DMA Controller test failed

[NKM1118]

Can somebody tell me who is correct. I took my laptop in to have the OS upgraded to XP, the tech ran a diagnostics test (why I don't know) and told me the DMA controller was bad and wanted $500.00 to replace the motherboard. I sent the laptop to a lab that repairs motherboards and they said nothing was wrong that only the DMA controller was looking for a DMA printer and when it didn't find it it gave the error the tech said this is common in laptop diagnostics. Is there a way I can check the DMA controller myself?

 

[lucky9]

Easiest to just delete it, probably on the IDE, so in Device Manager just delete it in and reboot. Should find it and "not" find the printer. You can delete about anything in Device Manager and reboot to fix this kind of driver-type issue.

You should find whether DMA is enabled in the properties window of the C: drive. If it shows DMA is enabled or you can enable it and reboot and find it still enabled, then it's ok. Open My Computer, right click on the C: drive and choose properties. It's in there somewhere. You may be able to check it in Device Manager too.

 

[PrincessGuard]

The DMA controller is integrated into modern chipsets so if it really is bad, chances are you wouldn't be able to boot at all.

The actual "DMA controller" is only used by legacy ISA devices (such as floppy drives and ECP parallel ports). Hard drives and PCI cards have their own controllers that perform bus mastering, which is a type of DMA that does not use the "DMA controller."

Chances are your computer is fine and both techs were full of crap.