Samsung SP2014N and UDMA mode

[ohaya]

Hi,

I just got one of the subject drives, and have been experimenting with a
utility that Samsung has called HUTIL. Among the things that HUTIL can
do is to set the UDMA mode of the drive.

The drive originally came set as UDMA5, and it showed up that way both
in the BIOS boot display and in HUTIL. I then used HUTIL to change it
to UDMA6, and again, that seemed to work, with UDMA6 displaying both in
the BIOS boot display and within HUTIL.

I then wanted to change the drive back to UDMA5, so I used HUTIL to make
that change, and the program said that the mode change was successful.

However, when I went back into HUTIL and displayed the "current" UDMA
mode, it still showed UDMA6. Also, when I rebooted, the BIOS boot
displayed still showed UDMA6.

I contacted Samsung, and got on a call with one of their tech support
people. During this call, he asked what UDMA mode my BIOS was set for.
I checked, and it was on "Auto", and "UDMA" showed "6". He suggested
changing the BIOS setting to "5", so I went into the BIOS, set the
channel to "User", the UDMA mode to "5", and rebooted. The BIOS boot
display showed "UDMA 5". I guess I kind of expected that.

Then, I started HUTIL again, and did the drive mode change again, from
UDMA6 to UDMA5.

This time, to my surprise, when I sent back to HUTIL to display the
'current' UDMA mode, it showed "5".

I guess I'm confused about all of this. I have the impression that what
HUTIL is suppose to do is just cause the drive itself to appear as a
certain UDMA mode, and I don't understand why my setting the BIOS UDMA
mode to 5 would have allowed HUTIL to properly change the drive back to
UDMA5.

I was wondering if someone here might be able to explain this?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

Hi,

I just got one of the subject drives, and have been experimenting with a
utility that Samsung has called HUTIL. Among the things that HUTIL can
do is to set the UDMA mode of the drive.

The drive originally came set as UDMA5, and it showed up that way both
in the BIOS boot display and in HUTIL. I then used HUTIL to change it
to UDMA6, and again, that seemed to work, with UDMA6 displaying both in
the BIOS boot display and within HUTIL.

I then wanted to change the drive back to UDMA5, so I used HUTIL to make
that change, and the program said that the mode change was successful.

However, when I went back into HUTIL and displayed the "current" UDMA
mode, it still showed UDMA6. Also, when I rebooted, the BIOS boot
displayed still showed UDMA6.

I contacted Samsung, and got on a call with one of their tech support
people. During this call, he asked what UDMA mode my BIOS was set for.
I checked, and it was on "Auto", and "UDMA" showed "6". He suggested
changing the BIOS setting to "5", so I went into the BIOS, set the
channel to "User", the UDMA mode to "5", and rebooted. The BIOS boot
display showed "UDMA 5". I guess I kind of expected that.

Then, I started HUTIL again, and did the drive mode change again, from
UDMA6 to UDMA5.

This time, to my surprise, when I sent back to HUTIL to display the
'current' UDMA mode, it showed "5".

Of course it did.

There is a difference between the 'current mode' and the 'maximum
supported mode' as set by the utility.

I guess I'm confused about all of this. I have the impression that what HUTIL
is suppose to do is just cause the drive itself to appear as a certain UDMA mode,

Uh, no. It just limits what (highest) mode of operation can be set by the BIOS.

and I don't understand why my setting the BIOS UDMA mode to 5 would have
allowed HUTIL to properly change the drive back to UDMA5.

I was wondering if someone here might be able to explain this?

Probably just a bug. A 'wart', in Roddles speak.

 

[ohaya]

Of course it did.

There is a difference between the 'current mode' and the 'maximum
supported mode' as set by the utility.


Uh, no. It just limits what (highest) mode of operation can be set by the BIOS.


Probably just a bug. A 'wart', in Roddles speak.

Folkert,

Thanks for the explanations and comments...

Jim