DMA problem with Pioneer DVD-121 ???

[bazza]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

I've got a ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe mobo, with 2 SATA HDD's installed. A Pioneer DVD-121 ROM drive is installed as master on the secondary IDE channel and it is the only device on the channel. On the primary IDE is a Plextor Premium CD Burner. It's also the only device on the channel. I'm running WinXP PRO SP1.

I'm not sure of the BIOS version, I know it's not the latest, I think it's 1009 or similar.

Anyway, Device Manager shows the Plextor using Ultra DMA Mode 4, while the Pioneer is using Ultra DMA Mode 2. The Pioneer is SIGNIFICANTLY slower than the Plextor, eg. ripping music.

According to http://www.pioneeraus.com.au/computer/dvd-romdrives/dvd121/index.html, it states the Interface supports:

ATA PIO Mode 4 / Multi Word DMA Mode 2 / Ultra DMA Mode 4

Device manager shows everthing is working OK. WU doesn't have any device updates, etc. There are no Firmware updates listed in the Pioneer sites that I've found. However, I've found a FW DVD region crack that states that it is built on v1.07 ... the Pioneer came with FW v1.02.

As yet I haven't tried swapping cables or similar. Is it even worth trying?

Is this normal? If not, where would the problem most likely be ... the DVD drive (firmware?) or some where else (Driver/BIOS/whatever)?

Cheers
Bazza...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

Bazza wrote:
> I've got a ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe mobo, with 2 SATA HDD's installed. A Pioneer DVD-121 ROM drive is installed as master on the secondary IDE channel and it is the only device on the channel. On the primary IDE is a Plextor Premium CD Burner. It's also the only device on the channel. I'm running WinXP PRO SP1.
>
> I'm not sure of the BIOS version, I know it's not the latest, I think it's 1009 or similar.
>
> Anyway, Device Manager shows the Plextor using Ultra DMA Mode 4, while the Pioneer is using Ultra DMA Mode 2. The Pioneer is SIGNIFICANTLY slower than the Plextor, eg. ripping music.
>
> According to http://www.pioneeraus.com.au/computer/dvd-romdrives/dvd121/index.html, it states the Interface supports:
>
> ATA PIO Mode 4 / Multi Word DMA Mode 2 / Ultra DMA Mode 4
>
> Device manager shows everthing is working OK. WU doesn't have any device updates, etc. There are no Firmware updates listed in the Pioneer sites that I've found. However, I've found a FW DVD region crack that states that it is built on v1.07 ... the Pioneer came with FW v1.02.
>
> As yet I haven't tried swapping cables or similar. Is it even worth trying?
>
> Is this normal? If not, where would the problem most likely be ... the DVD drive (firmware?) or some where else (Driver/BIOS/whatever)?
>
> Cheers
> Bazza...
>

If you're using a 40-wire IDE cable, then it will revert to ATA33 (UDMA
mode 2). So try swapping cables (since the Plextor is running in UDMA
mode 4, it definitely has a proper cable) and upon confirmation, just
get yourself another 40-pin 80-wire cable.

Regards
Nikos

 

[Paul]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

In article <2kcqslFpkraU1@uni-berlin.de>, "Bazza" <Bazza@privacy.com> wrote:

> I've got a ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe mobo, with 2 SATA HDD's installed. A =
> Pioneer DVD-121 ROM drive is installed as master on the secondary IDE =
> channel and it is the only device on the channel. On the primary IDE is =
> a Plextor Premium CD Burner. It's also the only device on the channel. =
> I'm running WinXP PRO SP1.
>
> I'm not sure of the BIOS version, I know it's not the latest, I think =
> it's 1009 or similar.
>
> Anyway, Device Manager shows the Plextor using Ultra DMA Mode 4, while =
> the Pioneer is using Ultra DMA Mode 2. The Pioneer is SIGNIFICANTLY =
> slower than the Plextor, eg. ripping music.
>
> According to =
> http://www.pioneeraus.com.au/computer/dvd-romdrives/dvd121/index.html, =
> it states the Interface supports:
>
> ATA PIO Mode 4 / Multi Word DMA Mode 2 / Ultra DMA Mode 4
>
> Device manager shows everthing is working OK. WU doesn't have any =
> device updates, etc. There are no Firmware updates listed in the =
> Pioneer sites that I've found. However, I've found a FW DVD region =
> crack that states that it is built on v1.07 ... the Pioneer came with FW =
> v1.02.
>
> As yet I haven't tried swapping cables or similar. Is it even worth =
> trying?
>
> Is this normal? If not, where would the problem most likely be ... the =
> DVD drive (firmware?) or some where else (Driver/BIOS/whatever)?
>
> Cheers
> Bazza...

