DMA/PIO..... what if the best one can get is DMA ultra mode 2?

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  • ulTRAX
    Digital Video Enthusiast
    Digital Video Enthusiast
    • Jan 2005
    • 338
    #1

    DMA/PIO..... what if the best one can get is DMA ultra mode 2?

    After I had problems with my PC I suggested to a friend he check his IDE channels.

    When he reinstalled the drivers the best the secondary channels could do was go into DMA ultra mode 2.

    His system is newer and faster than mine. He has a new DVD burner.

    So why can't he get into DMA ultra mode 3 or 4 like mine can?


    (side question.... does any of this apply to older PCs with ME or Win98? )

    Thanks again!
    Last edited by ulTRAX; 25 Jul 2005, 06:30 AM.
    Tags: None
    • nwg
      Left *****
      • Jun 2003
      • 5196
      #2
      Is he using 80 wire IDE cables? They are needed to get up to UDMA 5.

      I have mine set to Multi Word DMA 2 since replacing the motherboard. It is worse than UDMA 2. I can't get rid of it and so far it hasn't really affected me except a slow copy from one HD to another.

        Comment

        • ulTRAX
          Digital Video Enthusiast
          Digital Video Enthusiast
          • Jan 2005
          • 338
          #3
          Originally Posted by nwg
          Is he using 80 wire IDE cables? They are needed to get up to UDMA 5.

          I have mine set to Multi Word DMA 2 since replacing the motherboard. It is worse than UDMA 2. I can't get rid of it and so far it hasn't really affected me except a slow copy from one HD to another.
          Thanks for responding.

          I don't know what he has. But are you saying that my DVD drives can only go to DMA mode 3 and 4 because of the wires I have as opposed to the data transfer rate of each drive?

            Comment

            • jm1647
              An Eagles Fan, A MenuShrinker
              • Apr 2005
              • 3661
              #4
              I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the IDE channel would only have the maximum speed of the slowest device on it. Try it with only one device on the channel at the same time. And as nwg mentioned all the higher speed DMA devices usually come with an 80 wire ribbon cable that have the blue connector that goes to the motherboard.

                Comment

                • nwg
                  Left *****
                  • Jun 2003
                  • 5196
                  #5
                  I believe that 40 wire cables (often used on older DVD and CD drives) can only go up to UDMA 2 (33MB/s). More and more recent DVD and Hard Disk drives can go higher to UDMA 5 but, will still be restricted to UDMA 2 by a 40 wire cable.

                  The age of the Hard disk can determine how fast the DMA can go. The highest is UDMA 5 which is 100MB/s. It is possible that the hard disk can only go up to UDMA 3 or 4 (66MB/s). To get this speed, it sounds like you are using 80 wire cables. Using a 40 wire cable will restrict the speed to UDMA 2.

                  My Multi Word DMA is 16MB/s

                  This link may help

                  UDMA modes

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