IDE Hard disk reverts from DMA to PIO

[G. Michael Askew]

My mum's PC has an Aopen AX34 mobo and I installed WinXP Home SP2 on her
new Maxtor 6Y080L0 80GB IDE HDD. It seemed to be running really slow, and
I discovered this was due to the hard disk running in PIO mode (not DMA)..
I've read up on this and tried everything suggested (swapped 80-wire IDE
cables, uninstalled IDE controller, set DMA failure counter to reset after
success) and still it won't come out of PIO.

The 2nd IDE channel (connected to CDRW and DVD-ROM) works fine in DMA mode.

I've tried upgrading the BIOS, but no change.
I ran several hard disk testing programs (from Ultimate Boot CD) and it
comes up as healthy, but I'm wondering if I have a faulty IDE controller..

System Event logs in XP show six "atapi" code 9 errors: "The device,
\Device\Ide\IdePort0, did not respond within the timeout period." followed
by "atapi" code 11 error: "The driver detected a controller error on
\Device\Ide\IdePort0."

Anyone got any ideas what I can do?
I just had an idea of running the HDD from the second IDE channel, and the
optical drives from the first. Just in case the primary IDE controller is
faulty. Would WinXP work with this config?

Michael

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Why is my drive using PIO mode instead of DMA in Windows XP?

Problem:
The drive controller is set to use "DMA if available" but reports to be only in PIO mode. User cannot turn on DMA for ATA device. The only option for the user who wants to enable DMA mode is to uninstall and reinstall the affected channel, "Primary IDE Channel" or "Secondary IDE Channel". Reboot the system and Windows XP will reinstall the driver for the channel.

Cause:
Windows XP will turn off DMA mode for a device after encountering certain errors during data transfer operations. If more that six DMA transfer timeouts occur, Windows will turn off DMA and use only PIO mode on that device.

Windows XP downgrades the Ultra DMA transfer mode after receiving more than six CRC errors. Whenever possible, the operating system will step down one UDMA mode at a time (from UDMA mode 4 to UDMA mode 3, and so on).

All CRC and timeout errors are logged in the system event log. These types of errors could be caused by improper mounting or improper cabling (for example, 40-pin instead of 80-pin cable). Or such errors could indicate imminent hardware failure, for example, in a hard drive or chipset.

*Referenced from Microsoft - http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/tech/storage/IDE-DMA.asp

Solution:
1.. Ensure you are using an 80-pin UDMA cable that does not exceed 18 inches in length.
2.. Windows XP Service Pack 1.
3.. Uninstall and reinstall the affected channel, "Primary IDE Channel" or "Secondary IDE Channel". Reboot the system and Windows XP will reinstall the driver for the channel.

1.. Open Device Manager.
2.. Double-click on IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers
3.. Right-click on Primary IDE Channel or Secondary IDE Channel and select uninstall.
4.. Click on "Ok".
5.. Restart the system.
6.. Upon restart, Windows will reinstall the Primary or Secondary IDE channel.
Note: It is recommended to obtain the latest drivers for the hard drive controller on the motherboard or controller add-in card from the manufacturer.

Download PowerMax
http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/m...tware Downloads/ATA Hard Drives&downloadID=22

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

Be Smart! Protect Your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.mspx

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

My mum's PC has an Aopen AX34 mobo and I installed WinXP Home SP2 on her
new Maxtor 6Y080L0 80GB IDE HDD. It seemed to be running really slow, and
I discovered this was due to the hard disk running in PIO mode (not DMA).
I've read up on this and tried everything suggested (swapped 80-wire IDE
cables, uninstalled IDE controller, set DMA failure counter to reset after
success) and still it won't come out of PIO.

The 2nd IDE channel (connected to CDRW and DVD-ROM) works fine in DMA mode.

I've tried upgrading the BIOS, but no change.
I ran several hard disk testing programs (from Ultimate Boot CD) and it
comes up as healthy, but I'm wondering if I have a faulty IDE controller.

System Event logs in XP show six "atapi" code 9 errors: "The device,
\Device\Ide\IdePort0, did not respond within the timeout period." followed
by "atapi" code 11 error: "The driver detected a controller error on
\Device\Ide\IdePort0."

Anyone got any ideas what I can do?
I just had an idea of running the HDD from the second IDE channel, and the
optical drives from the first. Just in case the primary IDE controller is
faulty. Would WinXP work with this config?