Check your cabling. There are two types of IDE cables. The older ones
have 40 wires and 40 pin connectors. The newer ones have 80 wires and
40 pin connectors. On the 80 wire one, every second wire is a ground
wire, and this improves the signal quality of the other 40 wires. On
the 40 wire cable, the wires look "fatter" than the wires on the 80
wire cable.

Your computer can tell, most of the time, what kind of cable you are
using. (There is a recipe in one of the ATA/ATAPI standards for how
to tell.) The higher transfer rates are restricted to use with the 80
wire cable. That is a possible reason for the slower operation.

Also, there is a Windows feature, where the transfer rate gets cranked
down, if the system detects problems reading from the device. This
probably isn't your problem, but I've included links anyway.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/IDE-DMA.mspx
http://www.gmayor.com/cd_writer_udma_mode.htm

HTH,
Paul

 

[Jan]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

"Bazza" <Bazza@privacy.com> schreef in bericht
news:2kcqslFpkraU1@uni-berlin.de...
I've got a ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe mobo, with 2 SATA HDD's installed. A
Pioneer DVD-121 ROM drive is installed as master on the secondary IDE
channel and it is the only device on the channel. On the primary IDE is a
Plextor Premium CD Burner. It's also the only device on the channel. I'm
running WinXP PRO SP1.

I'm not sure of the BIOS version, I know it's not the latest, I think it's
1009 or similar.

Anyway, Device Manager shows the Plextor using Ultra DMA Mode 4, while the
Pioneer is using Ultra DMA Mode 2. The Pioneer is SIGNIFICANTLY slower than
the Plextor, eg. ripping music.

According to
http://www.pioneeraus.com.au/computer/dvd-romdrives/dvd121/index.html, it
states the Interface supports:

ATA PIO Mode 4 / Multi Word DMA Mode 2 / Ultra DMA Mode 4

Device manager shows everthing is working OK. WU doesn't have any device
updates, etc. There are no Firmware updates listed in the Pioneer sites
that I've found. However, I've found a FW DVD region crack that states that
it is built on v1.07 ... the Pioneer came with FW v1.02.

As yet I haven't tried swapping cables or similar. Is it even worth trying?

Is this normal? If not, where would the problem most likely be ... the DVD
drive (firmware?) or some where else (Driver/BIOS/whatever)?

Cheers
Bazza...

I have the same MB and OS and much the same configuration: a Plextor DVD-ROM
as master and only device on the primary IDE channel and a Plextor
DVD-burner on the secondary IDE channel, also as master and only device on
that channel. I get the same UDMA readings as you do: UDMA mode 4 on the
primary channel and mode 2 on the secondary channel. I use Bios vs. 1016. In
the Bios the maximum UDMA mode is autodetected and it is not possible for
the user to change these settings to higher UDMA modes, only to lower ones.

I personally think however, that UDMA mode 2 (33 MB/s) gives quite
sufficient bandwith for optical storage hardware. When you take 16-speed DVD
as an example, the maximum bandwith needed is 16x1380 KB/s = 21.6 MB/s.
Remember this the theoretical max throughput and in the real world the speed
will be (much) lower. In my situation there is no noticable difference in
speed between UDMA 4 (66 MB/s) and UDMA 2 (33 MB/s) for the optical drives.
This is consistent with the fact that only 21.6 MB/s is needed for the
maximum bandwith.

Having said this, I don't understand why the primary channel has a maximum
of UDMA 4 and the secondary of UDMA 2. Opposed to you, my burner is on the
secondary channel and the DVD-ROM drive is on the primary. This means, that
it doesn't seem to matter what kind of optical drive is attached to channel
1 or 2. As a matter of fact I tried to switch the drives and this didn't
make any difference at all: still UDMA mode 4 on the primary channel and
UDMA 2 on the secondary one.

I also have 2 Seagate SATA HD-drives connected to the Intel (not Promise)
SATA connectors (no raid). According to the Bios they work in UDMA mode 5,
while you would expect to see UDMA mode 6 (133 MB/s). Again I don't think
this a problem, because Burst speed for the HD's is about 80 MB/s.

Although I don't think it's a big problem, I am curious about the technical
background. Maybe some of the other experts in this NG can shed some light
on this.

TIA!

Jan

 

[Jan]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

"Paul" <nospam@needed.com> schreef in bericht
news:nospam-2906040931280001@192.168.1.177...

