2 Annoyances...or is this something other than an annoyance?

[bob4432]

running xp pro sp2 all up to date
hardware - all up to date drivers
m/b - nf4 based asus

annoyance 1 - ide channel keeps getting put down to dma2. i have uninstalled it numerous times and about every 3-4 days it gets kicked down to 2. i have it set to use what the bios sees, which is dma5, but when i check it this option is unchecked and it is lowered by the os. is this a software or hardware problem?

annoyance 2 - theme nearly always gets changed to "windows modifed" instead of leave it the way i choose.

are these problems os/sofware related or is there a hardware issue i should be worring about? machine runs prime95 and memtest for 12+hours without issue. can game for however long i want.

machine is otherwise extremely stable.

as i get closer to a cause i will ask to delete the thread that is not needed as i put this in both hardware and os...

 

[pcgeek11]

The DMA level is usually related to hard disk write errors, This could be the cable or the drive. This is done by Windows to protect your data. Probably a Hardware issue, most are.

For repeated DMA errors. Windows XP will turn off DMA mode for a device after encountering certain errors during data transfer operations. If more that six DMA transfer timeouts occur, Windows will turn off DMA and use only PIO mode on that device.

In this case, the user cannot turn on DMA for this device. The only option for the user who wants to enable DMA mode is to uninstall and reinstall the device.

Windows XP downgrades the Ultra DMA transfer mode after receiving more than six CRC errors. Whenever possible, the operating system will step down one UDMA mode at a time (from UDMA mode 4 to UDMA mode 3, and so on).

The KB article offers a way to reduce the problem, although it still doesn't solve it altogether.

IDE ATA and ATAPI Disks Use PIO Mode After Multiple Time-Out or CRC Errors Occur

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/817472/


pcgeek11

 

[smthmlk]

disconnect and reconnect the ide cable from the motherboard and all devices. Try with a different cable as well if possible. If symptoms continue, it could be the hard drive or ide controller dying, or possibly power related.

 

[bob4432]

thanks for the info on the drive, i will switch out the cable but in the mean time i will make a very up-to-date image of the hdd in questin