Michael

 

[G. Michael Askew]

Hi Carey

Yep, I knew about the 6-errors-you're-out thing. At least it's a timeout
and not CRC error.

I swapped a 24" long 80-wire IDE ribbon for a shorter one (and made sure
blue went to mobo and grey plug to the master HDD), so that's ok.
Incidentally the longer cable worked on my own PC fine, and I swapped it
with a cable that was working on mine previously.

Mum's machine already has SP2 installed (installed from nLite streamlined
XP Home install CD, no components removed).

I tried uninstalling the IDE channels and they still redetected on bootup
(with long delay) into PIO mode.

I already installed the latest VIA 4-in-1 drivers (legacy ones they said
worked better with AX34's Apollo 133 chipset).

I ran PowerMax before, and ran every test, and it came up 100%!

Still lost.

 

[Trent©]

Hi Carey

Yep, I knew about the 6-errors-you're-out thing. At least it's a timeout
and not CRC error.

I swapped a 24" long 80-wire IDE ribbon for a shorter one (and made sure
blue went to mobo and grey plug to the master HDD), so that's ok.
Incidentally the longer cable worked on my own PC fine, and I swapped it
with a cable that was working on mine previously.

Mum's machine already has SP2 installed (installed from nLite streamlined
XP Home install CD, no components removed).

I tried uninstalling the IDE channels and they still redetected on bootup
(with long delay) into PIO mode.

I already installed the latest VIA 4-in-1 drivers (legacy ones they said
worked better with AX34's Apollo 133 chipset).

I ran PowerMax before, and ran every test, and it came up 100%!

Still lost.

<[email protected]> wrote:

Its weird that yer gettin' ATAPI errors for an IDE device. Are you
sure the IDE drive isn't on the secondary controller by mistake?

Disconnect all drives except the hard drive...see what happens. Make
sure you pay attention to the CMOS screen as it boots...for any clues
as to what's happening.

You might also try using the evaluation copy of BootItNG to analyze
the disk.

Good luck...let us know.


Have a nice one...

Trent

Budweiser: Helping ugly people have sex since 1876!

 

[Trent©]

My mum's PC has an Aopen AX34 mobo and I installed WinXP Home SP2 on her
new Maxtor 6Y080L0 80GB IDE HDD. It seemed to be running really slow, and
I discovered this was due to the hard disk running in PIO mode (not DMA).

Forgot...

Make sure the jumper is set to master.


Have a nice one...

Trent

Budweiser: Helping ugly people have sex since 1876!

 

[Guest]

If the board uses an intel chipset 850,845,or less,then download the
application
accelerator from intel,you can set the controlers to run in whatever speed
you
set them at.If the chipset is higher,then select modes in the BIOS.

 

[G. Michael Askew]

Nope, the chipset is VIA Apollo, not Intel

If the board uses an intel chipset 850,845,or less,then download the
application
accelerator from intel,you can set the controlers to run in whatever

 

[Alex Nichol]

Nope, the chipset is VIA Apollo, not Intel

Then I would look at the Via site for their latest '4 in 1' drivers

 

[Alex Nichol]

I tried uninstalling the IDE channels and they still redetected on bootup
(with long delay) into PIO mode.

From all you say I can only think that there is genuine hardware trouble
with the motherboard controllers, thus generating an unacceptable error
rate

 

[G. Michael Askew]

I was afraid of that! Although the mobo's been working fine for 2 years
with a Seagate 13GB drive, and the problems only really started when I
added the Maxtor 80GB. Windows ME (as was installed then) would only run
in MS-DOS Compat mode while the Maxtor was connected. Disconnected, it ran
in Real Mode.
I thought it was a Windows problem so installed WinXP (fresh on the new
Maxtor HDD). Funny...connecting the old hard disk as a slave, it didn't
show up in Windows, but did in Knoppix Linux.

Either it's the Maxtor 80 causing all the trouble (which means another £35
for a replacement...too late to return to Ebuyer) or the HDD controller on
Mobo is faulty.

If I added a PCI IDE controller, would it be possible to cold-boot from a
HDD on that controller, or does it need drivers first?

 

[Trent©]

Hi Carey

Yep, I knew about the 6-errors-you're-out thing. At least it's a timeout
and not CRC error.

I swapped a 24" long 80-wire IDE ribbon for a shorter one (and made sure
blue went to mobo and grey plug to the master HDD),

On CS, gray doesn't go to the master.

As I suggested before, change your jumpers to manual select.


