HDD Problems (slow write)

[bobbyperu]

Tyan Thunder 2462ng
MP 1800 x 2
WD 120GB IDE Primary Master
Pioneer AO3 Secondary Master
Radeon 8500 irq 17
Adaptec 29160 slot1 irq 16
Canopus DVStorm slot 2 irq 10
slot 3 empty
SB Audigy slot4 irq 11
Adaptec 2903b slot 5 irq16
4 Seagate Cheatahs ST336752LC's 15000RPM 8mb

Getting extremely slow writes out of the Cheatahs (7mbs), but very fast reads. Running XP Pro right now, just finished (TODAY!) building the sys and installing XP. Had the 29160 in slot 3 1st, ran sandra noticed problem so switched slots to see if that would help, going to try switching it w/ the SB next (putting it in slot 4, which is not shared). But won't have time today. Also had problems w/ the Radeon drivers (couldn't install the latest from ATI's site, would instantly lock up, same w/ included cd) but that's another story and thread. Any advise/help will be highly appreciated. THX!!!

 

[Lorne]

Thats funny, I have just the opposite, Slow reads fast writes.
Im shocked, They finely got past the 4bit bios limitation by the IRQ you have.
If you dont already know but I doubt its the cause of the slow writes, If you put 33mhz pci cards into the 64bit slots all the 64bit slots kick down to 33mhz, Well the last few MB books Ive read claim this, They may have gotten past that problem though.

Try to keep your 29160 in the slot closest to the MB powerplug, SCSI can be very power hungry especialy with long ribbons and many drives connected.

 

[bobbyperu]

Thx for the quick reply Lorne. Actually the 29160 runs at 33mhz (I think), athough it is a 64bit card. n-e-way I don't think that the low bandwidth would cause my writes to be thaat sloooow. Drive Index's were between 53009 and 55365 with buffered reads up to 1324mbs and sequential reads of 71mbs, so maybe SANDRA is F...ing up. But I really think it's something I did, as I'm an absolute beginner. Maybe the SCA backplane in the LianLi Server case is causing the problem. Or maybe it's the way I terminated the drives (I used an Ultra160 cable w/ terminater on end) and just plugged it in to the back of the backplane. Into the top 68pin LVD, thinking it would terminate all the drives on the backplane. Maybe I should have used an unterminated cable in the top plug, and a terminater in the bottom (back) plug??? Sorry post so garbled in a hurry to get back to work. Working 13 hours a night right now, no time to work on my sys. Thanks again. Will check for any replies tomorrow.