PX-W1210TA + DMA + Win2k + nForce2 -> 1x reading/writing

[recnelis 0]

Anyone else have this or a similar problem? I have an Epox 8RDA+ and no matter what I do, I can't get both DMA and full read/write speeds from the Plextor drive. The drive itself is fine, as it works/worked in an older motherboard (Abit KT7a). And it shouldn't have anything to do with the drive layout (two hard drives on the primary chain, DVD-ROM on the secondary master, the Plextor on the secondary slave) as swapping the DVD-ROM/Plextor doesn't help at all. If I disable DMA, the Plextor reverts to PIO mode, but I get the full read and write speed from it (at the expense of CPU utilization). Also, a newer Plextor 40/12/40A works fine in DMA mode as secondary slave.

 

I did a clean reinstall on this system just to make sure it wasn't some crappy piece of software I happened to have used. All that's running/installed is Win2k SP4 (SP3 had the same problem), IE6, MBM5, nForce Unified Driver 2.03, and the 44.03 Detonators. The 8RDA+ has the latest BIOS as of 6/11/03 (3609) and the Plextor is up to date as of 5/28/03 (v.1.10). Short of swapping for the newer Plextor drive, does anyone have a suggestion/solution for this problem? Thanks.

[jmmijo 1]

You did verify that you set the mobo BIOS settings to either PIO4 or UDMA2 correct ?!?

 

Sometimes you have to force it vs. using the AUTO settings.

[recnelis 0]

I don't have much choice for that. But, everything with regard to that is set to "Auto" or "Enabled." I did think about forcing DMA for the Plextor, but there was no way to do so with the available options.

[jmmijo 1]

Hmm, most new boards come with multiple options now, you select the AUTO option and then change it according to what is listed in the menu, perhaps this model doesn't have this kind of selection

 

Another possible issue is that this drive is incompatible with the nForce 2 chipset in anything other then PIO mode.

[recnelis 0]

I can set the PIO mode, but the UDMA mode is "Auto" or "Disabled." I'm thinking it's just a compatibility issue, as this drive is three years old. Apparently, Plextor has not done any compatibility testing with the nForce2 and my particular drive (or any other, as the technician hinted at).

[jmmijo 1]

Yes I'm suspecting a compatibility issue with the DMA mode as well. Most likely Plextor would rather you purchase a new drive from them instead

[ConQueso 0]

I would try searching or posting in this forum:

http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=32

 

Also, nvidia just today released a driver update, v2.45 though it say it doesn't include NV IDE drivers.