sata rwdvd problem

[zirath]

I recently got a via vt6421 raid controller card and a sata liteon rwdvd.
After alot of tries, I finally seemed to find the right drivers from the
ones supplied with the card, and the card installed ok and found the drive.

The problem is that every time the computer boots with the drive installed
it causes extreme lags in windows xp. It lags during boot up and when it
finally boots also. Everything freezes intermittently for about 1 minute and
then unfreezes for maybe 10 or 20 seconds and then freezes again.

This only happens if the drive is plugged into the sata card.

Help appreciated.

 

[Paul]

I recently got a via vt6421 raid controller card and a sata liteon rwdvd.
After alot of tries, I finally seemed to find the right drivers from the
ones supplied with the card, and the card installed ok and found the drive.

The problem is that every time the computer boots with the drive installed
it causes extreme lags in windows xp. It lags during boot up and when it
finally boots also. Everything freezes intermittently for about 1 minute and
then unfreezes for maybe 10 or 20 seconds and then freezes again.

This only happens if the drive is plugged into the sata card.

Help appreciated.

(The main storage articles page.)
http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=58&ACatID=128

("Understanding VIA IDE driver choices")
http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=5&ArticleID=467

(Download)
http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=420&OSID=1&CatID=1180&SubCatID=117

(Forum for VIA questions.)
http://www.tkarena.com/forums/ide-sata-raid-arena/

Paul

 

[zirath]

(The main storage articles page.)
http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=58&ACatID=128

("Understanding VIA IDE driver choices")
http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=5&ArticleID=467

(Download)
http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=420&OSID=1&CatID=1180&SubCatID=117

(Forum for VIA questions.)
http://www.tkarena.com/forums/ide-sata-raid-arena/

Paul

Thank you for your help.

However, the drivers that the via website claimed were the proper ones for
our card didn't function. The ones given with the card by the suppliers did
function (after I figured out which ones). Via has alot of ads for a program
that is supposed to find the right drivers - for $30.

As it turned out - the external port on the card was defective. When I
plugged the sata drive into one of the internal ports it functioned fine.
That was after many hours of trial and error, etc.

Also, when I tried to sign up for the via support forum, the authentication
email never arrived and I wasn't able to post to it.

Sorry to say, I didn't get such a great impression of via.

 

[Paul]

Thank you for your help.

However, the drivers that the via website claimed were the proper ones for
our card didn't function. The ones given with the card by the suppliers did
function (after I figured out which ones). Via has alot of ads for a program
that is supposed to find the right drivers - for $30.

As it turned out - the external port on the card was defective. When I
plugged the sata drive into one of the internal ports it functioned fine.
That was after many hours of trial and error, etc.

Also, when I tried to sign up for the via support forum, the authentication
email never arrived and I wasn't able to post to it.

Sorry to say, I didn't get such a great impression of via.

I'm glad you figured it out.

The official VIA site is via.com.tw .

Viaarena.com is a place users commonly go to download drivers. The site
is supported by advertising, and that includes the slimy advertising such
as driver search tools ($30). So that advertisement is likely not put there
directly by VIA as a corporation - it is site advertising. I'm not even sure
who runs ViaArena, whether it is private or it is connected directly to VIA.

The same can be said of the tkarena.com. The viaarena.com site had its own
forum, which was in operation for a few years. Then, all of a sudden, they
decided to ditch the forum. They started redirecting users to tkarena.com.
The old forum is shut down.

Why is that important ? All the old postings by users were thrown away.
That means a tremendous amount of information about VIA products and
their quirks was also thrown away. Tkarena is a pale substitute, for
all the lost postings.

So I'm not impressed either.

Paul

 

[Paul]

I see a card here, with a 6421 on it. The external port is not ESATA
on this one. If you were to use an adapter cable, the cable length should
be kept to 1 meter or shorter.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815108103

There is no mention of ESATA capability here, which is why I'd
suggest keeping the cable short.

http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/peripherals/serial-ata_raid/vt6421a/

The spec difference between SATA and ESATA electrically, is shown here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esata#External_SATA

# ESATA Minimum transmit potential increased: Range is 500–600 mV instead of 400–600 mV.
# ESATA Minimum receive sensitivity: Range is 240–600 mV instead of 325–600 mV.

ESATA allows a longer cable, because the signal budget is increased.
If an external setup doesn't support ESATA electrical spec,
then keep the cable short.

You could also have tried setting the "Force" jumper on the
hard drive. A number of brands have a jumper to set the
transfer rate to 150MB/sec on the cable. That works best
with VIA chips. Maybe you could test the external port
again.

If the drive is Hitachi brand, that one may not have the
"force" jumper on the back. You use the Feature Tool (software) to
fix that one.

Paul

 

[Paul]

You could also have tried setting the "Force" jumper on the
hard drive. A number of brands have a jumper to set the
transfer rate to 150MB/sec on the cable. That works best
with VIA chips. Maybe you could test the external port
again.

If the drive is Hitachi brand, that one may not have the
"force" jumper on the back. You use the Feature Tool (software) to
fix that one.

Paul

Doh! You were using an optical drive. I don't think those have
a jumper...

Paul