low data rates between 2 hdd on my rig

[saimike]

on my file server (celeron1.1ghz, bf6 mobo, maxtor pci ata133 controller), i noticed that copying huge files from 1 hdd to another is very slow -- the data rate is ~10MB/s!!! my bro's rig does 50MB/s. this was measure by copying huge files from 1 drive to another. in my case, it took 95s to transfer 1.4GB but my bro took 15s to transfer 800MB on his!

one thing i noticed is that my cpu is pegged at 100%. why cant a celeron 1.1ghz handle a file transfer?

what gives? is it my CPU? my pci controller card?

 

[BlueWeasel]

The 100% CPU usage during file tranfers means the drives could be in PIO mode (not DMA). Go under Device Manager under the properties of your IDE controller, and see what setting the HDs are currently on. Change it to DMA if not already selected.

 

[Zepper]

And cross-channel transfers should be significantly faster than same channel.

.bh.

 

[saimike]

Originally posted by: BlueWeasel
The 100% CPU usage during file tranfers means the drives could be in PIO mode (not DMA). Go under Device Manager under the properties of your IDE controller, and see what setting the HDs are currently on. Change it to DMA if not already selected.

i dont see anything like that under device manager -> controller -> properties. should i look in bios instead?

 

[BlueWeasel]

Originally posted by: saimike

Originally posted by: BlueWeasel
The 100% CPU usage during file tranfers means the drives could be in PIO mode (not DMA). Go under Device Manager under the properties of your IDE controller, and see what setting the HDs are currently on. Change it to DMA if not already selected.

i dont see anything like that under device manager -> controller -> properties. should i look in bios instead?

It's probably different since you are using a PCI ATA card. Check the advanced settings under the Maxtor controller and see if you see any settings that deal with DMA and PIO settings.

You might also check in the BIOS, but it shouldn't matter if you are using a 3rd party controller. The BIOS settings will only affect the PIO/DMA settings for the primary and secondary IDE controllers on the BF6 motherboard.

 

[saimike]

Originally posted by: BlueWeasel

Originally posted by: saimike

Originally posted by: BlueWeasel
The 100% CPU usage during file tranfers means the drives could be in PIO mode (not DMA). Go under Device Manager under the properties of your IDE controller, and see what setting the HDs are currently on. Change it to DMA if not already selected.

i dont see anything like that under device manager -> controller -> properties. should i look in bios instead?

It's probably different since you are using a PCI ATA card. Check the advanced settings under the Maxtor controller and see if you see any settings that deal with DMA and PIO settings.

You might also check in the BIOS, but it shouldn't matter if you are using a 3rd party controller. The BIOS settings will only affect the PIO/DMA settings for the primary and secondary IDE controllers on the BF6 motherboard.

thats what i was trying to say: the maxtor controller had no "advanced" tab unlike the onboard ide controller. what gives?

 

[Zepper]

Check in the controller's BIOS or use the utility that came with the card.

.bh.

 

[saimike]

Originally posted by: Zepper
Check in the controller's BIOS or use the utility that came with the card.

.bh.

hmm, i'll need to look ... i dont remember it coming with any cdrom ... and maxtor.com doesnt even list it! (its a rebadged promise ultra133 tx2 card)

 

[Zepper]

Should have been on the utility disk that came with drive or if you got it separately it should have come with a diskette (drivers aren't big) or a CD - you can DL from Maxtor or Promise.

.bh.

 

[RobCur]

Originally posted by: saimike

Originally posted by: Zepper
Check in the controller's BIOS or use the utility that came with the card.

.bh.

ata 133 may look good on paper but its your ide card that's the culprit. it's pure crap. remove it and use the onboard ide instead. it is always faster even at ata66 which is 66mb/sec theoritically speaking so you should be able to peak 50mb/sec as well just like your bro.
the problems with pci card that it conflcits with your onboard controller interrupts which causes it to function as if in pio mode 0 or 1. yes, it's that bad!


hmm, i'll need to look ... i dont remember it coming with any cdrom ... and maxtor.com doesnt even list it! (its a rebadged promise ultra133 tx2 card)

 

[RobCur]

ohmybad, it's pio mode 3
Mode 0
600
3.3
ATA

Mode 1
383
5.2
ATA

Mode 2
240
8.3
ATA

Mode 3
180
11.1
ATA-2
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/modesPIO-c.html