DMA vs PIO (CDROMs)

[RobbieSan]

I recently encountered a problem with both my CD and CDRW.. I found that they would not work properly in DMA mode.. after changing them to PIO mode they work fine but I assume there is a substantial performance hit..

I am wondeirng why this problem exists on my machine and others that have experienced this problem.. here's my specs:

AMD 1.2
512MB PC133
Tyan Trinity KT-A
SB Live 5.1
ATI R8500 64MB
LG8522 CDROM (52x)
LG8320 CDRW (32x)
Quantum Atlantis 40GB
XP Pro w/SP1 and all relevant updates


Anyone have some ideas on how to get these ROMs working in DMA mode?

 

[Luna64]

Well to figure that out we would need to know what happend that caused you to switch to PIO.

Lots of things can go wrong so a little more info would be helpfull.

 

[RobbieSan]

thanks for the reply Luna..

not sure what extra info I can provide.. I updated to XP SP1 and soon after I found I couldn't get through a full burn.. I figured my CDRW was screwed and planned on replacing it.. that's when I ran into problems installing UT2003 and found the answer to use PIO mode at the Infrogrames forum..

I was wondeirng if others have run into this and if there's some things I can do in ways of tweaks or what have you to get both running properly in DMA mode..

 

[Luna64]

First, have you updated your firmware to the latest version ?

This could really be a lot of things. DMA causes problems in both the CD-Rom drive and the CD-RW right ?

Also, are the drives set up for DMA in your BIOS ?



As I don't really know much about DMA problems, I would tell you to check out the forums at www.cdrinfo.com.

They answer tons of questions about DMA / PIO, and any other CD-RW question you might have.


Also, what problems are you getting when DMA is turned on ? Was it just those that you mentioned ? I can't help much, but be sure to tell them all the problems you are having.

I am guessing it is a driver problem. You should try and update your IDE/ATA drivers from your motherboards web page. Also, if you can find a BIOS update you should install that, along with the latest firmware for your CD-RW drive.

 

[RobbieSan]

Hi Luna, thanks again for your help..

I have finally fixed this problem.. I had to "downdate" my via drivers from v4.43 to 4.33.. I may be able to use other versions but 4.33 was chosen and it works so I'll leave well enough alone..

I have noticed a considerable overall system speed increase with 4.33 as well.. I haven't done much with motherboard drivers before but I know how much of a difference they can make..