Need help regarding hard disks

[Delitus]

Need help regarding hard disks
- Excruciatingly slow bootup with HD present on secondary IDE channel

This problem is driving me nuts. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Currently, I have two hard disks and one DVD writer installed on my PC:
Primary Master - Maxtor 2F040L0 (41.2GB @ 7200 RPM)
Primary Slave - WD400 (40GB @ 7200 RPM)
Secondary Master - HP DVD Writer 200j
Secondary Slave - Free

Now my problem is, whenever I install another hard disk on the secondary IDE channel, the system bootup speed slows down to the crawl of a snail. Normally, it takes less than 10 seconds for the BIOS to detect all the IDE devices and begin booting Windows. With another disk installed however, the process takes about a minute to complete. Not only that, what is supposed to be a 20 second load from BIOS to the Windows login screen becomes a four minute wait. Four minutes for Windows to load, just because of another hard disk?! I have made every attempt to cure this problem - to no avail.
I've tried:

- checking the jumpers. Everything was fine.
- assigning the hard disk as master, and the DVD writer as slave. No difference. The BIOS still struggled while detecting the hard disk on the secondary IDE channel.
- using a different hard disk which was fully working. No difference.
- using two hard disks on the secondary IDE channel. The BIOS struggled detecting both hard disks.
- running chkdsk on all my hard disks. Everything was dandy.
- removing the DVD writer. No difference.

From this point, I sort of lost my mind P) and tried:
- clearing the CMOS. No difference.
- reinstalling Windows. No difference.
- fiddling around with any BIOS settings I could get my hands on. No difference.
- reassembled my computer from scratch, checking for any damages/disconnected cables and components. Still no difference.

And now, I have given up and am asking for help. I find this problem rather strange because previously, my computer was more than happy with hard disks on the secondary IDE channel. It didn't slow down at all like it's doing now. This problem began happening after disconnecting and then reconnecting the hard disk on the secondary IDE channel (for cable rearranging). The only conclusion I can come up with right now, is my computer no longer likes hard disks being on the secondary IDE channel for some odd reason. Only hard disks, because my DVD writer gets detected fine without any slowdowns.

I just hope this isn't some serious hardware problem...

Please help!
Thanks in advance.

 

[mechBgon]

Computers are just a passing craze anyway. Ok, what motherboard do you have there?

 

[Delitus]

Looks like I forgot to post my system specs.

I am using an ASUS P5P800 motherboard. My system specs:

OS : Windows XP Professional (SP2)
CPU : Pentium 4 550 (3.4Ghz, 800MHz FSB)
Memory : 1024MB PC3200 DDR400 SDRAM (Dual channel)
Graphics : PixelView GeForce 6800 Ultra
PSU: Hyena DR-B500E (500W)

 

[mechBgon]

Hmmm I usually read the mobo manual for insight on this kind of stuff but I don't have that one yet. Will download it... at 56k speed. So I might need until tomorrow to offer my input on the problem With the recent Intel chipsets, there can be some interesting convolutions since they need the option to handle SATA channels in place of PATA channels sometimes.

 

[imported_Phil]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Hmmm I usually read the mobo manual for insight on this kind of stuff but I don't have that one yet. Will download it... at 56k speed. So I might need until tomorrow to offer my input on the problem With the recent Intel chipsets, there can be some interesting convolutions since they need the option to handle SATA channels in place of PATA channels sometimes.

:thumbsup:

This would normally point towards a jumper problem, but as he's already changed them around, I'm lost

 

[montag451]

Is it always the same drive that gives you the problem?

Are you using ATA100 cables, [got 80 thin wires, not 40 fat wires]?

 

[Delitus]

No, this happens to all of my hard disks, when they are installed on the secondary IDE channel. And no, I am not using an ATA100 cable for my secondary IDE channel, but I don't think that is the problem since it worked fine before. Right now, I am using the exact same configuration as when it worked fine.

/EDIT: Clarifications

 

[montag451]

Try another cable, could be there is a kink, or a piece of insulation has a pin hole in it

 

[Delitus]

I just tried using an ATA100 cable. No luck.

Also, a question about jumpers - are 'Master/Slave' jumper settings better than 'Cable select' in any way?

