"Charles Howse" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Charles Howse" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> >
> > "Rod Speed" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:bk8nie$qg8h4$(E-Mail Removed)...
> > >
> > > "Charles Howse" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > >
> > > > "Rod Speed" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > > > news:bk8462$qfa7f$(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > > >
> > > > > Charles Howse <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > > > > news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > > >
> > > > > > I have an old clone with a Celeron 300, and AMI BIOS.
> > > > > > When I enter BIOS Setup, it tells me:
> > > > > > AMIBIOS HIFLEX SETUP UTILITY - VERSION 1.20
> > > > > > I have an 8GB HDD as primary master,
> > > > > > a 2.1 GB HDD as secondary master,
> > > > > > and a CDROM as secondary slave.
> > > > >
> > > > > > During post, there is about a 30 second delay while the drives are
> > > > detected.
> > > > >
> > > > > You can get quite noticeable pauses with some drive pairs
> > > > > on a particular ribbon cable. Thats basically just because
> > > > > a particular pair dont coexist that well on a single cable.
> > > > >
> > > > > > The computer continues to load the OS (FreeBSD 4.8-RELEASE-p4).
> > > > > > During device detection there is another 30 second
> > > > > > delay after the detection of the atapi controller.
> > > > >
> > > > > Likely its doing the drive presence check all over again.
> > > > >
> > > > > > All drives are detected properly, and I can read and write to
> them.
> > > > >
> > > > > > If I make the 2.1GB HDD the primary master and the
> > > > > > 8GB HDD the secondary master, there is no delay, either
> > > > > > in post or during device detection while loading the OS.
> > > > >
> > > > > Pretty good evidence that its the pairing of the 2GB
> > > > > hard drive and the cdrom drive thats causing the delay.
> > > > >
> > > > > > What might be the cause of this delay,
> > > > >
> > > > > See above.
> > > > >
> > > > > > and what can I do to avoid it?
> > > > >
> > > > > Move the cdrom to primary slave.
> > > >
> > > > Hi Rod,
> > > > Thanks for the reply.
> > > > I'll try your suggestion tomorrow morning and let you know how it
> works.
> > > >
> > > > Just one question for my information now...Isn't it correct that
> moving
> > the
> > > > CDROM to primary slave will slow down transfers from CD to primary
> > master
> > > > device, because devices on the same IDE channel can't read and write
> to
> > each
> > > > other at the same time?
> > >
> > > Its not that so much as the fact that head seeks are rather
> > > slower on the cdrom drives and so they do tend to hold up
> > > ops on the boot drive while they are happening.
> > >
> > > But you dont normally copy all that much stuff
> > > from the cdrom to the boot drive anyway, and
> > > even with say major installs, the difference in
> > > total time can be zero with the cdrom drive as
> > > slave on the primary or on the secondary controller.
> > >
> > > So its more theoretical than real in most real world situations.
> > >
> > > > Isn't that the reason that OEM's put the HDD on primary
> > > > and CDROM on secondary in single HDD systems?
> > >
> > > Not really. In fact the cheapest systems often have them
> > > on one ribbon cable just to save a cable. And most users
> > > wouldnt be able to pick the difference in a double blind
> > > trial when you add an extra ribbon cable in that config.
> >
> > Well, no joy.
> > First I disabled the CDROM in BIOS.
> > I told it there was nothing on the secondary slave, and changed the boot
> > order to exclude the CD.
> > Still had the delay.
> > Next, I unplugged the power and ribbon cables from the CD, still have the
> > delay.
> > I take that to mean that the delay is caused by the 8GB HDD.
> > For various reasons, I will not change the 2GB drive to PriMaster, I'll
> just
> > have to live with the delay unless we can figure it out.
> >
> > Here are the details of each drive:
> > PriMaster - WDC WD84AA 8063MB UDMA33 (Note: *under* 8.4G)
> > SecMaster - Quantum Fireball EL2.5A 2445MB UDMA33
> > SecSlave - Matshita CR-588 PIO4
> >
> > BIOS Details:
> > American Megatrends, Inc.
> > From Top Left of Screen - A6117MS V.1.8 082198
> > From Bottom Left of Screen:
> > 61-0821-001169-00111111-071595-440LX-1440L000-H
> >
> > BIOS Settings:
> > Auto Configuration with Optimal Settings
> > Change boot order to: CD, Floppy, IDE0
> >
> > I have also Googled around a bit, and can't seem to find a site to
> download
> > a flash upgrade for AMI BIOS.
> > Do you have any info on that?
> I had the drive jumpered for 'dual master' when it was the only drive
> on the primary channel, and should have not been jumpered at all.
Yeah, one of the real quirks of the WD drives.
With some motherboards/bios you dont even get to
see the drive at all when its not jumpered correctly.
> My bad, thanks for the conversation.
No probs, thanks for posting the washup. Far too many dont bother.
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