Can't Enable DMA for IDE Channel on New M'Board

[Michael Kilpatrick]

I had to replace my old mobo because a couple of the pci slots stopped
working.

Bought a Gigabyte GA-7S748 - running Athlon 1800 XP and did a clean install
of Win XP.

I have a Seagate 80 Gb ST380011A as the C drive and a Western Digital 30 Gb
300BB as a D drive for backup etc.

Also have a Lite On DVD reader and Lite On CD burner.

On the old mobo (very cheap Jetway) I had the Seagate HD as the prim master,
DVD reader as prim slave, CD burner as sec master, WD HD as sec slave.

Both hard drives used to default to DMA access and speed of transferring
files between them was very high.

I have tried them on the new mobo set up as above, and now with both HD's on
the primary IDE channel, both optical drives on the secondary IDE channel.

Either way, file transfer between the 2 hard drives is unbelievably slow and
I notice that in the IDE channel properties, both are set to "DMA if
Available" but with
"Current Transfer Mode" set to "PIO". I can't select DMA - it's not there
as an option.

I'm using the same cables (80 conductor) that I was previously, I have
installed all the drivers for the Gigabyte mobo and have tried various
combinations in the BIOS. Nothing makes any difference (default is Auto
Detect). I have also downloaded and installed all the Windows updates.

Is this likely to be the cause of my sluggish hard drive performance. Is
there anything I can do to fix it.

I have done a search on the Gigabyte website but can't find anything that
seems relevant.

Thanks for any info

Michael

[Paul Woodsford]

Have you installed the Intel Application Accelerator from your Gigabyte
Software CD.

If so, uninstall it,reboot and you will now be able to re-enable DMA.

If XP has any faults on the IDE bus it downgrades from DMA to PIO.

By the way I found my PC is faster without the Intel software.

You can always re-install it after you have made the change.

--
Paul Woodsford
Remove ****NOSPAMPLEASE**** to Reply
"Michael Kilpatrick" <mkilpatr(at)optusnet(dot)com(dot)au> wrote in message
...
: I had to replace my old mobo because a couple of the pci slots stopped
: working.
:
: Bought a Gigabyte GA-7S748 - running Athlon 1800 XP and did a clean
install
: of Win XP.
:
: I have a Seagate 80 Gb ST380011A as the C drive and a Western Digital 30
Gb
: 300BB as a D drive for backup etc.
:
: Also have a Lite On DVD reader and Lite On CD burner.
:
: On the old mobo (very cheap Jetway) I had the Seagate HD as the prim
master,
: DVD reader as prim slave, CD burner as sec master, WD HD as sec slave.
:
: Both hard drives used to default to DMA access and speed of transferring
: files between them was very high.
:
: I have tried them on the new mobo set up as above, and now with both HD's
on
: the primary IDE channel, both optical drives on the secondary IDE channel.
:
: Either way, file transfer between the 2 hard drives is unbelievably slow
and
: I notice that in the IDE channel properties, both are set to "DMA if
: Available" but with
: "Current Transfer Mode" set to "PIO". I can't select DMA - it's not there
: as an option.
:
: I'm using the same cables (80 conductor) that I was previously, I have
: installed all the drivers for the Gigabyte mobo and have tried various
: combinations in the BIOS. Nothing makes any difference (default is Auto
: Detect). I have also downloaded and installed all the Windows updates.
:
: Is this likely to be the cause of my sluggish hard drive performance. Is
: there anything I can do to fix it.
:
: I have done a search on the Gigabyte website but can't find anything that
: seems relevant.
:
: Thanks for any info
:
: Michael
:
:


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[Michael Kilpatrick]

After I posted this, I thought some more and realised it was odd that the
driver cd that came with the board didn't include an IDE driver (it
definitely doesn't offer an IDE driver as part of the driver installation -
AGP, USB 1.0, USB 2.0 and sound driver, but no IDE.)

It's a SiS chipset so I looked at their site and immediately saw their IDE
driver as one of the most frequent downloads.

Got it and installed it - suddenly both hard drives default to DMA Mode 5
and the pc is flying.

[Chris Catt]

Hi, well done that man for solving his own problem. It is a reminder that we
must always consult with the manual before installing such major components
such as a new motherboard.....
Chris C
"Michael Kilpatrick" <mkilpatr(at)optusnet(dot)com(dot)au> wrote in message
...
> After I posted this, I thought some more and realised it was odd that the
> driver cd that came with the board didn't include an IDE driver (it
> definitely doesn't offer an IDE driver as part of the driver
installation -
> AGP, USB 1.0, USB 2.0 and sound driver, but no IDE.)
>
> It's a SiS chipset so I looked at their site and immediately saw their IDE
> driver as one of the most frequent downloads.
>
> Got it and installed it - suddenly both hard drives default to DMA Mode 5
> and the pc is flying.
>
>
>
>
>

[Michael Kilpatrick]

Thanks Chris

I will just point out that the manual makes no mention of an IDE driver - it
just says to install the software on the cd. A very surprising oversight
from a company such as Gigabyte.

Cheers

Michael

[Chris]

Hi, agreed, probably lost somewhere in the translation I guess :-)
Chris C
"Michael Kilpatrick" <mkilpatr(at)optusnet(dot)com(dot)au> wrote in message
...
> Thanks Chris
>
> I will just point out that the manual makes no mention of an IDE driver -
it
> just says to install the software on the cd. A very surprising oversight
> from a company such as Gigabyte.
>
> Cheers
>
> Michael
>
>