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Calling all Experts...

Discussion in 'DVDR' started by umgrad76, Dec 22, 2004.

  1. baabaa

    baabaa Active member

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    HeeHee, Happy New Year Nephilim, man you just gave me the laugh of the year...............nice to see you're still on the ball (baabaa gives a little bow and salutes........LOL)

    I have come across this issue before regarding 2 optical devices being DMA seperately, but one of them defaulting to PIO when coupled together.

    If you have serial, then you should be able to split the 2 devices across the Primary and Secondary IDE.

    Failing that, I shall assume that you current DVDROM is having compatibility issues with your current burner.
    A firmware update may cure the problem (for your DVDROM and not the burner), your risk though.........
    Or more than likely a new DVDROM.....................

    Sounds like this situation is just one of those things really........

     
  2. umgrad76

    umgrad76 Member

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    baabaa,

    Are you saying place one device on one cable? If so, I can't do that since I only have one IDE channel. I have two SATA channels.

    What I don't understand is my my father's computer is able to have two devices on the same cable and both in DMA. If it is indeed a firmware issue, then Dell is giving me bad information when they say you cannot have two DMA devices on the same cable. Correct?

    I just want to make sure I have all the correct info before I go and call them again. I'm getting to a point where I'll just call sales and tell them to take the computer back and I'll buy a computer that can.
     
  3. fasfrank

    fasfrank Active member

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    I'd sure consider taking it back. You bought the thing to speed up your process, not slow it down.

    These guys put my computer together:

    http://www.pugetsystems.com/

    It was a great experence working with them. They knew exactly what I wanted and took about a week to build. They have great support although it is not 24/7. They really go out of their way to make sure you get exactly what you want.

    I bought a laptop from Dell and will never do that again. I just could not understand the customer support folks. Their English was poor and I don't speak Indian or whatever it is they speak over there.

    My system has two SATA busses, each to a harddrive.
    The primary IDE is connected to my third hard drive.
    The secondary IDE connects to a burner and a ROM.

    Are you sure you don't have another IDE connector on your motherboard? Just seems odd that they would put only one on there, even with the SATA. I don't know all that much about PCs though.
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2004
  4. rroettger

    rroettger Regular member

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    [​IMG]

    Funny Dell says you can not have two DMA devices on one channel because thats what they sold me.
    As for Dell support try calling when it would be a normal work day for them. The staff is a little better and ask to speak with a supervisor. When I called about my RAID setup I had trouble. Finally I hooked up with someone who knew what was going on.

     
  5. fasfrank

    fasfrank Active member

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    Here is the info I found from Microsoft:

    http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=817472#kb1

    There are some hotfixes and some registry information there. Don't know if it will help though.

    I think the Dell person you talked to didn't know what to do. I have never heard of a PC that could not run DMA on device 0 and device 1, as rroettger's post shows. Probably not a bad idea to keep trying with Dell support.
     
  6. pulsar

    pulsar Active member

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    To tell you that you cannot run 2 devices on the same channel in the DMA mode is complete nonsense. All of mine are set to DMA with no problems. Dell do not have a very good rep on this forum.
    Live & learn I guess. I cannot understand why you can only get DMA mode 2, mine has DMA 5 on the primary & DMA 4 on the secondary.
    Have you enabled DMA block transfer in your BIOS?
     
  7. fasfrank

    fasfrank Active member

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    Hey Pulsar,
    That is absolutely true. I've done quite a bit of searching tonight trying to get a handle on this. I did run across something about a BIOS setting fix but it didn't go into much detail.

    Looking through my ASUS mobo book I see that in my case there is a BIOS Advanced menu setting for the IDE:

    IDE Secondary Master UDMA [Auto][disabled]
    IDE Secondary Slave UDMA [Auto][disabled]

    You would just select auto for each one.

    I don't know if umgrad76 BIOS is the same but it ought to be really similar. Sure wouldn't hurt to check.

