IDE Controllers

[Sirius]

Hey guys I have read some posts in the froums that are close to what I have to ask but no reply. In Device Manager under IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers you have Primary IDE Channel and Secondary Channel. My ? is in Primary channel in advanced setting both Devices are running in Ultra DMA mode but in Secondary Channel I have "DMA if available" but in Current Transfer mode the two devices are running in PIO mode. Does anyone know how to fix this?

[tweakerxp]

What are the devices hooked up to your secondary IDE controller? If they are older CD-ROM drives they would show as PIO only. If they are newer drives, make sure DMA is enabled in the BIOS and you have the latest motherboard drivers.

[I.M.O.G.]

You need to make sure that you have the secondary channel set to DMA if available and then restart. Make sure your bios is configured to allow DMA also.

If you change the setting without restarting it will have no effect.

You also have to use the correct kind of IDE cable - you need an 80 wire 40 pin cable, if you have a 40 wire 40 pin cable you will run in PIO mode. The extra 40 wires in the 80 wire cable allow for faster data transfer rates by physically seperating the data signals and lowering error propagation.

All your drives should be DMA capable. If you are currently using 80 wire cable (they usually have color coded connectors - blue black and grey), please give us the manufacturer's and model numbers on the drives. :)

[Sirius]

I have Vantec premium copper UV cables on both, for HD's and DVD,CD-R. HD's are on IDE one and DVD,CD-R are on IDE two.
MY DVD player is a Pioneer DVD-120S and my CD-R is a Plextor CD-R Premium.

[I.M.O.G.]

That eliminates the cables as a problem. The drives are also DMA capable so they aren't the problem either. So any hardware problem is eliminated.

And you've restarted after changing the setting to DMA if available? (or it has always been at DMA if available)

Ensure that the drive jumpers are configured correctly on your removable media drives.

Is DMA enabled in bios for the secondary channel?

[Sirius]

I have restarted too. I will check jumpers and I looked in the BIOS and I have them set the same as my HD's.

[Sirius]

Jumpers are master for DVD, slave for CD-R

[I.M.O.G.]

Originally posted by Sirius
I have restarted too. I will check jumpers and I looked in the BIOS and I have them set the same as my HD's.

Different drives use different jumper settings. Make sure they are correct for each specific drive. May or may not make a difference, but it eliminates possible conflicts.