DVD problem setting DMA? Still got problems?

[Willabong]

Here is one for you: I build my own systems using Novatech to supply the parts. My DVD R/RW has no manufacturers name on the front, but is capable of writing DVD's at up to 8x speed.
The problem is it will not let me set it to run using DMA, I have to set it to PI0 or Windows (XP Home) will not recognize the drive.
Windows will recognize the drive if I set it to PI0, but then I cannot use 8x, but have to settle for 4x, and sometimes I cannot even get 4x to work and have to revert to 2x.
Any idea what the problem can be? :?

[Coops]

Hi Willabong

There could be a few things that cause this problem.

Are you using a 40 wire or 80 wire ATA cable to connect your drive?

Have you tried a new cable?

Is your drive a master or slave and is it connected to the secondary or primary ide bus?

Does it have the ide bus it is connected to all to itself or is it sharing with another drive?

Check that DMA is turned on in the BIOS for the IDE port the drive is connected to.

Have you tried under device manager removing the Drive and also removing the IDE controller driver and then having windows re-find those devices and reinstall them. You do not need to uninstall all the ide controllers from device manager just the one that the drive is connected to. Such as "Secondary IDE controller" if it was connected to the secondary ide port.

[Willabong]

There are two DVD drives connected to the secondary IDE controller, 0 is the DVD R/RW, and 1 is the DVD Rom.
I have tried un-installing the Drives on this IDE Chanel before and it didn't make any difference, selecting DMA makes the drive vanish from Windows, selecting PI0 makes it re-appear!
Perhaps I should make it clear that this drive used to work normally with DMA selected, then I had to re-install Windows because of a serious problem (Now resolved).
The drive in question is less than 9 months old.
Where in the BIOS would I find the DMA settings for the drives?

[Coops]

This will depend on what your mainboard is and BIOS version you are running. Could you provide mainboard make and model number and also current BIOS version.

Have you tried uninstalling the actually ide controller for the particular channel those drives are connected to and not just the drives themselves

Best Regards

[Willabong]

ASUS A7N8X-E, not sure of the BIOS, this is the information in the manual: 4mb Flash Rom, Award BIOS, PnP, DM12.0, Green.
Will try the removal of the Secondary IDE Chanel and Drive and let you know what happens!

[Willabong]

Sorry I haven't got back to you sooner, been busy!
Un-installed the drive concerned and the Secondary IDE Controller. Re-booted, and Windows re-detected the Controller and Drive......It seems to have worked! At present I can access the drive, and it is using DMA......Have not tried to burn a DVD yet, will try it soon and let you know! Thanks for your expertize! :D
PS: Hope this site takes off, as it is sorely needed! :wink:

[Coops]

No problem.

Glad to hear this has worked. Let us know if it causes anymore issues.

[Willabong]

Tried to burn some files to a DVD that I have kept open to add to.....But now the drive sees it as a blank disk. however there should be over 2 gig of freeware games on the disk.....I have tried changing the drive back to PI0, and it saw the folder with the games on it (They were all there!). But on trying it again, even in PI0 it sees the disk as blank, but will read other DVD's, including DVD-R!
My other DVD Rom drive will not even recognize that there is a disk in the drive!
I have currently three DVD-R disks that I have kept open to add files to. One for games, one for Applications, and one for music programs. And my DVD RW drive will not even see the files and neither will NERO.
I would like to be able to access these disks as some of the files on them are irreplaceable! :?
PS: Both drives will read CD's, or CD-R/RW but one won't recognize DVD's of any type. And the other (DVD R/RW) won't pick up the disks mentioned above.
When I removed the IDE channel for these drives, could that have removed the DVD codex information required to enable NERO to see the disks? The DVD R/RW drive is recognized by Windows as a DVD drive! But the other drive is only seen as a CD drive.

EDIT: Got the DVD R/RW to see the files on the DVD's mentioned above,but only in PI0 mode.....Probably means the drive is failing!
But this doesn't explain why my other drive (DVD Rom) which was also bought from Novatech, is only being seen as a CD Drive, and will not read DVD's? :?

[Willabong]

Oh well!.....Solved it myself!.....Pity no one bothered to come back to me! :(

[gwendes]

Before bringing a drive displaying these symptons in for testing I could only suggest updating the firmware, attaching it as the only drive and replacing the IDE cable.

What did the cause of the fault turn out to be?

[Willabong]

When I say solved it! I mean I now have both drives working again with DVD's, but the DVD R/RW will still only burn in PI0 mode.....Un-installed the drives IDE channel again (the second time) and I was able to get back to the state the drives were in before I posted!
Come to the conclusion the drive is either faulty, or there is a problem with my OS! :?
PS: The IDE cables are all 80 pin and were changed about a month ago because of another fault, and both drives have worked flawlessly since then. As for updating the firmware, I have thought of doing that as a last resort. But with DVD drives being so cheap at present, I may well just buy a new one! (Branded).