dvd drives

b bump · 04-12-2004, 01:47 PM

please help i have just bought a dell 8400 and installed two pioneer dvr108 drives the master drive works fine good speed etc and using 8-10 pecent cpu but the slave drives speed is up to 10 times slower and using 55-65 pecent cpu i swapped over drives and master/slave setting on the back of the drives and no matter what i do the slave is really slow please help!plaese please please don't talk to technically to me i only know the basics

Big B · 04-12-2004, 02:50 PM

I know sometimes optical drives perform poorly when set as slave. I'm not sure of the reason for this however. While I'd like to suggest you put each drive as master on different IDE cables, Dell is using the latest and greatest from Intel, so you're likely limited to a single IDE port on the motherboard.

What I can suggest you check to make sure that your performance isn't being hindered by something else follow these steps:
-Right-click on 'My Computer' ---> Properties.
Go to the Hardware tab, click the button 'Device Manager'
-Expand (click the '+' sign) 'IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers'
Right click on 'Primary IDE Channel'---> Properties.
-Go to the Advanced Settings tab. Make sure that both 'Device 0' and 'Device 1' (aka Master and Slave, respectively) are set to 'DMA if available'. If you have to change them, Windows may want you to reboot. Go ahead if it does.

b bump · 04-12-2004, 04:23 PM

I tried the device manager device 1 is set in pio mode and can't be changed there is only 1 ide cable on the motherboard so i can't go and buy another ide cable is there anything else i can do or am i stuck with 1 useless drive!!

Big B · 04-12-2004, 08:27 PM

Changing the IDE cable won't do jack. Feel free to try (having extra parts lying around doesn't hurt), but I don't see that affecting it. The freebie suggestion I'd try first is to grab the .inf driver for the 915/925X with ICH6R chipsets...basically it's the most important set of chips on your motherboard, aside from the CPU. You can get them off Intel's website, and probably Dell's too. After you install them and reboot, go ahead and try my previous suggestion and see if you're okay then.

If not, you might try getting this IDE controller card. I'm almost positive its the same thing I have in my main box, and it works fine for me with optical drives. I can't say for 100% sure it will fix your problem, but I will say I don't have problems with my CD-RW drive when burning.

04-12-2004, 01:47 PM	#1 (permalink) Top
b bump Geek Trainee Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 2 Status: Offline	dvd drives please help i have just bought a dell 8400 and installed two pioneer dvr108 drives the master drive works fine good speed etc and using 8-10 pecent cpu but the slave drives speed is up to 10 times slower and using 55-65 pecent cpu i swapped over drives and master/slave setting on the back of the drives and no matter what i do the slave is really slow please help!plaese please please don't talk to technically to me i only know the basics

04-12-2004, 02:50 PM	#2 (permalink) Top
Big B HWF Godfather Join Date: Dec 2001 Age: 27 Male Posts: 9,553 Times Helpful: 585 My Mood: Devilish Status: Offline My Computer	I know sometimes optical drives perform poorly when set as slave. I'm not sure of the reason for this however. While I'd like to suggest you put each drive as master on different IDE cables, Dell is using the latest and greatest from Intel, so you're likely limited to a single IDE port on the motherboard. What I can suggest you check to make sure that your performance isn't being hindered by something else follow these steps: -Right-click on 'My Computer' ---> Properties. Go to the Hardware tab, click the button 'Device Manager' -Expand (click the '+' sign) 'IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers' Right click on 'Primary IDE Channel'---> Properties. -Go to the Advanced Settings tab. Make sure that both 'Device 0' and 'Device 1' (aka Master and Slave, respectively) are set to 'DMA if available'. If you have to change them, Windows may want you to reboot. Go ahead if it does. __________________ Hardware Forums\|HWF Rules\|My DVD's\|PSU FAQ\|HWF Folding Team\|2CPU

04-12-2004, 08:27 PM	#4 (permalink) Top
Big B HWF Godfather Join Date: Dec 2001 Age: 27 Male Posts: 9,553 Times Helpful: 585 My Mood: Devilish Status: Offline My Computer	Changing the IDE cable won't do jack. Feel free to try (having extra parts lying around doesn't hurt), but I don't see that affecting it. The freebie suggestion I'd try first is to grab the .inf driver for the 915/925X with ICH6R chipsets...basically it's the most important set of chips on your motherboard, aside from the CPU. You can get them off Intel's website, and probably Dell's too. After you install them and reboot, go ahead and try my previous suggestion and see if you're okay then. If not, you might try getting this IDE controller card. I'm almost positive its the same thing I have in my main box, and it works fine for me with optical drives. I can't say for 100% sure it will fix your problem, but I will say I don't have problems with my CD-RW drive when burning. __________________ Hardware Forums\|HWF Rules\|My DVD's\|PSU FAQ\|HWF Folding Team\|2CPU

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04-12-2004, 04:23 PM	#3 (permalink) Top
b bump Geek Trainee Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 2 Status: Offline	I tried the device manager device 1 is set in pio mode and can't be changed there is only 1 ide cable on the motherboard so i can't go and buy another ide cable is there anything else i can do or am i stuck with 1 useless drive!!

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