HP uses 40 wire IDE cables...why?

[Gonzo]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.hp.hardware (More info?)

Anybody know why they would put an older 40wire IDE cable in my brand new
cutting edge d1000e Athlon 64 Pavilion system?

Today I noticed that my HP dvd640b dvd burner was not in DMA mode but PIO
mode only. No wonder the damn thing is so slow.

A quick web search revealed that I should check what kind of IDE cable I was
using and sure enough HP stuck the older 40 wire cable in there instead of
the now standard 80 wire IDE cable.

Replaced it with an 80 wire one and wham-bam I get at least DMA mode 2 on
the burner so Im a happy camper now.

Why on earth would they do that? Am I missing something or are they just
being cheap?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.hp.hardware (More info?)

> Gonzo <r_murphree@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Anybody know why they would put an older 40wire
> IDE cable in my brand new cutting edge d1000e
> Athlon 64 Pavilion system?

40-wire cables are still pretty common when only
non-HDD devices are on the bus, such as on the
secondary IDE.

> Today I noticed that my HP dvd640b dvd burner was
> not in DMA mode but PIO mode only. No wonder the
> damn thing is so slow.

If the drive supports UDMA Mode 5 (66 MB/s) or PIO
Mode 4, and if the controller channel also supports
those modes, then an 80-wire cable might be worth a
try.

> Replaced it with an 80 wire one and wham-bam I get
> at least DMA mode 2 on the burner so Im a happy
> camper now.

DMA Mode 2 "oughta" be possible on 40-wire. Did you
try forcing it into that mode in BIOS setup?

How are the HDDs connected? IDE (PATA) or SATA?

> Why on earth would they do that?

Beats me. Unless another d1000e user reports a similar
config, possibly this is just an assembly defect; the
result on underskilled labor or a panicked worker who
ran out of 80-wire cables but still wanted to button-up
the box on the line.

I see reports here that hp has unaccountably dropped the
d1000e from the product line, yet still offers a lower
model from last year. I wonder if there were issues with
manufacturing on the '1000.

--
Regards, Bob Niland mailto:name@ispname.tld
http://www.access-one.com/rjn email4rjn AT yahoo DOT com
NOT speaking for any employer, client or Internet Service Provider.

 

[Gonzo]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.hp.hardware (More info?)

Haven't tried forcing a different mode in BIOS but the fact that I got DMA
mode with the cable tells me that somebody at HP screwed up.

They should be using nothing but 80 wire as standard anyway.

I do have an ATA100 drive as slave on that ide channel as well as two more
ide drives on the main chnl and one SATA drive that came with the machine on
SATA.


"Bob Niland" <email4rjn@yahoo.com> wrote in message
newspsnwey9t8ft8z8r@news.individual.net...
>> Gonzo <r_murphree@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Anybody know why they would put an older 40wire
>> IDE cable in my brand new cutting edge d1000e
>> Athlon 64 Pavilion system?
>
> 40-wire cables are still pretty common when only
> non-HDD devices are on the bus, such as on the
> secondary IDE.
>
>> Today I noticed that my HP dvd640b dvd burner was
>> not in DMA mode but PIO mode only. No wonder the
>> damn thing is so slow.
>
> If the drive supports UDMA Mode 5 (66 MB/s) or PIO
> Mode 4, and if the controller channel also supports
> those modes, then an 80-wire cable might be worth a
> try.
>
>> Replaced it with an 80 wire one and wham-bam I get
>> at least DMA mode 2 on the burner so Im a happy
>> camper now.
>
> DMA Mode 2 "oughta" be possible on 40-wire. Did you
> try forcing it into that mode in BIOS setup?
>
> How are the HDDs connected? IDE (PATA) or SATA?
>
>> Why on earth would they do that?
>
> Beats me. Unless another d1000e user reports a similar
> config, possibly this is just an assembly defect; the
> result on underskilled labor or a panicked worker who
> ran out of 80-wire cables but still wanted to button-up
> the box on the line.
>
> I see reports here that hp has unaccountably dropped the
> d1000e from the product line, yet still offers a lower
> model from last year. I wonder if there were issues with
> manufacturing on the '1000.
>
> --
> Regards, Bob Niland mailto:name@ispname.tld
> http://www.access-one.com/rjn email4rjn AT yahoo DOT com
> NOT speaking for any employer, client or Internet Service Provider.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.hp.hardware (More info?)

On the seventh day, Gonzo wrote...

> Why on earth would they do that? Am I missing something or are they just
> being cheap?

Usually, mainboards are assembled with 80wire cables on IDE0 and a 40wire
cable on IDE1. You should have gotten UDMA-2 (UDMA-33 with 33MB/s,
sufficient for burning DVDs at full speed) with the 40wire cable, though.
That is: if you tried.

--
mit freundlichen Grüßen/with kind regards
Christian Dürrhauer, Institute of Geography, FU Berlin

Jamie Lee Curtis -"You think your an intellectual, don't you
ape?" Kevin Kline -"Apes don't read philosophy." Jamie Lee
Curtis -"Yes they do Otto, they just don't understand it!"

 

[Gonzo]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.hp.hardware (More info?)

"Christian Dürrhauer" <cduerr@geog.fu-berlin.de> wrote in message
news:4bfno7z29a4$.dlg@73137.user.dfncis.de...
> On the seventh day, Gonzo wrote...
>
>> Why on earth would they do that? Am I missing something or are they just
>> being cheap?
>
> Usually, mainboards are assembled with 80wire cables on IDE0 and a 40wire
> cable on IDE1. You should have gotten UDMA-2 (UDMA-33 with 33MB/s,
> sufficient for burning DVDs at full speed) with the 40wire cable, though.
> That is: if you tried.

I did try but only got UDMA2 "after" I replaced the 40 with an 80. That was
the whole point of this thread.

Perhaps this DVD640 drive is not as SH as HP makes it out to be.