Hard Drive is issue for frame dropping..Now what do I do????

[octick]

Thank you ahead of time for all help!
Here is the quick backstory:

I can capture with very little to no frame drop on my WD 80GB HD (HD with all my programs on it). However, I can't capture or even view AVI files without it skipping/popping/etc. I captured on my WD and transfered the file to the Maxtor, and it was impossible to view. I was confused why this is so, I messed with my Super Duper Dell System.

Anyways, this is what I found out. Bare with me.
Under my Hardware/ IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers, I have 4 IDE controllers
- Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controller.
- Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controller.
- Primary IDE Channel
*Device 0 is DMA if applicable and set as Ultra DMA Mode 2
*Device 1 is DMA if applicable and set as PIO Mode
-Seconday IDE Channel
*Device 0 is DMA if applicable and set as Ultra DMA Mode 2
*Device 1 is DMA if applicable and set as PIO Mode

So, Now I am all friggin confused and only have 2 IDE channel/Chains to mess with. I am assuming the Secondary has my 2 DVD burners on it. And my primary has my 2 HDs on it. Both the DVD Drives and HDs are set as Master/Slave correctly.

So, I am assuming the issue is the PIO mode for each my second DVD player and my 160 GB Maxtor HD. This is causing the data/frame dropping.

Now, here is the issue. This is suppose to be able to handle anything I throw at it. How the hell do I change the Device setting on each channel. The system won't allow me to change Ultra DMA Mode from 2 to 5, and/or change PIO Mode. Is this something in the BIOs? Or am I screwed beyond belief with a friggin useless system. Please keep in mind when I start moving IDE cables and such, that I need to be able to Burn the DVDs without hickups too. For those who need to know the specs are:

Dell 8300 Dimension
P4 3.0 GHZ with Hyperthreading and 800FSB
1 GB of DDR
2 HDs = WD 80GB and Maxtor 160 GB
2 DVD Burners = TDK and NEC
Capturing from my Sony DV camera via firewire PCI card.

[Bodyslide]

I would change your setup to this.

IDE1 - HDD - Master
IDE1 - HDD - Slave

IDE2 - DVDRW - Master
IDE2 - DVDRW- Slave

Here's another thread on the topic--
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=250985

[Nelson37]

Two non-identical drives on same channel is often a problem.

From your post, it is not clear under what circumstances you do and/or do not have a problem.

As a test - disconnect DVD drives, use that cable for secondary drive. Use each drive by itself as master or standalone on a seperate channel. Test capture to each drive.

Your DMA information appears to indicate that drive 2 on either channel will actually use DMA, (though it does not specify Ultra DMA), but that the setting will read PIO. Strange, I would call Dell to clarify.

Possible solution to use secondary HD controller to provide additional channels.

[Capmaster]

Moving to Computer Forum ...

[Richard_G]

Can I ask how old this machine is? With a 3GHz P4 I would have thought it was fairly new. If under a year and you haven't messed with it call Dell and get them to sort it out. If you've messed with it and they won't want to know you'll need to sort it out. Modern hard drives should run in Ultra DMA mode 4 or 5 (UDMA 100 or 133). Modern DVD writers should run in Ultra DMA mode 2 or 4. I would think you have the hard drives as Master on each channel and the DVD drives as the Slaves. It may be that by mixing drive types on each IDE channel you are causing the DVD writers to drop back to PIO mode and this is also restricting the speed of the hard drives.

Do as bodyslide suggests, both hard drives on the Primary IDE (with the boot drive as Master) and both writers on the Secondary (make the most modern one Master). Set Master Slave settings on the jmpers on the drives, don't try and use Cable Select. Make sure you are using 80 way IDE cables too. I run in this configuration and both hard drives run in UDMA mode 5 and both optical drives run in UDMA mode 2.

I transfer DV over Firewire an hours worth at a time and cannot afford to drop a single frame. I've also captured analogue and didn't select a compression codec by accident. 60Mb per second is going some, but it did it!

[octick]

I would change your setup to this.

IDE1 - HDD - Master
IDE1 - HDD - Slave

IDE2 - DVDRW - Master
IDE2 - DVDRW- Slave

Here's another thread on the topic--
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=250985

This it what I currently have. The second HDD or the slave was my storage drive. I just wanted to capture or at least store my AVI files until I had a chance to convert and burn. But, it can't handle it at its current configuration or setup.

[octick]

Can I ask how old this machine is? With a 3GHz P4 I would have thought it was fairly new. If under a year and you haven't messed with it call Dell and get them to sort it out. If you've messed with it and they won't want to know you'll need to sort it out. Modern hard drives should run in Ultra DMA mode 4 or 5 (UDMA 100 or 133). Modern DVD writers should run in Ultra DMA mode 2 or 4. I would think you have the hard drives as Master on each channel and the DVD drives as the Slaves. It may be that by mixing drive types on each IDE channel you are causing the DVD writers to drop back to PIO mode and this is also restricting the speed of the hard drives.

Do as bodyslide suggests, both hard drives on the Primary IDE (with the boot drive as Master) and both writers on the Secondary (make the most modern one Master). Set Master Slave settings on the jmpers on the drives, don't try and use Cable Select. Make sure you are using 80 way IDE cables too. I run in this configuration and both hard drives run in UDMA mode 5 and both optical drives run in UDMA mode 2.

I transfer DV over Firewire an hours worth at a time and cannot afford to drop a single frame. I've also captured analogue and didn't select a compression codec by accident. 60Mb per second is going some, but it did it!

The computer is less than a year old. My understanding of the 8300 with the P4 hyperthreading 800fsb and the motherboard it is on, is it would handle this kind of processor and hard drive capability.

I already have it set up like Bodyslide stated. This is how I installed it. I moved my newer TDK as the master DVD burner and made the Dell DVD burner as the slave. The HD configuration is just as requested with a master and slave relationship. My larger Maxtor drive is set as slave.

I am using the cables provided. I can switch the cables out, but I don't see how it would fix the issue that appears to be at hand which is the inability to switch from PIO to UDMA.

As for the feed, I am using straight digital (AVI) as import into my computer. I would like to keep in like that and do all the converting to MPEG-2 and Xvid inside the system.

Maybe Dell deserves a call?

[crazythunder]

but if you have two rom drives on the same channel and are trying to copy on the fly, that can be an issue. at least in the past it was. i'd try reinstalling or updating my chipset drivers. has fixed dma\pio issues for me in the past. also, make sure you're using 80 pin cables for your hdd's.

[Nelson37]

Seperate the hard drives as I suggested. Will take only a few minutes, plus time to run a test capture. This will confirm if the problem is a compatibility issue with the two hard drives.

Unfortunately, if this is the case, then you either need a different hard drive or a new controller card.