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Note: You will need to be logged in as root to perform this tweak.

Default Settings:

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/hda

/dev/hda:
 Timing buffered disk reads:  64 MB in  3.57 seconds = 17.93 MB/sec

Identification info that was obtained from the drive at boot time:

#/sbin/hdparm -i /dev/hda
 
/dev/hda:
 
 Model=Maxtor 4D040H2, FwRev=DAH017K0, SerialNo=D21ZWSPE
 Config={ Fixed }
 RawCHS=16383/16/63, TrkSize=0, SectSize=0, ECCbytes=57
 BuffType=DualPortCache, BuffSize=2048kB, MaxMultSect=16, MultSect=16
 CurCHS=4047/16/255, CurSects=-217054981, LBA=yes, LBAsects=80043264
 IORDY=on/off, tPIO={min:120,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120}
 PIO modes: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
 DMA modes: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 *udma2 udma3 udma4 udma5
 AdvancedPM=yes: disabled (255)
 Drive Supports : ATA/ATAPI-6 T13 1410D revision 0 : ATA-1 ATA-2 ATA-3 ATA-4 ATA-5 ATA-6

See the current settings:

#hdparm -v /dev/hda
 
/dev/hda:
 multcount    = 16 (on)
 I/O support  =  0 (16-bit)
 unmaskirq    =  0 (off)
 using_dma    =  1 (on)
 keepsettings =  0 (off)
 nowerr       =  0 (off)
 readonly     =  0 (off)
 readahead    =  8 (on)
 geometry     = 4982/255/63, sectors = 80043264, start = 0

Notice that I/O support is 16-bit, but doing research on the "Maxtor 4D040H2", I found that it support 32-bit. Also, unmaskirq is turned off and DMA mode is set to: udma2 (X66). The "MaxMultiSect" is the number to use for the multicount setting.

Changing to new settings:
Turning on 32-bit mode, udma5 (X69), umask and dma for "/dev/hda".

#/sbin/hdparm -c1 -X69 -u1 -d1 /dev/hda

Final result of the tweak:

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/hda
 
/dev/hda:
 Timing buffered disk reads:  64 MB in  2.08 seconds = 30.77 MB/sec

Notice the considerable improvement!!

Tweaked settings:

#/sbin/hdparm -v /dev/hda

/dev/hda:
multcount = 16 (on)
I/O support = 1 (32-bit)
unmaskirq = 1 (on)
using_dma = 1 (on)
keepsettings = 0 (off)
nowerr = 0 (off)
readonly = 0 (off)
readahead = 8 (on)
geometry = 4982/255/63, sectors = 80043264, start = 0

Make sure to `man hdparm` and do a bit of research on your hard-drive before tweaking it and use the above example at your own risk.

Also, refer to this thread for More DETAILS...