M
Mitch
I've had data corruption problems when copying large files with
Windows Explorer to/from a large capacity (160 GB) hard drive on 3
different systems with VIA or SIS chipsets, all under Windows 2000 SP3
or SP4 with NTFS partitions. This happens on WD and Maxtor drives.
I've done file byte-compares using Windiff or DOS file compare (fc),
and it's usually only a dozen or so consecutive bytes that get
corrupted every 10+ GBs I copy, so it's hard to notice the problem
unless I run Windiff afterwards. I've never seen the problem when
copying files under 1 GB in size, and it's so intermittent that
sometimes I can copy a 10 GB file several times before I see the
problem, but it always happens at some point.
I had this problem on 2 Shuttle MV42N (VIA chipset) systems, and I
installed the latest VIA 4-in-1 drivers with no success. On one system
I reinstalled Windows 2000 from scratch without installing the VIA
4-in-1 drivers, and it solved the problem. But when I did the same
reinstall on the other system with the same motherboard, the data
corruption problem was still there. I got frustrated and replaced the
160 GB with a 120 GB HD on that system... and no more problems, but I
hate being beaten by this problem.
I then moved the 160 GB HD to an existing working Windows 2000 install
on a ECS K7S5A system (SIS chipset) with a 120 GB HD thinking I'd be
safe on a motherboard without VIA chipsets. Wrong! First I had to
install WD's utilities to enable the full capacity of the 160 GB HD.
Now I can copy big files all day on the WD 120 GB HD and never see any
corruption, but as soon as I go to or from the WD 160 GB HD, I get the
intermittent data corruption quite often. I then bought a 3rd 160 GB
HD thinking maybe this one was defective, and the 3rd HD has the same
problem.
Because I've been bitten by this 3 times on 3 different systems, I'm
convinced there is a bad EIDE driver or buffer/cache problem in
Windows 2000 when copying large files on HDs beyond the normal 137 GB
limit. Has anyone else seen or solved this problem?
I searched Usenet and saw various old posts blaming the VIA chipset
(which doesn't explain why I see it on the SIS chipset) or suggesting
a "PCI latency patch". Unfortunately I never could locate this patch,
and the links others posted to it were no longer valid. I'm using the
motherboard's built-in EIDE controllers, but I once tried going
through a Maxtor UDMA/ATA 133 PCI card on the VIA chipset system and
had the same problem either way.
The 2 motherboards I see this problem on are:
Shuttle MV42N - VIA 8751 (P4M266) NB and VIA 8233 SB
ECS K7S5A (BIOS 10/29/02) - SIS 735
Any ideas or suggestions? I'd really appreciate the help. Thanks.
Windows Explorer to/from a large capacity (160 GB) hard drive on 3
different systems with VIA or SIS chipsets, all under Windows 2000 SP3
or SP4 with NTFS partitions. This happens on WD and Maxtor drives.
I've done file byte-compares using Windiff or DOS file compare (fc),
and it's usually only a dozen or so consecutive bytes that get
corrupted every 10+ GBs I copy, so it's hard to notice the problem
unless I run Windiff afterwards. I've never seen the problem when
copying files under 1 GB in size, and it's so intermittent that
sometimes I can copy a 10 GB file several times before I see the
problem, but it always happens at some point.
I had this problem on 2 Shuttle MV42N (VIA chipset) systems, and I
installed the latest VIA 4-in-1 drivers with no success. On one system
I reinstalled Windows 2000 from scratch without installing the VIA
4-in-1 drivers, and it solved the problem. But when I did the same
reinstall on the other system with the same motherboard, the data
corruption problem was still there. I got frustrated and replaced the
160 GB with a 120 GB HD on that system... and no more problems, but I
hate being beaten by this problem.
I then moved the 160 GB HD to an existing working Windows 2000 install
on a ECS K7S5A system (SIS chipset) with a 120 GB HD thinking I'd be
safe on a motherboard without VIA chipsets. Wrong! First I had to
install WD's utilities to enable the full capacity of the 160 GB HD.
Now I can copy big files all day on the WD 120 GB HD and never see any
corruption, but as soon as I go to or from the WD 160 GB HD, I get the
intermittent data corruption quite often. I then bought a 3rd 160 GB
HD thinking maybe this one was defective, and the 3rd HD has the same
problem.
Because I've been bitten by this 3 times on 3 different systems, I'm
convinced there is a bad EIDE driver or buffer/cache problem in
Windows 2000 when copying large files on HDs beyond the normal 137 GB
limit. Has anyone else seen or solved this problem?
I searched Usenet and saw various old posts blaming the VIA chipset
(which doesn't explain why I see it on the SIS chipset) or suggesting
a "PCI latency patch". Unfortunately I never could locate this patch,
and the links others posted to it were no longer valid. I'm using the
motherboard's built-in EIDE controllers, but I once tried going
through a Maxtor UDMA/ATA 133 PCI card on the VIA chipset system and
had the same problem either way.
The 2 motherboards I see this problem on are:
Shuttle MV42N - VIA 8751 (P4M266) NB and VIA 8233 SB
ECS K7S5A (BIOS 10/29/02) - SIS 735
Any ideas or suggestions? I'd really appreciate the help. Thanks.