1. You are viewing our forum as a guest. For full access please Register. WindowsBBS.com is completely free, paid for by advertisers and donations.

DMA and CD/DVD-RW's

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by LarryB, 2008/01/12.

  1. 2008/01/12
    LarryB

    LarryB Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/01/09
    Messages:
    847
    Likes Received:
    10
    My burning speed has been slower than I thought it should be so I have been tweaking things up a bit. I am a little lost with my DMA situation.

    I have XP Pro and my chipset is a nVidia nForce SLI 4 that is ATA-133 capable. I have just changed the IDE Ribbon cable to 80 wire. My IDE controller stats show my two RW drives at Primary- UDMA 2 (still) and Secondary- UDMA 4. Should I be able to get them both up to UDMA-4 or maybe even 5 or 6? What else should I do?
     
    LarryB,
    #1
  2. 2008/01/12
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

    Joined:
    2002/05/10
    Messages:
    28,896
    Likes Received:
    389
    Larry

    I have the same chipset nVidia nForce 4 SLI with 2 DVD-RW's installed and my DMA settings are similar to yours and not selectable - screenshot. My hard drives (3) are all SATA.

    A function of the writers I guess - I have a Pioneer DVR-110D and a Sony DRU-810A installed.

    The DMA cannot be set faster than the hardware will support - e.g an ATA 66 hard rive will not run at 133 even if connected to a controller capable of handling 133.

    I'm sure that you are aware that the write speed of RW's is much slower than that of plain R's.
     
    PeteC,
    #2


  3. to hide this advert.

  4. 2008/01/12
    LarryB

    LarryB Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/01/09
    Messages:
    847
    Likes Received:
    10
    Hi (again) Pete, Happy New Year!

    Yeah, I did some checking and it has come down to the limits of the burners. At least the LiteOn is UDMA 4 so I now have a dedicated reader and a dedicated burner. Thanks. I guess that I did all that I could. Thanks,

    Larry
     
    LarryB,
    #3
  5. 2008/01/12
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

    Joined:
    2002/05/10
    Messages:
    28,896
    Likes Received:
    389
    Happy New Year to you too, Larry - must say that Jan 1 seems an awful long time ago now :)
     
    PeteC,
    #4
  6. 2008/01/12
    LarryB

    LarryB Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/01/09
    Messages:
    847
    Likes Received:
    10
    It's weird but this year I have had no problem adjusting to writing 2008. I think that I am looking forward to 2009.

    I was wondering. Do you think that the UDMA2 reader is slowing down the UDMA4 burner? I have another 4. Should I yank the 2 for the 4?

    Lar
     
    LarryB,
    #5
  7. 2008/01/13
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

    Joined:
    2002/05/10
    Messages:
    28,896
    Likes Received:
    389
    I would not think so, but a simple test .....

    Disconnect the UDMA 2 reader and make a test burn - any faster?
     
    PeteC,
    #6
  8. 2008/01/13
    LarryB

    LarryB Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/01/09
    Messages:
    847
    Likes Received:
    10
    Hi Pete, I am not wondering if the sheer presence of the UDMA2 "reader" might be slowing down the UDMA4 burner, I am just concerned that the reader is not feeding data to the burner as fast as the burner can write it. Thereby, slowing down its maximum burn rate.

    On a side note, my other UDMA 4 burner is the exact same model as the one currently installed. Will that create any issues in my computer, esp regarding flashing firmware updates?

    Thanks, Lar
     
    LarryB,
    #7
  9. 2008/01/13
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

    Joined:
    2002/05/10
    Messages:
    28,896
    Likes Received:
    389
    Larry - we may have a slight misunderstanding here. I interpret your last post as implying that you are copying a CD/DVD from a CD/DVD-ROM to a CD/DVD-ROM-RW, something I had not picked up from the thread previously.....
    If that was the case your would be getting incomplete burns. Burners have a buffer into which the data from the source is fed and from which the data is fed onto the burner. If the outgoing rate exceeds the ingoing rate the burn fails.

    When there were a lot of old, slow CD-ROMs around copying 'on the fly', i.e. directly from one optical drive to another was to be avoided at all costs.

    I rarely copy CD/DVD's, but I have Nero set up not to copy on the fly, but to copy to the hard drive and to burn from there. Data transfer rates from HD's will always exceed the requirements of the burner. I'll take a gander inside the case and have a look and if I have a spare 80 cable lying around I might try switching one burner to the main IDE controller.

    Incidentally I made a trial this morning - I burnt the same 600Mb of data (image files) to notionally identical 40x Verbatim CD-R's on each of my burners with interesting results - timing by Nero .....

    Pioneer at UDMA 4 - 3mins 12secs
    Sony at UDMA 2 - 3 mins 8secs

    Interestingly the specs for each drive claim UDMA 4, but the controller is either not capable of running both chanels at UDMA 4 or that is 'normal'. I cannot imagine that I am using a 40 as opposed to 80 cable here.
     
    PeteC,
    #8
  10. 2008/01/13
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

    Joined:
    2002/05/10
    Messages:
    28,896
    Likes Received:
    389
    Forgot this .....
    I don't see any - you will identify each burner by drive letter, but if in doubt disconnect one, flash the other and vice versa.
     
    PeteC,
    #9
  11. 2008/01/13
    LarryB

    LarryB Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/01/09
    Messages:
    847
    Likes Received:
    10
    That is pretty interesting. It's kind of like the shortest route between 2 points is not necesarily a line! It is weird that one is set at UDMA 2 though is capable for a 4, and that the 2 is actually a little faster than the 4. Asks more questions than it answers!!
     
    LarryB,
    #10
  12. 2008/01/13
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

    Joined:
    2002/05/10
    Messages:
    28,896
    Likes Received:
    389
    Update ....

    I have connected each drive individually as masters to the primary and secondary controllers with the 80 cables - the Sony still shows UDMA2 - I can only assume that the spec I saw on the web, not at Sony, was in error. Won't be losing any sleep over it though :)
     
    PeteC,
    #11
  13. 2008/01/13
    LarryB

    LarryB Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/01/09
    Messages:
    847
    Likes Received:
    10
    Hmmm, is the Master-Master set up advisable over a single controller?

    And it seems that you own this forum. :) How did you get to be so lucky?... actually I am the lucky one!! Thanks for always being there. Larry
     
    LarryB,
    #12
  14. 2008/01/13
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

    Joined:
    2002/05/10
    Messages:
    28,896
    Likes Received:
    389
    No, No - one drive is on the Primary IDE controller, the other on the Secondary IDE controller. I have SATA hard drives so both my IDE controllers are 'free'.
     
    PeteC,
    #13
  15. 2008/01/13
    LarryB

    LarryB Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/01/09
    Messages:
    847
    Likes Received:
    10
    I got all that. Is there any advantage or disadvantage to going Primary IDE Master and Secondary IDE Master, versus Master-Slave of just one controller?

    I never even thought of trying the Master + Master config since (on my mobo) only one of the IDE Controller jacks is blue (80 pin). My HDD's are SATA, as well.
     
    LarryB,
    #14
  16. 2008/01/14
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

    Joined:
    2002/05/10
    Messages:
    28,896
    Likes Received:
    389
    I really don't know - I have no idea whether the performance of the Primary and Secondary controllers are equal or not, but there must be a reason for identifying the Primary controller on the mobo, the implication being that the Primary is preferred for a drive with the OS on it.
     
    PeteC,
    #15

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Accept Learn More...