Will my MOBO work with 5 ide devices?

[Bill]

Well, well, well. In bios it says the drive was set for #4 in PIO and #2 in
DMA. The numbers range from 0 to 5 in both sections so I wonder what I
should set them for? I took a guess--because I really don't know anything
about this--and changed PIO from 4 to 0. I changed DMA from 2 to 5. The
difference it made was incredible. It accesses the cd at least 3 times
faster than before and makes practically no noise now when it spins.

I have had that Asus drive since 2001, so I am wondering if it should be set
for DMA 5? Why not 3 or 4? Should PIO be set to 0 when the bios default was
4?

Thanks!

There are very few cd/dvd players that run faster than DMA2 and
they're of fairly recent release. OTOH, some of the older cd/dvd
players played in PIO mode only. You'ld have to look up your settings
for your particular model to be sure. Setting the bios to faster than
UDMA2 won't hurt the cd/dvd drives. Setting the PIO to 0 won't hurt
unless the drive is specifically designed to run in PIO mode only.

If that was the case I'd get a new drive. They're pretty cheap these
days. I've been installing nothing but NEC 35xx DVD+/- DL CD/CDRW
burners at around $40.00 a pop the last few months.


Also when windows can't tell for sure on the settings it reverts to
PIO mode. Windows 2000 SP4 and Windows XP SP2 were supposed t fix this
problem. I don't know about earlier versions of windows. Also WIN2K and
WINXP will alter the settings in hardware manager if it gets read/write
errors to the drive < lowers the settings >.

Make sure DMA is turned on under the hardware manager if it starts to
slow down again. If it reverts to PIO mode you've got a hardware
problem, MB failing, drive, cable, etc.

Your welcome,
Bill

 

[Bill]

Uh, I think I jumped the gun on this one. When I restarted the computer the
settings went back to PIO 4 and DMA 2. There was no difference. Maybe my
drive is just finally going bad. You can't play a music cd on it because it
acts like the power briefly drops out every few seconds. I think I am going
to put this cddrive on the ata133 pci card I have to see if that makes any
difference.

Be advised some ATA PCI cards won't run anything but hard drives.
Check your documentation first.

There is a setting in bios that lets me turn off PIO altogether for this
drive and make DMA =5. But it had no effect as far as playing a music cd is
concerned.

<snip>

Might be time for a new drive. Drive prices at Newegg start at:

CD player-$13.00
CD/CDRW burner-$20.00
DVD player/CD/CDRW combo-$26.00
DVD/CD/CDRW Burner-$37.00
DVD +/- DL/CD/CDRW-$39.00

Now what's your time worth futzing with that old drive.
If the new drive does the same thing, then you'll know your problem
lies elsewhere, and you'll have a newer/more capable drive to work with
when you finally resolve the problem. Next thing I'd do is try a new 40
wire cable, then a bios upgrade, then a new motherboard.

Good luck,

Bill

 

[John Wilson]

You guys are going to be mad at me.

I put all my opticals on the ATA133 pci card and made sure my HDD's were on
the cables connected to the MOBO. The problem went away immediately and the
CDdrive started playing the music cd's without any problems whatsoever.

Here is the catch though. The problem could still have been the cables, as I
am using the old IDE's that came with the computer 4 years ago. When I
changed the devices around, obiviously that changed the cables too. Now the
new IDE cable that came with the recently purchased PCI card is attached to
the Asus cd drive instead of the old IDE cable.

I guess I will buy some new cables the next time I am out.
No matter what though, the problem has been solved.

Thanks.

 

[John Wilson]

I thought I would pass along this info that I found elsewhere:
------
In my experience, as long as your dont mix HDD with CDR/W/DVD drives on a
single IDE channel, then it really doesnt matter if you use 40 or 80
conductors cable in connecting them, since they are no where close the
working limit of even a DMA33 cable; and you dont even risk cable select
compatibility problem since CD drives does not support them.

But beware that some drive does have some compatbility problem with some IDE
controller when used as a single Master on a cable.

-----

Just a little note, if you have an older MOBO the 80 pin cables may not fit.
Tried it for myself on my Abit BH6.

After doing some further reasearch it seems the cable problem is just a
matter of finding the right cable design as different manufactureres hae
different keying systems (or none at all).

I'm going to try to find an 80-conductor cable that will fit my motherboard.
My data transfer rates are very low compared to its tested capabilities and
I suspect the 40 conductor cable may be the limiting factor.


------


I just switched my Lite-On drive's cable from a 40pin cable to an 80pin
cable, and I just noticed a major speed increase on seek times, and transfer
rates. I am not sure why this happens if a 40pin cable does go at 5mb/sec,
but I did notice it. Maybe I was using a bad cable or something. Anyway, I
have also put my burner on an 80pin cable, and I am not getting buffer
underruns as much as I used to get them. I recommend using an 80pin cable
for everything.. Maybe its just in my case though. thanks guys.

-------

All ATA cables have 40 pins, but the ATA 100s have 80 wires for better, more
reliable data transfer. You can tell the difference as the ATA 100/133 have
a blue conector for the MOBO a grey conector for the slave drive and a black
for the master. They are backward compatible and can be used on older ATA 33
drives and CD/DVD players and writers.

 

[ByTor]

You guys are going to be mad at me.

Why? It's sometimes a great learning curve........ ;0)

I put all my opticals on the ATA133 pci card and made sure my HDD's were on
the cables connected to the MOBO. The problem went away immediately and the
CDdrive started playing the music cd's without any problems whatsoever.

Hmmmmm, interesting..... ;0)

If all your opticals are connected to the card throw in a bootable CD &
make sure it boots to it.........Just a thought....

Here is the catch though. The problem could still have been the cables, as I
am using the old IDE's that came with the computer 4 years ago. When I
changed the devices around, obiviously that changed the cables too. Now the
new IDE cable that came with the recently purchased PCI card is attached to
the Asus cd drive instead of the old IDE cable.

I guess I will buy some new cables the next time I am out.
No matter what though, the problem has been solved.

Thanks.

Glad to hear it's all working out.......And yes, change the cables....I
apologize for not mentioning that in other replies......... ;0)

--
*************************************************
Across the river Styx, Out of the lamplight
His nemesis is waiting at the gate
The Snow Dog, ermine glowing In the damp night
Coal-black eyes shimmering with hate
By-Tor and the Snow Dog Square for battle
Let the fray begin

 

[John Wilson]

<<<If all your opticals are connected to the card throw in a bootable CD &
make sure it boots to it.........Just a thought....>>>

See my separate post, "Get opticals to autostart from PCI card, how?"