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  1. Member
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    I have TWO dvd burners one is an IDE connected Burner and the other is connected via a PCI mounted SATA connection using a RAID CONTROLLER, i think its sata, it looks like a slimmer HDMI connector where as the IDE burner is connected straight into the motherboard via a ribbon cable.

    The burner connected via the PCI/SATA card is so much slower than the IDE ribbon connected burner. Ideally I would like BOTH the be IDE connected, but as its old technology, IDE PATA burners are expensive and not readily available.

    Is the PCI card connected drive slower because it has to go via the PCI-SATA RAID Controller.........or could it be another problem.
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  2. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
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    I would suspect the SATA PCI controller board is your problem. A SATA drive should be as fast, or usually faster, than the older IDE interface. Not all SATA cards even work with SATA optical drives. The early SATA implementations run at 150MB/s, about the same as IDE (PATA) controllers. Then there were 300MB/s SATA controllers. Newer SATA controllers may use the 600MB/s interface, though they may also not work with SATA optical drives..

    But if you could give us the brand and model and version of your SATA PCI card, that would likely help considerably. I prefer PCI SATA controller cards with Silicon Image chipsets as they seem to be the most compatible and most reliable, especially using optical drives. Via and some other chipsets can be problematic.

    I've used this Rosewill SATA controller PCI card on several PCs and it works great with SATA optical drives. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816132007 Not sure what you have available in the UK.
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  3. Member DB83's Avatar
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    There are a few here:

    http://www.dabs.com/search?q=sata%20controller

    But the issue with the cards is likely to be the older PCI interface rather than pci-e and the controller I checked was SATA 1.

    I would also question the statement about the RAID. Are there any HDDs connected to this controller ?. If not, you may well have configured the card incorrectly. And even with HDDs you can configure without a formal raid ie drives are seperate. Check the cards settings.
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    in my nieveity I just bought a PCI card that would give me a SATA connection, so I could plug a new writer into it. Then I installed the driver disc that came with it. the PCI sockets on my board are just that PCI and NOT PCI-E.

    The make of the card is a VIA Technologies VIA VT4621 Raid Controller driver version 5.1.2600.542
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  5. Member DB83's Avatar
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    I suggest you read the manual that came with the card thoroughly. You certainly do NOT need any raid.
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    in my capacity as a numpty have i bought the wrong card and could you point me in the right direction of the correct one, thanks for your help on this one.....
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  7. Member DB83's Avatar
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    The card should be fine. Speed is limited to 150 MB/s ie SATA1 but I could not find a SATA2 card (300 MB/s) on the PCI bus.

    If I could find a manual online I could probaly guide you to set it up correctly but just read the manual carefully.

    Where there a choice of drivers to install ? As I said, with no HDDs connected you do not need any raid setup. Maybe you ca uninstall the present drivers and run the install again and before you do anything just report back on the options you see.

    Also take a look at your Windows system settings for any warnings.
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  8. Member
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    Thanks for all your help DB83, I dont think the card has any settings to change to be honest.....but I will be taking your advice on the driver issues......Windows shows no warnings by the way,
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  9. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
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    VIA chipset PCI cards can be problematic at times, but usually only if your motherboard also uses VIA chipsets. Some sort of conflicts.

    Most times, a optical drive will just refuse to work at all or not be recognized when the configuration or software is wrong, but I would try a driver re-install.

    I would also check your SATA data cable and make sure it's plugged in firmly at both ends. If the PCI card has more than one SATA port, try changing that also.
    If you have a spare SATA cable, you might try substituting it.

    And this could also be a problem with your SATA burner, though that's unlikely. About the only way to test it is to install it on a different PC, so that would be my last option.
    If you are using ImgBurn , (Recommended), it can check your burner speed and the burner firmware for problems and updates.
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