[Duncan]

DonovanSmith,

If i'm honest with you, I don't know how to enable DMA mode in XP, the CDRom drop down list in the hardware profiles no longer has an option for it within the system settings in control panel, and the DMA controller within System Devices doesn't have any user changeable features...

I'm guessing its like you say, the added features of the XP CPU compared to the standard Athlon that I had before

 

[Chastity]

You enable DMA in XP in the IDE controller profile (Primary and Secondary) Unlike the other OS's, usually it's enabled already, but you are welcome to check.

 

[Duncan]

Thanks Chastity... I think

My DVD-Rom is PIO mode 4 in the BIOS, and my CD-Rom is a UDMA33 drive... so far so good...

The DVD-Rom is the primary device on my secondary IDE channel, with the CD-Rom being the secondary... within XP, the DVD-Rom was set as DMA, and the CD-Rom as PIO... yet, when I switched the CD-Rom to DMA it kept skipping, making GTA3 unplayable

So, the DVD-Rom plays in a better mode than it should no problem, and the CD-Rom plays in an inferior mode than it should... how strange is that!!

Both drives are connected with the UDMA IDE cable over the standard variant... the only thing that I can think could cause this problem is that the DVD with its inferior PIO mode 4 is my master...

Any ideas???

Thanks

 

[Chastity]

And what wonderful mobo / chipset is this beast of a system?

And you are right, the the unit should not be having problems like that. Usually comes from an older CDRom with outdated firmware. You may wish to see if there are some firmware updates for it, and for the DVD Rom.

Tho probably not an issue, you could also make sure any IDE drivers are updated, thus my question regarding chipset. If GTA3 is skipping in DMA, it could be a latency issue of the PCI Bus.

 

[Duncan]

Its an ABit KT7A Rev 1.3

Not the fastest mobo on the block, with only SDRam capabilities... but a well reviewed PCB nonetheless...

The Philips CD-Rom is about 3 years old, a 40x drive... so could be kaput, and the DVD-Rom, is a Creative PC-DVD 6x, so also getting a bit long in the tooth

 

[Chastity]

Hmm... I know that DVD-Rom, I have the same one.

Considering I have it workin in DMA in conjunction w/ a Plextor 40/12/40A, I think we should overview how it should be setup properly:

Put the master drive in the middle connector. All the signals go to it first, then anything meant for the slave get passed back up the chain. Alot of peeps put the master at the end, and that's not an optimal setup, and can cause issues.

Give that a shot. If your setup is like this already, you may need to do some upgrades.

 

[Duncan]

Chastity...

Mine is already set up like that, the DVD being nearer to the IDE connector on the motherboard, and the terminating end being connected to the philips drive...

I'm also using the UDMA IDE cable, so it can't be that... I'm all at a loss... ho-hum

 

[Chastity]

In my rig, the DVD is the slave, and if you tried reversing that and setting up the CDRom as the master, then maybe its time for some an upgraded DVD Rom. If you reverse the master, make sure it's in the middle of the cable.