata5: EH complete


Not quite the same thing, of course.. but hoping you can tell me 
something about it.
All drives & motheboards are same model. All are showing this error 
message at seemingly random intervals.