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sabrewings
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PrimoCache dumps L2 Storage

Post by sabrewings »

Hello,

I have been using PrimoCache for about six months. For a while it was working great and as expected. I changed some settings to see how things faired and it now seems I can't get PrimoCache to sustain my L2 storage past a few reboots.

Is there a log file I can look at to see why it is being dumped? The odd issue to me is that it isn't every reboot. Maybe every third. Since it's accelerating an archival array, it takes a while to rebuild the L2 side of the cache (L1 is 8GB, L2 is ~450GB) only to have it dumped after a few days.

I do not have the "volatile cache contents" option checked.

Thanks for any insight.
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Jaga
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Re: PrimoCache dumps L2 Storage

Post by Jaga »

Are you using Sleep mode on the machine at all? I found sleep to be somewhat unreliable on my rig, and stopped it long ago.

Can you verify the shutdowns are completely clean? Does Windows give you any message on startup that would indicate any differently?

Have you run diagnostics on the L2 cache drive, to ensure it doesn't have anything showing up in SMART statistics that might indicate the drive is unreliable or has had unreadable sectors that triggered a L2 rebuild?

Support may have an ID code to check the Windows Event Log for, but I suspect your shutdowns are occasionally unreliable and trigger a rebuild of the cache as a result, or that the drive has had issues.
sabrewings
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Re: PrimoCache dumps L2 Storage

Post by sabrewings »

Thanks for the reply.
Jaga wrote: Sat May 30, 2020 11:05 pm Are you using Sleep mode on the machine at all? I found sleep to be somewhat unreliable on my rig, and stopped it long ago.
No, no sleep mode nor hibernate. I only reboot and shut down this machine.
Jaga wrote: Sat May 30, 2020 11:05 pmCan you verify the shutdowns are completely clean? Does Windows give you any message on startup that would indicate any differently?
No indications that it is not clean according to Windows.
Jaga wrote: Sat May 30, 2020 11:05 pmHave you run diagnostics on the L2 cache drive, to ensure it doesn't have anything showing up in SMART statistics that might indicate the drive is unreliable or has had unreadable sectors that triggered a L2 rebuild?
This was one of my first thoughts. It is an older drive (one of the first m.2 available) and when I read that PrimoCache performs an integrity check that it could dump the L2 it made it a possibility. I used the manufacturer's tools and everything says it is fine. I also removed it as an L2 device and was able to fill it with data and copy back off successfully.

I did play around with it yesterday. Both the read and write of the L2 was significantly loaded and it was fine with a reboot. I shut the machine down and fully powered off and it was fine after that as well. I shut down again and let it sit a couple hours, again no issue. However, after being off all night and powering on this morning the L2 cache is totally empty again.

I'm going to try loading it up with data and see how it persists after being powered off for a while. It may have a latent fault that only manifests when power is removed for a significant amount of time. It would be weird, but it's all I have at the moment. I possibly have a drive I can swap it out with to verify the issue. I'm trying to wait for Samsung to release a PCIe 4.0 m.2 so I can upgrade to that and trickle down my current 960 Evo for cache duties.
Jaga wrote: Sat May 30, 2020 11:05 pmSupport may have an ID code to check the Windows Event Log for, but I suspect your shutdowns are occasionally unreliable and trigger a rebuild of the cache as a result, or that the drive has had issues.
That would be helpful to give me another possibility to look at.

Again, thanks for the response. It at least is a start that I haven't missed something simple.
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Re: PrimoCache dumps L2 Storage

Post by Support »

How about turning off the "Windows Fast Startup"? You can turn it off in the PrimoCache option dialog.
sabrewings
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Re: PrimoCache dumps L2 Storage

Post by sabrewings »

support wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2020 4:32 am How about turning off the "Windows Fast Startup"? You can turn it off in the PrimoCache option dialog.
Thanks for the tip. I have set it to off and will evaluate it over a few days. Unfortunately this is so intermittent the only way I have to test it is use it for a few days and see if it holds.

I'll return with an update either way.
sabrewings
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Re: PrimoCache dumps L2 Storage

Post by sabrewings »

Just following up. I believe changing the Windows Fast Startup option did the trick. Using all the hardware I was before, with those settings, I haven't had the L2 cache dump since. Happily purring along at a 99.xx% hit rate.

Thanks.
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Jaga
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Re: PrimoCache dumps L2 Storage

Post by Jaga »

>thumbs-up<
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Re: PrimoCache dumps L2 Storage

Post by Support »

:D
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