Slow HDD performance, wrong mode

[mujahid7ia]

Hi

1GHz AMD Duron "Morgan"
Biostar M7VKG with VIA 8365A(KM133A) / VT82C686B (Northbridge/Southbridge)
256MB PC133 SDRAM
Integrated S3 ProSavage graphics
Maxtor 908405D (DiamondMax 3400 Ultra ATA) 7.8GB

I am having a problem with this PC. The hard drive transfer rate is extremely slow, and it maxes out at 2.1MB/s!!! That's horrible because it supposed to go to max 33MB/s @ Ultra Mode 4, which this mobo should be able to handle.

HDD product page: http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Maxtor/menuitem.5d2b41d3cef51dfe29dd10a191346068/?ch...%20Ultra%20ATA

Mobo details: http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdetails.asp?model=m7vkg

Here is the HDTach (http://www.simplisoftware.com/Public/index.php) benchmark screenshot:


Here is the device manager screen for the Primary IDE controller:


Here is Everest shot of HDD stuff:


I checked my BIOS settings, and all PIO and DMA settings are set to "Auto".

I think the drive should be able to run at UDMA4 for 33MB/s max transfer rate. Any ideas??

Thanks.

[redwudz]

The standard suggestion is to delete the channel that the hard drive is on and let the OS re-install it. But backup your files before you do this.!!

This usually resets them to UDMA. I assume this is a recent problem, so you are probably already using a 80 conductor ATA cable to the drive?

That's certainly a tiny HD. I hope you're not running XP on it.

[mujahid7ia]

The standard suggestion is to delete the channel that the hard drive is on and let the OS re-install it. But backup your files before you do this.!!

This usually resets them to UDMA. I assume this is a recent problem, so you are probably already using a 80 conductor ATA cable to the drive?

That's certainly a tiny HD. I hope you're not runnin2g XP on it.

Delete the channel meaning uninstall in Device Manager?
I need to check the cable, I'll try switching.

I am running XP, lol.

[mujahid7ia]

It was 80 conductor cable.
Deleting the channel brought the mode up to UDMA 2 which gets me about 9-13 MB/s. That's an improvement
Everest says that Max UDMA mode is 2, but that disagrees with the Maxtor site.
http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Maxtor/menuitem.5d2b41d3cef51dfe29dd10a191346068/?ch...%20Ultra%20ATA

[redwudz]

Quote, " I am running XP, lol."

That is adventurous.

If you had another HD, you could try it to see if it would run faster in the same setup. It really should be UDMA 4.

I can't think of anything that would run it up faster. I've used the same MB before, and I can't recall any problem like that.

I see you checked into the motherboard BIOS settings. There may be something there that can be changed. Never tried to set it off 'auto' but it might be worth a try.

[mujahid7ia]

Adventurous

I tried another 10GB HDD and it's running UDMA4 on the as slave.

The only other setting besides Auto for the UDMA stuff was Disabled.

[redwudz]

Too bad. It sounds like the OS and Everest think the same thing, that it's a UDMA 2 drive. I can't think of anything that would cause that as far as drive formatting or anything that could be changed in the drive to make it work as UDMA 4.

I wonder how it changed to PIO mode in the first place. That is unusual for hard drives, but could be caused by a lot or read/write problems. If it reverts back to PIO again, the drive may be failing. You might ask some of those questions at the Maxtor site.

[mujahid7ia]

OK, thanks. But, I'm happy with UDMA2 for now. Thanks for all the help.

[QuaiBoy]

UDMA2 = 33mb/s
UDMA4 = 66mb/s
UDMA5 = 100mb/s
UDMA6 = 133mb/s

That drive is only capable of providing a UDMA2 connection TO THE ELECTRONICS. The hard drive will never hit the 33mb/s max.
New hard drives have never been cheaper. 100GB Maxtor 7200 at Staples this week for $60. XP will thank you.

-Evan-

[LSchafroth]

You can get XP down to 1Gb or 1.5Gb so a 10Gb drive should be just fine.

I have it installed on my laptop right now with a 4Gb drive and all my office apps and Photoshop and still have 1.3Gb free. Doing this until my warrantied 60Gb arrives.

Performance is quite adiquate.


LS

[zzyzzx]

I had this same problem, but deleting and rebooting thing didn't work. I had to stop using the Microsoft drivers and had toget Windows 2000 to (grudgingly) install the Nvidia drivers. That fixed it for me. Even the registry hack didn't work for me, but wow what a difference.