How do I adjust DMA settings?

[zad1]

Sorry, I'm not clear on how to adjust DMA settings.
Blutach, in your post on DMA you say "...click Advanced Settings and check it says DMA if available and is set to Ultra DMA, mode 5...Do the same for the secondary channel -- it should be Ultra DMA, mode 2."
On my primary channel, Device 0, it says "DMA if available" and under it, "Ultra DMA mode 4". I don't know how to change it to mode 5. And in the same window, under Device 1, it says "DMA if available" and under it, "Ultra DMA mode 2."

For secondary channel, it says under Device 0, "DMA if available", then "PIO Mode".
Then under Device 1, it says "DMA if available", then "Multi-Word DMA Mode 2."

What..?

Any advice please?

[louis]

go here bro http://forum.digital-digest.com/show...&highlight=dma might be of some use

[blutach]

Mode 4 is OK for your hard drive. PIO is bad and needs adjusting. Mutli-Word DMA is also OK.

Regards

[zad1]

Thanks Blutach. So how do I adjust it? (When the box above PIO already says "DMA if available"?)

[blutach]

You follow my guide in the FAQ - the link has already been provided by louis or it's in my sig.

Regards

[zad1]

Okay. I've followed those steps through. Device Manager, IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers, right click on 'secondary IDE channel', push 'uninstall', then reboot. Then check 'DMA if available'. reboot again. And it's exactly the same. Still says 'PIO mode' by 'current transfer mode' below Device 0.
Done it a couple of times, same result.
Now what? Any ideas?

[blutach]

Check your BIOS settings. Get there by pressi g 2 or DEL or whatever when you just start the machine. Maybe a setting for the IDE channel needs fixing.

The other thing that could be wrong is your IDE cable may need replacing.

Regards

[zad1]

Thanks blutach.
The hard drive (D is an old one and less than 1g. Someone told me it may not support DMA? I just use it as a spare. But the CD-Writer (E seems to have become the 'slave' and (D is the 'master', while the DVD-writer (F is slaved to the primary hard drive.(C.
So if PIO is on for (E, it wouldn't affect the DVD-writer, (F would it..?

[cynthia]

Try this setup:

First channel (cable):

Master - your primary hard disk
Slave - your old hard disk

Second channel (cable):

Master - your burner
Slave - your CD-Writer

You may need to set to jumpers in the back of the devices to either slave or master depending on what they should be set at.

Old hard disks can be very tricky to move to DMA mode. It shouldn't be a problem if you have both hard disks on the same channel.

[zad1]

Thank you.

"You may need to set to jumpers in the back of the devices to either slave or master depending on what they should be set at"

Sorry, not clear what you mean there. Could you please clarify that a little?

[cynthia]

A FAQ: http://www.cheap-discount-computer-p...hard_drive.htm

[zad1]

Thanks for that. I've got a lot to learn. I came to the right place to ask.