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**SteveC** · 19 January 2001, 03:53

Youi only get a device under 'scsi controllers' if your hdds are on an extra controller, and not the one built into the chipset. I.E I have a UDMA/66 controller built into my A7V's KT133 chipset, but I also have a separate UDMA/100 controller onboard, made by promise. This promise card is listed under scsi controllers, but the via controller is listed under hdd controlers (even though it is udma/66).

You have a K7V I notice - that has a similar ide layout to my a7v, doesn't it? (built in ide via duma/66 and a promise udma/100?) To get the performance you want out of the via controller, make sure you have the latest via 4-ion-1 drivers installed! Then as it installs, click 'enable dma mode'. You can't tell anymore within winme as it stands (without using some external tool) what mode your hard drive is in) (I think)

Hope this helps!

------------------
Cheers,
Steve

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

**paulcs** · 19 January 2001, 14:50

Lindberg, if I'm misunderstanding you, please forgive me. I'm not entirely clear of what the problem is. It seems to me that you're looking for something that's not there and isn't suppose to be there.

I think your motherboard has *native* ATA/66 (UDMA Mode 4) support as opposed to something like a separate onboard Promise ATA/66 or 100 controller. Your ATA/66 IDE controller is integrated into your motherboard's South Bridge in the same way the old UDMA/33 controller was integrated into the BX chipset's South Bridge.

You don't need a separate controller unless you are using more than four IDE devices. Just attach your ATA/66 hard drives to the primary IDE controller, make sure you're using the correct cable and the connectors are properly installed, enable DMA *in Windows*, and if your hard drives support UDMA/66 transfers, everything should be fine.

As Steve advised, I would stop using that DMA tool. I don't think the more recent 4in1 drivers support it, and I don't know why VIA keeps including it with the 4in1's.

I'm not absolutely positive about WinMe, but assuming your VIA Busmastering drivers are properly installed, this is how you can enable DMA transfers in Windows 98. The command sequence should be the same or similar.

Right click on MY COMPUTER.
Select PROPERTIES
Click on the DEVICE MANAGER tab
In Device Manager, expand the DISK DRIVES tree
Select the hard drive you want to support DMA transfers
Click on the PROPERTIES button
Click on the SETTINGS tab
Select the DMA check-off box

That should do it. If your hard drives support UDMA/66 transfers, then you should be fine.

Why are you using that Abit controller?

Again, if I misunderstood you, please forgive me.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

**lindberg** · 19 January 2001, 17:41

I also have an extra ide card, the abit hot rod dma 100 and the abit show under scsi controllers but the hard drives attached to it lies under hard drives.
I know about the DMATOOL, but it only allows you to check UDMA mode and that can actually be dma33, dma66 or dma100, can't it?
But as I've mentioned I get blue screen when I enable UDMA. My primary hard drive support dma66 so it shouldn't be a problem. And the most stupid thing is: when I get blue screen, I reset and boot into safe mode, I do absolutely nothing at all then restart the computer and voila'-> it boots!
Next time I start winMe ->bluescreen...
Every second time I boot I'll have to go into safe mode and do nothing but restart!
I hate VIA so very, very much, but then again maybe it's not VIA fault, maybe it's just me being a stupid user...

**lindberg** · 21 January 2001, 23:04

Well, with 4 harddrives and a cdrom and a dvdrom an extra ATA controller come in handy...

And one more thing, winMe seems to hide the DMA box, that is strange..

[This message has been edited by lindberg (edited 22 January 2001).]

**Greebe** · 22 January 2001, 03:29

lindberg, whenever using 3rd party IDE drivers the DMA checkbox is omitted on purpose. With this missing does not reflect the drivers are incorrectly configured tho.

**paulcs** · 22 January 2001, 21:16

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by Greebe:
lindberg, whenever using 3rd party IDE drivers the DMA checkbox is omitted on purpose. With this missing does not reflect the drivers are incorrectly configured tho.</font>

Is this a WinMe thing, Mike? I know in Windows 98se, using the 4.25 VIA 4in1's, the DMA box is enabled. Previously, you had to use VIA's DMA Tool to enable DMA.

Mike has a point, lindberg. DMA may be enabled. One way to check would be to benchmark the drives. You might want to try SiSoft Sandra 2001's drive benchmark, which is cheap (free) and easy. It also provides score examples of UDMA/66, 33, or lower. It's not the best hard drive benchmark in the world, but it should give you an idea if DMA is enabled.

http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/

Also, HD Tach 2.61 can be downloaded here:

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

Possibly, you had a bad busmastering driver install. What version of the 4in1's are you using?

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[This message has been edited by paulcs (edited 23 January 2001).]

**xortam** · 22 January 2001, 21:26

Use MSINFO32 if you want to see if a device is using DMA or not (Hardware Resources/DMA).

**Greebe** · 23 January 2001, 06:10

AMD IDE Bus Master Driver for Windows Release Notes

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

Q: How do I know if the driver is performing DMA mode?
A: Using the Windows NT Diagnostics (Start->Programs->Administrative Tools->
Windows NT Diagnostics), go to Resources. Then select I/O Port, and you'll
be presented with a list of drivers. Click on the device heading, and the
device list will be re-ordered in alphabetical order. Check what I/O ports
the atapi.sys driver is using. Anything >1000 (most commonly 6300, F000)
would indicate that DMA Bus Mastering is occuring.

Q: Using Windows 95/98, looking at a hard disk device from the Device
Manager, the DMA box has disappeared?
A: The DMA box can only be used with the standard Microsoft driver. When
a third party driver is installed (such as the AMD EIDE Driver), the DMA box
will no longer appear. However, the driver is programmed to use all devices
in their most optimal configuration. Therefore, if DMA is available for that
particular device, the driver will use it.

Q: Using Windows 95/98, the device has a check box for DMA. When I check the box
and reboot, the box does not stay checked?
A: The DMA box can only be used with the standard Microsoft driver. When a
third party driver is installed (such as the AMD EIDE Driver), the DMA box
will not work as intended. If you check the box, when the operating System
reboots, the box appears unchecked. However, the driver is programmed to use
all devices in their most optimal configuration. Therefore, if DMA is
available for that particular device, the driver will use it.

I'll add that this was a M$ WHQL certified driver.

**lindberg** · 23 January 2001, 10:21

I'm cool, according to sandra the performance of my hdd is in the ATA66 zone.

Thanx for the advices, I knew this could be solved without messing with windows..

**lindberg** · 23 January 2001, 17:33

I'm using via 4.28. Thanx for the benchmark links, I'll try them and see where I'll end up.

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