diff -uprN vblade-14rc1/aoe.c vblade-14rc2/aoe.c
--- vblade-14rc1/aoe.c	2006-11-20 12:48:05.000000000 -0500
+++ vblade-14rc2/aoe.c	2006-11-20 13:14:04.000000000 -0500
@@ -185,15 +185,42 @@ doaoe(Aoehdr *p)
 	}
 }
 
+// allocate the buffer so that the ata data area
+// is page aligned for o_direct on linux
+
+void *
+bufalloc(uchar **buf, long len)
+{
+	long psize;
+	unsigned long n;
+
+	psize = sysconf(_SC_PAGESIZE);
+	if (psize == -1) {
+		perror("sysconf");
+		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
+	n = len/psize + 3;
+	*buf = malloc(psize * n);
+	if (!*buf) {
+		perror("malloc");
+		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
+	n = (unsigned long) *buf;
+	n += psize * 2;
+	n &= ~(psize - 1);
+	return (void *) (n - sizeof (Ata));
+}
+
 void
 aoe(void)
 {
 	Aoehdr *p;
+	uchar *freeme;
 	uchar *buf;
 	int n, sh;
 	enum { bufsz = 1<<16, };
 
-	buf = malloc(bufsz);
+	buf = bufalloc(&freeme, bufsz);
 	aoead(sfd);
 
 	for (;;) {
@@ -218,7 +245,7 @@ aoe(void)
 			continue;
 		doaoe(p);
 	}
-	free(buf);
+	free(freeme);
 }
 
 void
@@ -310,7 +337,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	}
 	if (s.st_mode & (S_IWUSR|S_IWGRP|S_IWOTH))
 		omode = O_RDWR;
-	bfd = open(argv[3], omode);
+	bfd = opendisk(argv[3], omode);
 	if (bfd == -1) {
 		perror("open");
 		exit(1);
diff -uprN vblade-14rc1/fns.h vblade-14rc2/fns.h
--- vblade-14rc1/fns.h	2006-11-13 16:12:31.000000000 -0500
+++ vblade-14rc2/fns.h	2006-11-20 13:13:44.000000000 -0500
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ int	atacmd(Ataregs *, uchar *, int);
 
 int	dial(char *);
 int	getea(int, char *, uchar *);
+int	opendisk(const char *, int);
 int	putsec(int, uchar *, vlong, int);
 int	getsec(int, uchar *, vlong, int);
 int	putpkt(int, uchar *, int);
diff -uprN vblade-14rc1/freebsd.c vblade-14rc2/freebsd.c
--- vblade-14rc1/freebsd.c	2006-11-13 13:57:34.000000000 -0500
+++ vblade-14rc2/freebsd.c	2006-11-20 13:13:44.000000000 -0500
@@ -241,6 +241,11 @@ getea(int s, char *eth, uchar *ea)
 	return(0);
 }
 
+int
+opendisk(const char *disk, int omode)
+{
+	return open(disk, omode);
+}
 
 int
 getsec(int fd, uchar *place, vlong lba, int nsec)
diff -uprN vblade-14rc1/linux.c vblade-14rc2/linux.c
--- vblade-14rc1/linux.c	2006-11-13 13:57:34.000000000 -0500
+++ vblade-14rc2/linux.c	2006-11-20 13:13:44.000000000 -0500
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 // linux.c: low level access routines for Linux
 #include "config.h"
+#define _GNU_SOURCE
 #include <sys/socket.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <string.h>
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@
 #include <netinet/in.h>
 #include <linux/fs.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
 
 #include "dat.h"
 #include "fns.h"
@@ -102,17 +104,21 @@ getmtu(int s, char *name)
 }
 
 int
+opendisk(const char *disk, int omode)
+{
+	return open(disk, omode|O_DIRECT);
+}
+
+int
 getsec(int fd, uchar *place, vlong lba, int nsec)
 {
-	lseek(fd, lba * 512, 0);
-	return read(fd, place, nsec * 512);
+	return pread(fd, place, nsec * 512, lba * 512);
 }
 
 int
 putsec(int fd, uchar *place, vlong lba, int nsec)
 {
-	lseek(fd, lba * 512, 0);
-	return write(fd, place, nsec * 512);
+	return pwrite(fd, place, nsec * 512, lba * 512);
 }
 
 int