 

[montag451]

cable select means that if the drive is placed on the end of the cable, it becomes MASTER, if it is on the middle, it is SLAVE.
BOTH drives on a channel will have to be cable select jumpered for it to work

 

[Delitus]

But does 'cable select' offer any advantages over setting 'master/slave' manually? (speed, etc.)

 

[montag451]

not that i know of.

I think it is mainly used where drives may be swapped regularly around, like a file server, so that the tech doesnt have to worry about jumpering

 

[LTC8K6]

Did Windows possibly drop your secondary IDE controller into PIO mode?

 

[Delitus]

I tried a clean install of Windows XP before, and the problem still existed.
I don't think this has anything to do with Windows, since this happens during POST.

/Edit: Corrections

 

[montag451]

What about in BIOS,
Are there options for enabling DMA on your mobo for IDE channels

 

[Delitus]

According to my manual there is but this doesn't appear in my BIOS for some reason. UDMA5 gets enabled for all my hard disks automatically anyway (by BIOS).

Here are the configurable options (if they help). Bold text shows the avaliable options for that setting; italic text shows the setting which I am using right now:
Type [None/Auto/CDROM/ARMD] Auto
LBA/Large Mode [Disabled/Auto] Auto
Block (Multi-sector Transfer) [Disabled/Auto] Auto
PIO Mode [Auto/0/1/2/3/4] 4
SMART Monitoring [Auto/Disabled/Enabled] Enabled
32Bit Data Transfer [Disabled/Enabled] Disabled

/Edit: Clarifications

 

[LTC8K6]

Well, there is your answer. PIO mode instead of UDMA and 32 bit transfers are disabled.
That will indeed be a dog.

You need to get UDMA working.

 

[Delitus]

lol, but UDMA is working...it just can't be set manually. Hard disks on Pri. Master, Pri. Slave and Sec. Master are all running in UDMA Mode 5, and my DVD Writer is running in UDMA Mode 2. As for 32-bit transfer, I've never touched it before, since everything used to work fine without. I'll see if enabling it makes a difference.

 

[Delitus]

I tried enabling 32-bit transfers. Still slow as hell.
I'm lost...

 

[LTC8K6]

Type [None/Auto/CDROM/ARMD] Auto
LBA/Large Mode [Disabled/Auto] Auto
Block (Multi-sector Transfer) [Disabled/Auto] Auto
PIO Mode [Auto/0/1/2/3/4] 4
SMART Monitoring [Auto/Disabled/Enabled] Enabled
32Bit Data Transfer [Disabled/Enabled] Disabled

Why don't I see any way to enable UDMA? I am confused also.

Run HDtach on the drive in question and see how fast it is running. You will then know for sure if it really is running in UDMA. Run it on both hard drives for comparison.

My WD120gb drive is is bursting at 81 and averaging 42 MB/sec.

 

[Delitus]

That's because my motherboard enables UDMA automatically if it's avaliable. As for the result...I almost fell off my chair laughing.
Pri. Master - avg. 41MB/sec
Pri. Slave - avg. 32.7MB/sec
Sec. Master - avg. *drum roll* .....3MB/sec. Yup, that's a THREE.

I shouldn't be laughing at my own problem, but what the hell!

 

[LTC8K6]

Well, that is PIO mode 4 alright! UDMA is clearly not working. My external USB 2.0 drive averages 17MB/sec.

It seems like UDMA mode is just not working on your secondary IDE channel. There must be some way to turn it on manually.

There is no mention in the BIOS list of fixing such a problem.

 

[montag451]

could try flashing bios with new version.
Might be that you are using an old version from one of the first boards marketed.

goto manufacturer website and check if they have seen this prob

 

[xeonzx86]

lol....my external usb gives me 1MB/sec avg!!!!!........any idea why? its an 810mbd....with celeron1.1G

 

[Delitus]

According to my BIOS, the drive IS operating in UDMA5 mode... and my BIOS is the latest version. This is strange, because there shouldn't be a reason why my bootup has slowed down so much. I am using the same configuration (BIOS, etc.) as when everything used to work fine. Perhaps the settings are not to blame?