I have read the topics. I am at witts end. I have uninstalled checked IDE I mean I thought I have gone over every options but now I am stuck in PIO Mode. Any other suggestions on something I may have missed. I just recently fresh installed WinXP ever since than PIO is all I can grab. I am just getting frustrated and maybe someone can give me a new idea or come with a fresh head. I greatly appericate this forum and anyone who takes the time to reply.
Dude had the exact same prob, and it was like banging my head against a brick wall!!! My problem was my ide cables, the cables were 80 core cable select cables but the drives were set to slave and master. I uninstalled the ide cables in device manager ( something i had already done to reinstall the drivers!) then took out my drives made sure they were all put to cable select with the jumpers in the correct postion ( ie cable select ) rebooted and went from PIO mode straight to DMA5. If this doesn't sort it post back Good luck
@nemo101 You solution would work if a new drive was installed or new cables were used, but I believe all that was done was a reformat of the HDD. @ShitBreak See if this works for you; http://sniptools.com/tipstricks/getting-back-to-dma-mode-in-windows-xp
What was the procedure used in doing this? Go over the steps so we're sure you didn't miss anything. Normally that's the sure way to kick a system back into DMA unless there is a problem causing the system to be stuck in PIO. In that case you're going to have to do some troubleshooting. Usually though, when doing a check immediately following the reboot after uninstalling the IDE, the drive will at least be in DMA till you try to use it.
Is DMA enabled in the BIOS? I have found that when you flatten XP, it can default back to PIO. If it's not enabled in the BIOS, you will get nowhere very quickly!
In most BIOS(s) the setting is "Auto". With number selections the user had best know what each is if engaging. My system works with the Auto setting for PIO, but the PIO setting selected by the system is 4 which means Ultra DMA. Normally Auto is the default and with the default the system can change the settings, sometimes needing user input. ShitBreak Unless the BIOS was changed, it should still be in Auto where it belongs, allowing the system to control PIO-DMA settings. Supposedly, this was just a fresh install of XP. If familiar with BIOS settings, it won't hurt to go in and take a look. Don't change anything without being 100% sure as the BIOS runs the PC. But first give us those steps you used in uninstalling the IDE? You should have Primary and Secondary. What drives are on each, are they all in PIO or what are the different settings and where? Did you try to uninstall only one or both?
Thank you all for the replies. I havent had much time to mess with the PC. It crashed totally. I need to take the time a trobule shoot some of the hardware problems I think I am having. I unistalled the IDE channels switched to secondary IDE and got stuck in Verfying DMI Pool Data before XP starts. Got past that and now the OS is hosed. So the PIO mode is the least of my worries now. I have too much on my plate with other issues to worry about this. But, I greatly appericate all the time everyone who viewed and replied to my post. Hopefully I will be back up and running by next weekend and everything sorted out.
Sounds like PIO-DMA may have been only a manifestation of the problem. I asked what you were doing with your IDE uninstall. You said "switch to Secondary IDE". Are you manually removing and switching the IDE cables?
I had it setup with HDD Pri Master DVD-ROM Pri Slave Sec Master DVD-Burner No Sec Slave installed. I switched the DVD to sec slave and that is when Verfying DMI Pool Data was stuck on then I got it to load past that and WinXP was gone.
Sounds like the operating system is corrupted or the BIOS needs looked at. Something may have happened to your last install. The OS is on the HDD and you didn't move that. So, it should still boot even if it doesn't recognize the optical drives for some reason. Have you looked at the BIOS at all? When I was talking about uninstalling drives and IDE's that is done in the Device Manager when you're wanting to change the system to DMA from being in PIO. What you changed to is the normal configuration for most systems; hard drives on the Primary IDE and optical drives on the Secondary. Instead of continuing on it might be a plan to format the hard drive and do a fresh installation of Windows again. Had you done that in the beginning, this may have already been taken care of. Did you make any BIOS changes when you did the previous install? Do you have anyone available that can do the install for you and troubleshoot the system if a problem occurs again or are you forced to rely on the forum?
I formatted and did a fresh install that is when all this PIO mode problem started after the fresh install. I did not make any changes to the BIOS when I fresh installed windows.
Well, if Windows is no longer booting, obviously something has happened. Normally Windows is plug and play allowing you to add, remove, and rearrange hardware without the configuration having to be set up in BIOS, definitely not refusing to boot up. Have you tried getting back into Windows using your Recovery Disk? Going back a bit, what was the reason for the fresh install you did just recently?
Programs were crashing more frequently. I have tried but I havent spent much time on it. So my efforts are not 100% on getting Windows to load again.
Were you able to access Windows at all with the Recovery Disk? Is the hard drive with the operating system working properly? Did you check the BIOS settings to see what the boot setup is for your drive configuration? Is Plug N Play on or in auto in the BIOS?
I will make sure about accessing Windows with the Recovery Disk in a few mins. Ok so an update just the HDD no other drives install at all Windows loads fine. Pnp is set to Auto. The drive seems to be working properly any test I have run have been clean and no errors.
That tells us the problem is occuring with the Secondary IDE Channel. Do you have an extra cable (ribbon) you can use to attach your drives on that channel? Check the cable and the connector for any bent pins or damage. Double check the Master-Slave jumpers on the back of the drives. Even knowing better, I've accidentally missed getting the jumper on the pins in the right position. Then double check that the drives are on the right position on the cable, the Master being on the end. (Some computers like Dell use cable select which is a different jumper setup.) Then what does the BIOS show for the drives before you boot up? Just as a test, put the Secondary/Slave optical drive back on the Primary/Slave connection and see if it boots up okay. Leave the Secondary IDE unhooked while doing that check.
It was the cable. My new setup is HDD Pri Master. Sec Master DVD-RW Sec Slave DVD-ROM. Well see how that goes going to try and burn.
