Warning Sony DRU500AX / Asus A7A MB

[gsd103]

The Asus A7A Motherboard is not compatible with the Sony DRU500. It will only write and read at 1X speed in PIO mode, not DMA. PIO mode uses 90+ of your CPU when running. Others have had this exact same problem with this Motherboard. I have contacted Sony and left my Email and number, and will reply if I hear anything.

Dominic
Northridge, CA

[Ciuko]

Well my friend ... my mobo is an ASUS A7A 266E - the only "problem" i've got is when i try to play dvd movies with SonyDRU500a .. if dma is enabled they are very blocky and out of sync.
Switching to PIO mode is the solution ... on my XP 1800+ some slowdown is noticed when burning .. but records speed 2x & 4x are allowed.
So i don't worry about DMA.

[goldensaintseiya]

how can i turn off DMA??????

[gsd103]

Control Panel System Hardware Device Manager IDE ATA controller Primary or Secondary depending on your config.

XP PRO

[shinboy]

I also have a asus a7a motherboard and had no problems with the sony dru500a. Maybe you should trying using the drive in dma mode. As to the watching dvd problem, I never watch dvd on the sony drive. I use my pioneer for that.

[gsd103]

*** UPDATE***

I upgraded my Mother board to a Asus A7N8X, and in the process upgaded to an XP2400, WD1200JB HD, 512 Corsair. NO MORE PROBLEMS. This thing flys now, and I can cruise the net at the same time im burning.

[igalan]

I also have the ASUS A7A266. The problem with the DRU-500A does exist, but if you set the unit to PIO in the BIOS, and UDMA in Windows XP, it will work fine (but with a higher cpu usage). I can burn at 2x with no problems, even on-the-fly DVD to DVD at 2x (I can't find 4x media).

Ali is aware of the problem, but I don't know if they will or can release a ide driver to fix this problem. Another solution is to get a PCI IDE controller and disable the integrated one.

[Bartlet]

I could burn with DMA on no problem at all, but reading with DMA on just produced garbage. It didn't have a clue. Was a great excuse for a MB/CPU upgrade though

[igalan]

I had exactly this problem. But I don't think I'll upgrade my XP2000+, I'll probably wait for Athlon64 .

[Bartlet]

igalan, with that cpu just try an Nforce motherboard, possible new faster ram and you could overclock it quite a way. I got a 2100+ but my machine benchmarks at ~2800+ spec 8)
Try the overclocking forums at www.overclockers.co.uk - loads of info. Or this guide

[igalan]

I've been thinking about this kind of update, but Athlon64 is very close, maybe in less than a year affordable Athlon64 setups will be widely available . I don't know... Also my first priority is stability, I don't overclock if that means slightly less stability, the current performace of my system is good, a gain of 5-10% is not worth the effort for me. I'll see, maybe I will take your word and get a nforce2 .

[gsd103]

I tried overclocking my xp2400 with multiplier and voltage. I got it from a 2.0 to 2.3 but the chip was reading 64C, and was very instable, rebooting every hour. I put it back to stock specs and now it is working fine with a temp of 56C. Any suggestions? Now I relise how important cooling is. A7N8X MB

[Bartlet]

Probably best to have a look around O/Cing forums rather than on here but I would guess if it's running 56c without o/c there isn't a hell of a lot you can do. Possibly decrease the multiplier and increase the Front side bus as much as possible. Will hopefully be able to get the same CPU clock rate but with a higher FSB which will give you a faster system overall. My FSB is at 210Mhz.
This was my first effort at o/cing so I am in no way an expert!