Have a nice one...

Trent

Budweiser: Helping ugly people have sex since 1876!

 

[G. Michael Askew]

Yeah, I set the jumper to Master anyway, but I'll try swapping the
connectors.

 

[M]

You need to read Knowledge Base article 817472,
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;817472 scroll down
to near the end where it tells how to put two new keys into the registry,
then delete the IDE controllers in device manager and reboot. You will now
be able to select 'DMA if available' in device manager and when you next
reboot DMA will work, at least it did on one of my PCs!

My mum's PC has an Aopen AX34 mobo and I installed WinXP Home SP2 on her
new Maxtor 6Y080L0 80GB IDE HDD. It seemed to be running really slow, and
I discovered this was due to the hard disk running in PIO mode (not DMA).
I've read up on this and tried everything suggested (swapped 80-wire IDE
cables, uninstalled IDE controller, set DMA failure counter to reset after
success) and still it won't come out of PIO.

The 2nd IDE channel (connected to CDRW and DVD-ROM) works fine in DMA mode.

I've tried upgrading the BIOS, but no change.
I ran several hard disk testing programs (from Ultimate Boot CD) and it
comes up as healthy, but I'm wondering if I have a faulty IDE controller.

System Event logs in XP show six "atapi" code 9 errors: "The device,
\Device\Ide\IdePort0, did not respond within the timeout period." followed
by "atapi" code 11 error: "The driver detected a controller error on
\Device\Ide\IdePort0."

Anyone got any ideas what I can do?
I just had an idea of running the HDD from the second IDE channel, and the
optical drives from the first. Just in case the primary IDE controller is
faulty. Would WinXP work with this config?

Michael

 

[G. Michael Askew]

Yep, I did that. Both deleting them in Device Manager, and deleting the
checksum in the registry. Still same result.

 

[M]

There is no reason not to run the hard drive from the second IDE channel and
the optical drives from the first. You may have to reconfigure the order of
boot in the BIOS. I would suspect that is more likely a faulty hard drive
or IDE cable (my guess is the cable). You should check the hard drive and
motherboard IDE socket for damaged pins. If it turns out to be a faulty IDE
controller on the motherboard you could install an IDE controller (RAID)
card although replacing the motherboard might not cost a lot more.

 

[G. Michael Askew]

I've swapped the cable from a new, longer cable (80-wire) to an older
shorter one that was on my own PC, so it's not that. I'll have a closer
look at the connections/pins tomorrow.
A new IDE controller would be a lot cheaper than a mobo because it's a
2002 socket 370 celeron mobo using SDRAM, so unless I found another
similar mobo on ebay it'd be a new mobo, cpu, and some DDR Ram.

How feasable is booting from a HDD on an IDE controller card? I'm
wondering about drivers
and/or setting the boot order in BIOS.

 

[Trent©]

I've swapped the cable from a new, longer cable (80-wire) to an older
shorter one that was on my own PC, so it's not that. I'll have a closer
look at the connections/pins tomorrow.

Are you sure yer usin' the proper cable?

Make sure you have NO other drives of ANY kind connected to the
computer.

Did you run the Maxtor diagnostics as someone suggested?


Have a nice one...

Trent

Budweiser: Helping ugly people have sex since 1876!

 

[Trent©]

I was afraid of that! Although the mobo's been working fine for 2 years
with a Seagate 13GB drive, and the problems only really started when I
added the Maxtor 80GB. Windows ME (as was installed then) would only run
in MS-DOS Compat mode while the Maxtor was connected. Disconnected, it ran
in Real Mode.
I thought it was a Windows problem so installed WinXP (fresh on the new
Maxtor HDD). Funny...connecting the old hard disk as a slave, it didn't
show up in Windows, but did in Knoppix Linux.

'It' being...the Maxtor?...or the old drive?


Have a nice one...

Trent

Budweiser: Helping ugly people have sex since 1876!

 

[G. Michael Askew]

'It' being...the Maxtor?...or the old drive?

Maxtor (master) showed up on Windows, old Seagate (slave) didn't. The only
way to get both drives showing up was in Knoppix (which took ages to find
the partition info from the hard drives on booting).

 

[G. Michael Askew]

Yep, used an ATA-133 40-pin, 80-conductor Ultra-IDE cable. Blue on one
end, grey in the middle, black on the other end.

Yet to try it without the optical drives on the Secondary IDE, but I did
run the Maxtor tests and they all came up clean.