Help with DMA please!

[sonetlumiere]

I just got a Sony DW-D26A from newegg and have installed it fine. I bought the new drive because my old dvd-rw was burning slow and my used read buffer was going from 100% down to very low, like 5% then back up, making for a long burn process. The new drive didn't solve this problem. So I searched the forums and found out how to change me DMA.

My primary IDE Channel =
Device 0 Transfer mode= DMA if available. Current= "Ultra DMA Mode 5" Device 1= Transfer mode=DMA if available. Current= Not Applicable.

Second IDE channel =
Device 0/ Transfer mode=Dma if avail. BUT! Current Transfer Mode= PIO Mode.
Device1/Transfer=Dma if avail. Current=Ultra DMA Mode 3.

So, is my problem in the second IDE channel PIO mode or the Not applicable mode in my primary IDE channel?? please help.

[zevia]

Troubleshooting: Enabling/Checking DMA in Windows XP, 2000, Me, 9x

Basically you need to uninstall the secondary IDE channel and reboot.

[sonetlumiere]

How do I know if my OS isn't on my Second IDE?

[Portmac]

Your hard drive is master on the primary IDE and likely contains your O/S

Device 0 Transfer mode= DMA if available. Current= "Ultra DMA Mode 5"

However deleting the IDE channel your O/S is on should have no adverse effects, but you only need to delete the secondary channel and reboot.

[zevia]

Second IDE channel =
Device 0/ Transfer mode=Dma if avail. BUT! Current Transfer Mode= PIO Mode.
Device1/Transfer=Dma if avail. Current=Ultra DMA Mode 3.

Hmm [curious]... what's in Device1 that shows UDMA 3?

[sonetlumiere]

Wow. That worked really well.. now I'm burning FAST w/out buffer fluctuation. Thanks a ton.

Not sure what's in Device 1. I do have a DV camcorder plugged in for video editing.. maybe that's it?? Not sure though cause this is the first day I've even heard of DMA.. so I don't know what I'm talking about.

Problem fixed though.. : )

[sonetlumiere]

Another quick question if anyone's still looking. Since the Sony is a lot better than the other dvd drive I have in the comp, should it be hooked up as the primary drive? My friend said the comp supplies more power to the primary drive, which makes it run better... true?

[Viper5700]

nope. Not at all. The computer does not control the power supply to any drive. What makes a drive run better is faster bus speeds, DMA, and a shost of other things. but power supply does not affect it unless it is inadaquate.

[DrTeeth]

nope. Not at all. The computer does not control the power supply to any drive. What makes a drive run better is faster bus speeds, DMA, and a shost of other things. but power supply does not affect it unless it is inadaquate.

I did hear that the primary drive on an IDE channel gets some sort of priority. One of the writers that I have here has instructions that it should be installed as the primary, the other must be connected to the primary channel to update the firmware.

[harley2ride]

If your HD is on the Primary as Master (which it should be), unless you have sata, then you want your primary burner on the Seconday IDE as master. That will give you your best performance.

[DrTeeth]

If your HD is on the Primary as Master (which it should be), unless you have sata, then you want your primary burner on the Seconday IDE as master. That will give you your best performance.

Any figures on the difference in performance?

My main writer is on the secondary channel and works as expected speedwise. If I can get a significant boost by swapping it over, I'm cracking open my case<g>.