help! My top drive doesn't work well

A

azman66

Weaksauce
Joined
Jan 20, 2003
Messages
90
Alright guys,

I have a question. My top drive doesn't seem to respond very well. I know there are certain ways to test it and see if it works. When i put commercial cd's in it ...it just delays in the read and makes windows get all slow and crappy. Plus when i am reading from a DVD to rip it into a file it says there are read errors. I dont know what to do. This drive is brand new...and i know it was working at one point before my format. What setting in windows do i need to change to make this bitch run a fuill speed and not pussy speed.....

thank you,

Ztrain
 
What do you mean top drive? Specs? Do you have multiple harddrive? DMA settings?
 
Well, if the drive is not in DMA mode it will be very sluggish but it sounds like you have a bigger problem than just speed.


Every time I have encoutered this, it was caused by a bad drive. I would say to try that drive in another box to verify that it is fuxed or RMA it and try a new drive.

I'm assuming you mean an optical drive... correct me if I am wrong.
 
where can i go and what can i do to check DMA settings....also i have an ultra 100 card in there that i think the cd drives are wired to i am not sure. Are there any programs out there that can test the health of my drive etc? let me know. the drive is running rather sluggish
 
go into the hardware manager and check the properties for the controllers, both primary and secondary channels. That will tell you if it is setup to work in DMA mode.


What type of drive are you talking about?
 
man people in Gen Hard have some funny posts. Include ur drive model when asking specific questions. Post some benchmarks, use HDtach 2.71, sandra and Pc Mark2004. And finally put drive questions in the drive sub-forum.
 
EDIT- i removed it... sorry for any negative feelings i made.. dont take it personally
 
wayne said:
lol, yea.... i read his post and started cracking up.. then i looked to the left and i was like, oh, hes a noobie
Click to expand...

If you look at his sign up date ... he's been here longer than you ... :rolleyes: he's just not as a prolific spammer as you ... infact, it seems you have more posts per day than me ... than does not mean you are a better person than both of us.

Besides ... how can comment like yours help him?

Edit: I read my post, and I came a little bit testy ... I don't mean to offend :D . This is the reason why I don't post first thing in morning much ... I'm just not really a morning person ... :(
 
azman66 said:
where can i go and what can i do to check DMA settings....also i have an ultra 100 card in there that i think the cd drives are wired to i am not sure. Are there any programs out there that can test the health of my drive etc? let me know. the drive is running rather sluggish
Click to expand...

you can download a disk utility from the HD manufacturer's website ... be careful though ... make sure you back-up all your data ... you can easily zap them if you chose the wrong option ...
 
primea said:
If you look at his sign up date ... he's been here longer than you ... :rolleyes: he's just not as a prolific spammer as you ... infact, it seems you have more posts per day than me ... than does not mean you are a better person than both of us.

Besides ... how can comment like yours help him?
Click to expand...
ehh, you're right... i wrote that last night after coming home from this party... i guess i wasnt thinking... sorry, i ll take it off
 
azman66 said:
When i put commercial cd's in it ...it just delays in the read and makes windows get all slow and crappy. Plus when i am reading from a DVD to rip it into a file it says there are read errors.
Click to expand...

ergo top drive equals an optical DVD R or RW
and off to Optical Drives you go :p


Start > Run > (type) devmgmt.msc > IDE ATA\ATAPI controllers > DClick appropriate channel (Primary or Secondary) > Advanced Settings Tab > Check Current Transfer Mode
should read Ultra DMA Mode

some of the reasons a device might default to PIO
DMA Mode for ATA/ATAPI Devices in Windows XP
IDE ATA and ATAPI Disks Use PIO Mode After Multiple Time-Out or CRC Errors Occur


if its a DMA issue could be anything from bad cable routing and generally crappy cables
or the wrong cable
while an optical drive will work fine with a 40 wire cable and are sold with them
a modern HDD will not, as its unable to employ UDMA mode 5 (ATA100)
the optical work fine on an 80 wire cable that the HDD needs
Click to expand...
to Windows not trusting the drive or chipset

it could also be a configuration problem check the jumpers, make sure that if your using cable select, both devices on that channel\cable are using it,
or that if your using master\slave that one device (typically HDDs have this) isnt set to single (master) when a slave is present or that its set to Master w\ slave if there isnt
also all Masters need to be at the end of the cable and there is no slave without a master

you might try a different configuration, some devices just do play well together
Partitioning and Otimizing Tutorial > Physical Configuration
and you might have higher performance with a different config depending on how your employing it (Target and Source)

it could also be a software issue

List your drives (make and model)
your configuration (Primary Channel master\slave\cable select, repeat Secondary Channel)
and what software your employing, in addition to the OS




wayne said:
reason - accidental spamming
Click to expand...

LOL
re: he's a n00bie,
I think the "top drive" was the first clue :p
nothin wrong with being a n00bie or even callin someone a n00bie if its actually obvious they are (which can trip you up )
but helping and welcoming n00bs is largely what we are all about
once apon a time we where n00bs as well, and often we still make n00b mistakes
regardless of those titles or how long we have been working with computers
(there are few of us that arent a "n00b" in at least one of these forums
you should see me in Webmastering and Programming :p )

azman66 Welcome to the forums :D
 
TechHead said:
^^Yeah, that's pretty much all that needs to be said. Thanks,Ice!
Click to expand...

LOL, this thread took the grand tour GH > DSS > T&OD :p
hopefully something above will work
unless its a software issue, with burn programs or something not playing nice
 
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