Calling anyone and everyone who may have one or more systems built using either the PC Chips M811LU V3.1 or Syntax SV266AD.
I've used several of these boards for budget systems, but a few days ago I discovered a potential bug, flaw, defect, or whatever you want to call it, affecting both the PC Chips branded and Syntax branded motherboards (they are the same board).
The VIA VT8235 South Bridge supports up to ATA/133 (Ultra DMA Mode 6). In every one of these systems, the IDE/ATA transfer mode is limited to Ultra DMA Mode 4 (ATA/66) when an ATA/100 or ATA/133 hard drive is attached to the system. When an ATAPI optical drive supporting ATA/33 or higher is attached, whether CD or DVD drive, the IDE/ATA transfer mode is limited to Ultra DMA Mode 1 (ATA/25). The transfer mode is reported in Device Properties through Device Manager > IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers > Primary or Secondary IDE Channel > Advanced Settings > Current Transfer Mode.
This is with Windows XP Home, either with SP1 or SP2 integrated, using the latest BIOS from PC Chips and Syntax, and all the latest device drivers including the latest Hyperion. The hard drive and optical drives are on different channels, each being the master with no other drive as slave.
I have tested multiple hard drives; Seagate and WDC 80GB ATA/100, WDC 120GB ATA/100, Maxtor 80GB ATA/133. I have tested different optical drives; Optorite 52x CDRW, BTC 8x DVD writer, and BenQ CDRW + DVD-ROM combo drive. I have tested different ATA/100 compliant 80-conductor IDE cables, all of which are not longer than 18". I have tried shielded round ATA/100 IDE cables. All hardware including the cables work A-OK with other motherboards at the highest supported modes.
All drives are reporting the correct mode and capacity @ POST. PIO and Ultra DMA is set to "Auto" for all drives in BIOS. HDTach 3 tests confirm the HDDs are operating in ATA/66 instead of ATA/100 or ATA/133. I've even swapped-in a couple brand new ATX12V power supplies with output specs far exceeding total system demands, just to leave no stone unturned.
Installing the latest VIA IDE BM Accelerator Drivers results in all drives operating in the correct modes, but using this driver I experience numerous "Delayed Write Fail" errors and "error detected on device \Device\Harddisk0 during a paging operation" related to the hard drive (in all systems with all hard drives). What's more, effective hard disk performance actually DECREASES when the drives are operating at the higher modes, which is consistent with the numerous IDE and disk errors I'm getting.
If you have one of these boards, I would appreciate if you could take a peak at what transfer mode the system is reporting through Device Manager > IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers > Primary or Secondary IDE Channel > Advanced Settings > Current Transfer Mode.
I have opened a support ticket with PC Chips and Syntax detailing this but have not received a reply. Its only been two days, I'll give them until Wednesday or Thursday before I start making angry phone calls.
I've used several of these boards for budget systems, but a few days ago I discovered a potential bug, flaw, defect, or whatever you want to call it, affecting both the PC Chips branded and Syntax branded motherboards (they are the same board).
The VIA VT8235 South Bridge supports up to ATA/133 (Ultra DMA Mode 6). In every one of these systems, the IDE/ATA transfer mode is limited to Ultra DMA Mode 4 (ATA/66) when an ATA/100 or ATA/133 hard drive is attached to the system. When an ATAPI optical drive supporting ATA/33 or higher is attached, whether CD or DVD drive, the IDE/ATA transfer mode is limited to Ultra DMA Mode 1 (ATA/25). The transfer mode is reported in Device Properties through Device Manager > IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers > Primary or Secondary IDE Channel > Advanced Settings > Current Transfer Mode.
This is with Windows XP Home, either with SP1 or SP2 integrated, using the latest BIOS from PC Chips and Syntax, and all the latest device drivers including the latest Hyperion. The hard drive and optical drives are on different channels, each being the master with no other drive as slave.
I have tested multiple hard drives; Seagate and WDC 80GB ATA/100, WDC 120GB ATA/100, Maxtor 80GB ATA/133. I have tested different optical drives; Optorite 52x CDRW, BTC 8x DVD writer, and BenQ CDRW + DVD-ROM combo drive. I have tested different ATA/100 compliant 80-conductor IDE cables, all of which are not longer than 18". I have tried shielded round ATA/100 IDE cables. All hardware including the cables work A-OK with other motherboards at the highest supported modes.
All drives are reporting the correct mode and capacity @ POST. PIO and Ultra DMA is set to "Auto" for all drives in BIOS. HDTach 3 tests confirm the HDDs are operating in ATA/66 instead of ATA/100 or ATA/133. I've even swapped-in a couple brand new ATX12V power supplies with output specs far exceeding total system demands, just to leave no stone unturned.
Installing the latest VIA IDE BM Accelerator Drivers results in all drives operating in the correct modes, but using this driver I experience numerous "Delayed Write Fail" errors and "error detected on device \Device\Harddisk0 during a paging operation" related to the hard drive (in all systems with all hard drives). What's more, effective hard disk performance actually DECREASES when the drives are operating at the higher modes, which is consistent with the numerous IDE and disk errors I'm getting.
If you have one of these boards, I would appreciate if you could take a peak at what transfer mode the system is reporting through Device Manager > IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers > Primary or Secondary IDE Channel > Advanced Settings > Current Transfer Mode.
I have opened a support ticket with PC Chips and Syntax detailing this but have not received a reply. Its only been two days, I'll give them until Wednesday or Thursday before I start making angry phone calls.