hard drive stuck PIO mode

[MJ]

At my wit's end trying to get a friend's PC (an older PC - a Compaq 5340 to be specific)
to run a newly installed hard drive in DMA - it stays in PIO mode. I have tried ALL the
obvious fixes short of tossing it in the ocean. Maxtor drive passes all the Maxtor drive
utility fitness tests. TIA

 

[Admiral Q]

Then it could be an issue with a) the cable (wrong type) or b) the I/O
controler is running in a degraded mode due to incorrect drivers or c) both.

 

[MJ]

Then it could be an issue with a) the cable (wrong type)

----------using the new cable supplied with the drive

or b) the I/O controler is running in a degraded mode due to incorrect drivers

----------using "Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE controller"


or c) both.

 

[Admiral Q]

Sine the PC is a pre-2k machine (May 99 according to HP's spec sheet), then
very seriously doubt the machine has built in 48-LBA for the I-O controller,
and if you've bought a drive larger than 137GB (since all you've said it is
a Maxtor drive), then XP (assume it is XP as you've not given much info
here) may be degrading it to PIO mode. Also, the cable could have been
installed backwards, the blue end goes on the I-O controller, not the hard
drive, and lastly, since Compaq's are so proprietary, I'm not sure Compaq
ever released XP drivers (since it had Win98SE pre-installed) for the the
motherboard components, but you could start here, with the spec sheet:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...docname=c00191341&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

Also, you've not stated whether you copied the drive contents from an old
drive or whether you've used the MaxBlast overlay software as this could be
another reason it stays in PIO mode, and lastly, it could be a bad cable,
bad drive, or the I-O controller is/was going bad, as I don't know the
reason the new drive was installed.

Bottom line - guessing a solution for this issue is like hunting for a
needle in a haystack, as I'm just guessing without all the facts, as I'm
sure that's why others haven't attempted to provide a solution - too many
variables here.