AMD Bus Mastering Drivers Don't have DMA options, well sort of.....

[sd]

I couldn't figure out why my Kenwood 72x wouldn't "hold" the DMA setting, and why my new Plextor 16/10/40 doesn't even have the option. Well heres what I found out.
Link

Q: Why has the DMA box disappeared in the hard disk Device Manager under
Windows 95/98?
A: The DMA box can only be used with the standard Microsoft driver. When a third
party driver is installed (such as the AMD EIDE Driver), the DMA box will no
longer appear. However, the driver is programmed to use all devices in their
most optimal configuration. Therefore, if DMA is available for that particular
device, the driver will use it.

Q: Using Windows 95/98, the device has a check box for DMA. When I check the box
and reboot, the box does not stay checked?
A: The DMA box can only be used with the standard Microsoft driver. When a third
party driver is installed (such as the AMD EIDE Driver), the DMA box will not work
as intended. If you check the box, then reboot, the box will then appear
unchecked. However, the driver is programmed to use all devices in their
most optimal configuration. Therefore, if DMA is available for that particular
device, the driver will use it.

Am I the last idiot the find this out?

 

[Soccerman]

no, you're not. I actually heard it before, but sort of ignored it.. but recently I've been forced to agree with what they say.

I downloaded an IDE manager for my specific chipset (ALi Aladdin V, Super 7 chipset), and it showed me that the drivers weren't utilizing my DVDROM to it's fullest, so in the program, I enabled DMA, rebooted, and looked again, and all was well.

note, however, that I think your BIOS has to be detecting your drives as UDMA to do this at all, so to check if it is, you have to reboot, and as soon as your BIOS flashes by, (and if you have a controller card, that BIOS goes by), then screen where it says starting windows etc, that shows alot of statistics about your drives, RAM, etc.. look in there to find if your drives on your onboard controller are using UDMA..

My RICOH MP7060A doesn't seem to want to run UDMA/2 (which I think is ATA-33), so subsequently, I can't enabled DMA in the IDE manager program. however, my DVDROM is now detected as UDMA/2 (it damn well better, that thing can really eat up alot of bandwidth), and I have DMA enabled in the IDE manager now.

 

[sd]

As I boot, I hit pause. I see this:

Secondary Master: CD-ROM(my kenwood) PIO Mode = 4, UDMA = N/A
Secondary Slave: CD-ROM(my Plextor) PIO Mode = 4, UDMA = 2

I wonder whats up with my Kenwood UDMA = N/A? Is UDMA = 2 the right setting for my Plextor?

 

[Soccerman]

AFAIK, UDMA/2 is ATA33.. I don't think there's a difference..

I'm assuming these devices are connected on the onboard IDE controller (rather then a second chip/controller?).

if it is, try forcing the Kenwood in the BIOS to run UDMA/2..

 

[Lt1]

Not sure but I think this is pertinent.... If you have two devices sharing the same cable, the ide controller will default to the slower of the two. Try to run your CD on ide 2.


Hope this helps,
Lt1

 

[rbV5]

Lt1, Not true, I have an ata100 and an ata33 Maxtor on the same ide cable, they most definately do not run at the lower ata33. I don't think thats been true for some time now.

 

[Lt1]

Well, I could be wrong but, seems like I read that when you have master/slave arrangement the ata 100/66 will revert to even 33 (slowest) but only in master/slave mode and when the drive or CD is rated at 33.

Regards,
Lt1

 

[sd]

Can I run my cd-roms off my promise ata100 controller?

 

[Lt1]

OK!

Lt1

 

[Soccerman]

yeah you can, there shouldn't be anything stopping u..

 

[sd]

Well, I put my 72x(slave) and 16/10/40(master) on the IDE2 of the promise ata100. During boot, it shows the 72x as Ultra DMA 2 and the plex as DMA 2. I think that solves my problems.

 

[Soccerman]

well good! now do some tests, see if it helped at all!

 

[sd]

I spoke to soon. System is flakey. When I access the kenwood its lockin up my system. Can I keep the plex on the promise card(IDE2) as the master and put the kenwood on a seperate cable as the master on the IDE2 of the mobo?

update: the plex is freakin out when i try to access it also

grrrrr :|:|:|

 

[sd]

I'm gonna try to switch the 72x as the master and the plex as the slave(although plex manual says it should be the master) and keep em both on the promise card.

 

[Soccerman]

hmm.. what exactly is your hardware configuration?

 

[sd]

well, that didn't work. WTF!!!!! Why can't I run these 2 off my promise card?!?!!?! BIOS is set to AUTO, but I guess that doesn't matter if they're on the promise.

I guess I'll just have to go back to my original set up, plex as master and kenwood as slave runnin on the mobo IDE2. Which takes me back to the first post of this thread, wondering if these 2 devices are runnin up to their potential!!!!!!!!!

gotta love computers

 

[NOX]

Sd,

Not sure if this is going to help, you may have tried. I?ve been using the VIA IDETool, which allows me to find the best settings for my Kenwood CD-ROM and CL Burner.

You can look here: Screen Shot

As you can see there are a number of settings, which supposedly are supported:

PIO: 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4
Multiword DMA: 0, 1, and 2
Ultra DMA: 0, 1, and 2

I can use PIO mode 4, and all modes of Multiword DMA 0-2. But both my CD-ROM and CL burner wont work in UDMA, all modes of UDMA won?t work. So I?m forced to use Multiword DMA mode 2, which is fine with me.

I?m currently using the VIA Bus Masters on my K7T Pro2-A driver 4.28(a). I will be replacing my older burner tomorrow with a TDK burner that I bought last week. I?m sure it will workout fine using the VIA IDETool.

I hope this can help.

 

[confounded]

Not sure where you got your information but I don't think its accurate. I had a similar problem when I was setting up my system. Turns out the problem was caused by a resource conflict. According to Windows I had no conflicts but my HD benchmarks seem ed to indicate less than average performance. I eliminated unused com ports etc. from my configuration, forced the board to reallocate resources, and the problem was resolved. Performance improved and the DMA boxes remained checked. I'm using 4.28a 4in1 drivers.

 

[sd]

Will that tool work with my AMD 751 chipset and AMD bus mastering drivers? It doesn't sound like it will but I could be wrong.

I've tried many set ups. The cd-roms work fine until I open win explorer, click a cd, and try to go into "edit" to hit the "select all" and "copy." As soon as I hit "edit" the system will hang, requiring a ctrl-alt-delete to close explorer.

Can't figure out why that happens.

 

[sd]

<< Not sure where you got your information but I don't think its accurate. >>


Are you referring to my 1st post? If so, then click the link, its from the AMD website. Thats where I got my information from.

 

[NOX]

Sd,

Damn, didn't read that correctly, you stated AMD Bus Mastering. Thought you were talking about your K7T Pro board, I?m sure it will not work with your AMD 750/1, cuz it?s only for VIA boards.



<< Turns out the problem was caused by a resource conflict. According to Windows I had no conflicts but my HD benchmarks seem ed to indicate less than average performance. I eliminated unused com ports etc. from my configuration, forced the board to reallocate resources, and the problem was resolved. >>

Well, a lot of people have managed to used all there com ports and still were able to achieve max performance. I know I could never eliminate one of my com ports, because I use them all.