Why does everyone keep advising to install the latest Via drivers as a cure for problems?

[filmore crashcart]

I ask this because I have yet to get the busmaster drivers to install correctly on any motherboard I've had with Win98. My hd keeps comming up as a "generic type 47 disk", hd benchmarks are not any better than the Win98 Via default drivers, and I usually end up going back to the Win98 default via's busmaster. I've tried every trick in the book to get them to install correctly; meaning, recognizing my hd by brand and model. I've always read that this is how you know that they are installed correctly.
Anyway, I installed the 4.28's and still can't get the busmaster drivers to fully install and see no improvement on performance or stability.
So when people keep advising someone experiencing problems on their Via chipset mother board with "did you install the lastest Via drivers?" Just what are they referring to.... the agp, the busmaster drivers, or what?
If someone has a definative answer on this, I would appreciate it.
MSI Pro 2a
Win98 first
TB 900 (non OC)
WD ata66 20.5
Hercules 3D Prophetll GTS 32meg
256 Mushkin Rev2
SB Live Value
Creative Encore 6x
Creative CDRW
Blah, Blah, Blah

 

[holdencommodore]

It shows "generic type 47 disk" because you have the VSD drivers installed.
To get the model name of your HDD, you need to install the VIA IDE Miniport drivers.
Download the latest driver from Viahardware.
When given the option in the install menu, install the Miniport driver.

I must warn you though, it may make your system not boot to Windows. To fix this, go to safe mode, run the setup again, and uninstall the driver. The VSD driver works with almost all systems, where as the Miniport driver may not.

Good Luck.

 

[Technosnob]

Actually, according to the VIA FAQ page, you SHOULD be using the windows default drivers with 98se. I "quote"...

Win98 Installation
Q: What is the procedure for installing Win98 on VIA chipset based systems?
A: There are four important steps to follow:
1) Go into BIOS setup and enable USB
2) Install Win98 on your system
3) Download and install the VIA IrQ routing miniport driver from our driver page
4) Download and install the VIA AGP driver from our driver page (for MVP3 & VP3 chipsets only)

What kind of performance are you getting, and expecting? Is there a problem, other that speed, with the drive?

See, I broke your string. I'm telling you NOT to install a driver!

 

[filmore crashcart]

Thanks for the tip Holdencommodore. I tried the miniport drivers out and had no problems with installation and getting my harddrive recognized. My Sandra scores benchmarked at least 200 points higher now (over 1600 as opposed to around 1399 before)but cpu utilization is up from 5% to 48%. Don't understand that one.
Technosnob-
I'm in sync with your thoughts on this.... I just wanted to ferret out some arguments as to why you should install the busmaster drivers. My sissoft scores did go up, but with a trade off of heavier cpu usage as shown by hd tach which showed no increase in scores.

 

[filmore crashcart]

I started getting BSD's with this driver installed so I switched back to the Win98 default driver.... much more stable. I guess I've convinced myself that there is no point in installing the via busmaster's - even the latest beta's. It seems strange that they have not come up with a better busmaster driver yet that beats the microsoft driver that is over 2 years old.

 

[Mem]

Very strange,I don`t bother with leaked(beta)drivers,anyway I`ve yet to have a problem with the Via 4 in 1 drivers,I also use Win98 os1,the current official Via drivers I use are 4.25a drivers,I know some people are having problems but , I`ve tried 4.19,4.24,4.25 etc & have yet to receive my first BSOD or have any problems with them.

 

[holdencommodore]

Some people have luck with the Busmaster drivers and some don't.
I had mayjor problems when I tried to install the Busmaster drivers (Miniport) on my old Socket 7 VIA MVP3 system.
The Seagate ATA 66 drive did not like them.
And still didn't like them when I got the MSI K7T Pro 2-A.
Only since I got a new IBM Deskstar ATA 100 7200 RPM drive could I then, and only then, get the Busmaster to work.

I don't think the Miniport IDE driver works that well on ATA-66 drives.
If you get BSOD's, then stick with the Windows ones, or you can try the VSD drivers (don't think the performance is that good).

Hopefully, VIA can sort out the Busmaster drivers, I have had problems dating back to 4.17 4-in-1 drivers.

Cheers.