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**Jorden** · 1 March 2000, 06:27

RAB, that isn't in all Award BIOSes, some on older types mobo's give the DMA 0/4 mode.

It might be me, but isn't there an easier way to check for UDMA/66?

First off, it should say so on top of the drive itself.

Second, if you have the drive attached to an UDMA/66 controller, or the controller on the mobo is UDMA/66, then the drive should be attached to it by a 80 strands ribbon flatcable (usually double as thick as a normal 40 strand ribbon flatcable, and it'll be a dark blueish colour).

Third, is it a 7200rpm drive? Most of them are UDMA/66.

Jorden.

Edit P.S: If you have the drive connected to a normal UDMA/33 or EIDE controller, it won't run UDMA/66, and appear slower.
Do check in Windows Device Manager under drives that the use DMA box is checked.
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Have you noticed that the fori got through the Leap Year Day okay??

[This message has been edited by Jorden (edited 01 March 2000).]

**MoleDK** · 1 March 2000, 06:35

This in a OEM motherboard and the bios itself only reports DMA 0-4. It reported DMA 4 with the older WDC (Western Digital). It behaves wierd with the new drive and reports what on what i put it on last (even though it's on AUTO).

It's a Phoenix BIOS and haven't got anything fancy.

I use the special ribbon cable. I am very positive that the WDC was ATA66.

On top of the drive itself it reports UltraDMA only. It could be both UDMA33 and 66.

Anyway, I am going to download the disk software from Seagate and check out my model when I get home from work. I just hate the ontrack software and the likes. They tend to screw too much with the harddrive.

I do know it's a 5400 RPM drive.

Thanks for trying Jordan, apriciate it

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Cya,
J.

"Unix can be a cynical Operating System for a person whos mind is limited to a Windows user interface"

System specs:
AMD Athlon 600mhz, OEM FIC SD11, 192MB RAM, Matrox Millenium G200 (PD5.41), Nothing O/C.
Running Windows 98SE & Linux Mandrake 7

**Jorden** · 1 March 2000, 07:28

Ah, you just put in the new drive after removing the old one? So, you didn't go into the BIOS and had the drive redetected??

Let's see, Phoenix Bios, where is that pdf file I've got

Okay, you say you have the Aavanced Hard Disk Features on AUTO, right? Have you tried to set it to USER, and manually type in the Cylinders, Heads and Sectors (as can be found on the sticker on top of the drive) and LBA mode to enabled (or if available AUTO)?

Maybe a stupid question ( ), but did you check that the drive is set to Master (jumper on the back or underside of the drive.)?

Did you go to the BOOT MENU, and check that under the option Harddrives, your right hdd is chosen?

Under Advanced Menu Setup, did you check that the Large Disk Access mode is set to DOS if you use a Windows OS, or UNIX for others?

See? Even if you spell my name wrong, I don't give up

Jorden.

**Brian R.** · 1 March 2000, 13:07

I'll bet money that, if it doesn't specify UDMA 66 on the top of the drive, it's not one.

**RAB** · 1 March 2000, 17:47

If you have an Award bios, when you start your computer, on the second bios page that flashes on the screen before Windows starts loading, it lists your drives and their DMA type. What does it say? If your drive is UDMA 66 it should say so.

If it doesn't, it could be because the manufacturer has installed the firmware patch that limits it to UDMA 33 so that any recent motherboard can detect it. Visit the manufacturer's web site and get the firmware patch to uninstall the downgrade if that's the case.

RAB

[This message has been edited by RAB (edited 01 March 2000).]

**MoleDK** · 1 March 2000, 23:48

Hi again,

Sorry for spelling your name wrong Jorden

I looked up the drive on Seagate and it appears to be UDMA66. UDMA 4 = UDMA66...right ?

Now I just have to figure out if it runs with this speed in the drivers.

Do you guys know a foolproof way to see that ?

Thanks for your help so far

------------------
Cya,
J.

"Unix can be a cynical Operating System for a person whos mind is limited to a Windows user interface"

System specs:
AMD Athlon 600mhz, OEM FIC SD11, 192MB RAM, Matrox Millenium G200 (PD5.41), Nothing O/C.
Running Windows 98SE & Linux Mandrake 7

**Jorden** · 2 March 2000, 06:33

What you could try is using a package as SiSoft Sandra to benchmark your harddrive.

Or any other harddrive benchmark program out there.

Jorden.

**SteveC** · 2 March 2000, 06:52

WDC drives I know for a fact do, and I believe Fujitsu do as well, but I'm not sure about others, supply a hard drive udma 66 enabler/disabler/drive diagnostics tools on their website - check the site for something like this and it'll tell you straight what the drive is.

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Cheers,
Steve

"Life is what we make of it, yet most of us just fake"

**Jammrock** · 2 March 2000, 08:17

The Western Digital UDMA 66 information page is here:

http://www.westerndigital.com/fitness/ata66.htm

The last link on the page will take you to the download site for the UDMA 66 checker utility for WD drives.

Jammrock

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Athlon 650, Biostar board, 128 MB PC133 (Crucial), G400 32 MB DH, SB Live! w/ Digital I/O, 10/100 NIC, lots of case fans, etc...

**Jorden** · 2 March 2000, 09:09

On the Seagate drivers front, check what you might need at http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/...s/discwiz.html

or more on the ULTRA ATA 66 front on http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/drivers/index.html

Jord.

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There will always be MURC, even after 5pm EDT !!!

**Alfie** · 2 March 2000, 18:41

Was your previous drive a 5,400 as well or was it a 7,200 drive,cause if was,that would explain the slowdown.The difference between udma33 and udma66 should not be of such a dip that it would make a difference.However going with a slower hard drive would.

**Helevitia** · 2 March 2000, 23:33

Go to the following page and download HDTach and benchmark your drive.

http://www.tcdlabs.com/hdtach.htm

Dave

**MoleDK** · 2 March 2000, 23:37

I downloaded two utilities, one that can switch from UDMA 33 to 66 and the diskwizard.

The diskwizard is more a guide than a tool, but the UDMA utility revealed it's a 66

So it should be okay. The RPM of the old drive is also 5400.

A friend gave me the advice to defrag the system because the drive geometry has changed.

I backup the old drive with PQDI.

I will give that a shot tomorrow.

I apriciate all the help you guys have been giving. Thanks alot

A funny thing though: If I format my harddrive and install W98SE. It auto installs some via EIDE drivers. Is this normal for a FIC mainboard (even OEM, it's the same chipset) ?

Shouldn' I be using the latest and greatest from VIA to gain UDMA 66 under Windows ?

Also, for you who know your way around Linux, do you know a way to determine this in Linux ?

I am sure the speed difference is a minimum, but I believe I paid for the extra "dip"

------------------
Cya,
J.

"Unix can be a cynical Operating System for a person whos mind is limited to a Windows user interface"

System specs:
AMD Athlon 600mhz, OEM FIC SD11, 192MB RAM, Matrox Millenium G200 (PD5.41), Nothing O/C.
Running Windows 98SE & Linux Mandrake 7

**MoleDK** · 2 March 2000, 23:39

Helevitia, I will give it a shot and post the results later. Unfortunately, I am at work so it will be a few (8) hours.

Thanks!

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How to detect UDMA 66?

How to detect UDMA 66?

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