    Happy New Year!
    Frank
     
  8. pulsar

    pulsar Active member

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    Happy new year Fasfrank, I really wish that manufacturers would stop misleading people. I went to buy a throttle cable from my local Peugeot dealer, even after telling him what model etc it was, he still did not have a clue what I wanted or what type of engine it was!!! I am completely lost with the attitude of some people, why was the man in the parts dept when he did not have a clue about anything?
    That's life I guess!
    I mentioned DMA in BIOS is because I have had probs myself. I am not sure if umgrad76 knows how to do what I suggested.
    I sometimes forget that I was a newbie once!!
    Kind regards,
    Pulsar.
     
  9. bigorange

    bigorange Active member

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    Hmmm...I have the Dell Dimension 4600 and it has no problem, it looks exactly like the pic rroettger posted. I agree with pulsar, that's complete nonsense, my brother has the model below mine(2400) and his can too.

    Dell support is excellent, but I agree, call during normal daylight business hours or else you'll get someone you can't understand and who goes by a script. Then they'll probably tell you to do a system restore,LOL.
     
  10. pulsar

    pulsar Active member

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    Ahhh, system restore!! I must admit it has been my saviour on a few occasions!
     
  11. baabaa

    baabaa Active member

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    Thats the trouble with frontline support, they generally go through a checklist from a training manual, and at the end it will state something like contact your nearest DELL repair centre.

    GOOD POINT regarding the BIOS, forgot that most BIOS's have auto and manual adjustments...............

    VERY surprised at only having one IDE connection, have a closer look.......you may need to purchase another IDE cable though..................

    Many happies to all, and all the best for 2005.............
     
  12. umgrad76

    umgrad76 Member

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    UPDATE!!!

    Hey guys, I want to thank all of you for your suggestions. After speaking to four different Dell support persons, I was no better off then when I started and I had wasted most of the day. I tried the Belarc program that bigwop suggested and I noticed that while both optical drives were working, only one was showing up on the system set-up. So, what I did was to go into the BIOS and take a look at the set-up. Sure enough, that drive was set to OFF. I turned it on and everything is as it should be. What a relief. It feels great to finally have it correct.

    What I can't believe is that Dell support would not think to suggest checking the BIOS. They made the computer yet they forgot to mention that the default for the drives is off, not on. Then to tell me that it is not possible to have two devices as DMA on the same cable. The only fortunate thing is that during this extremely long ordeal, I was able to speak with Dell's self proclaimed "elite" XPS service technicians. Basically, I've learned that they don't really know anything more, but they do speak english better.

    One last thing guys, in this thread I've heard some peeople mentioning that they have Ultra DMA modes higher than two for their optical drives. I've heard a couple of people mention that this was not possible for an optical drive, only a hard drive. What is the case?

    Thanks again everyone for your help.
     
  13. umgrad76

    umgrad76 Member

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    fasfrank...nice hyabusa by the way. I ride a 600rr.
     
  14. baabaa

    baabaa Active member

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    Yep, it looks like fasfrank (aka'skynet) and pulsar have come up trumps again...................

    Hats off to you sirs, and also the heads up on the BIOS, it does get neglected from time to time, and with people like you around, I sure will never neglect MY BIOS AGAIN.........

    @umgrad76

    You want to tell the DELL 'gurus' how you resolved it, and also mention Afterdawn and not forgetting fasfranks and pulsars intervention.

    Well, I tell you it sure puts me off wanting to purchase a DELL system, if that is the level of their experience and knowledge.............bring back Sir Clive Sinclair.................

    Anyways nice to hear you are up and running.

    BTW Did you recheck to see if you did have another IDE connecter on the motherboard?
     
  15. pulsar

    pulsar Active member

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    Many thanks baabaa my friend. It is nice to be appreciated!
    Happy new year!
     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2005
  16. pulsar

    pulsar Active member

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    BTW, ex-GSXR-750 owner.
     

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