>
> Check your cabling. There are two types of IDE cables. The older ones
> have 40 wires and 40 pin connectors. The newer ones have 80 wires and
> 40 pin connectors. On the 80 wire one, every second wire is a ground
> wire, and this improves the signal quality of the other 40 wires. On
> the 40 wire cable, the wires look "fatter" than the wires on the 80
> wire cable.
>
> Your computer can tell, most of the time, what kind of cable you are
> using. (There is a recipe in one of the ATA/ATAPI standards for how
> to tell.) The higher transfer rates are restricted to use with the 80
> wire cable. That is a possible reason for the slower operation.
>
> Also, there is a Windows feature, where the transfer rate gets cranked
> down, if the system detects problems reading from the device. This
> probably isn't your problem, but I've included links anyway.
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/IDE-DMA.mspx
> http://www.gmayor.com/cd_writer_udma_mode.htm
>
> HTH,
> Paul

Yes Paul, that's what I thought. But when I switched the cables, the problem
remained (see my other posting). Besides that, I am sure both cables are 80
wire ones.

Jan

 

[Paul]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

In article <40e17702$0$62360$5fc3050@dreader2.news.tiscali.nl>, "Jan"
<jstaaijNOSPAM@worldonline.nl> wrote:

> "Paul" <nospam@needed.com> schreef in bericht
> news:nospam-2906040931280001@192.168.1.177...
>
> >
> > Check your cabling. There are two types of IDE cables. The older ones
> > have 40 wires and 40 pin connectors. The newer ones have 80 wires and
> > 40 pin connectors. On the 80 wire one, every second wire is a ground
> > wire, and this improves the signal quality of the other 40 wires. On
> > the 40 wire cable, the wires look "fatter" than the wires on the 80
> > wire cable.
> >
> > Your computer can tell, most of the time, what kind of cable you are
> > using. (There is a recipe in one of the ATA/ATAPI standards for how
> > to tell.) The higher transfer rates are restricted to use with the 80
> > wire cable. That is a possible reason for the slower operation.
> >
> > Also, there is a Windows feature, where the transfer rate gets cranked
> > down, if the system detects problems reading from the device. This
> > probably isn't your problem, but I've included links anyway.
> >
> > http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/IDE-DMA.mspx
> > http://www.gmayor.com/cd_writer_udma_mode.htm
> >
> > HTH,
> > Paul
>
> Yes Paul, that's what I thought. But when I switched the cables, the problem
> remained (see my other posting). Besides that, I am sure both cables are 80
> wire ones.
>
> Jan

From your other posting:

> I've got a ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe mobo, with 2 SATA HDD's installed. A
> Pioneer DVD-121 ROM drive is installed as master on the secondary IDE
> channel and it is the only device on the channel. On the primary IDE is a
> Plextor Premium CD Burner. It's also the only device on the channel. I'm
> running WinXP PRO SP1.

Make sure the IDE is set to "Enhanced". You probably are already using
this to get your two SATA drives on the Southbridge working. The UDMA
mode cannot go any higher than the internal limits of the disk drive,
and as many disk drives use SATA bridge chips, they only do ATA100
internally before the SATA bridge. That is where non-native SATA is a
lie - don't expect to see a miracle until all-native SATA controllers
are introduced, and even then, your burst speed is only used to fill
the cache on the drive. The head rate limits sustained transfer, even
with native SATA. With a Raptor, that is about 70MB/sec.

The IDE operate mode _must_ be set to [S-ATA] when in Enhanced mode.
Otherwise, expect to see slowdowns in the interfaces, first reported
on Abxzone.

Report back what you find.

HTH,
Paul

 

[Jan]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

"Paul" <nospam@needed.com> schreef in bericht
news:nospam-2906041417020001@192.168.1.177...
> In article <40e17702$0$62360$5fc3050@dreader2.news.tiscali.nl>, "Jan"
> <jstaaijNOSPAM@worldonline.nl> wrote:
>
> > "Paul" <nospam@needed.com> schreef in bericht
> > news:nospam-2906040931280001@192.168.1.177...
> >
> > >
> > > Check your cabling. There are two types of IDE cables. The older ones
> > > have 40 wires and 40 pin connectors. The newer ones have 80 wires and
> > > 40 pin connectors. On the 80 wire one, every second wire is a ground
> > > wire, and this improves the signal quality of the other 40 wires. On
> > > the 40 wire cable, the wires look "fatter" than the wires on the 80
> > > wire cable.
> > >
> > > Your computer can tell, most of the time, what kind of cable you are
> > > using. (There is a recipe in one of the ATA/ATAPI standards for how
> > > to tell.) The higher transfer rates are restricted to use with the 80
> > > wire cable. That is a possible reason for the slower operation.
> > >
> > > Also, there is a Windows feature, where the transfer rate gets cranked
> > > down, if the system detects problems reading from the device. This
> > > probably isn't your problem, but I've included links anyway.
> > >
> > > http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/IDE-DMA.mspx
> > > http://www.gmayor.com/cd_writer_udma_mode.htm
> > >
> > > HTH,
> > > Paul
> >
> > Yes Paul, that's what I thought. But when I switched the cables, the
problem
> > remained (see my other posting). Besides that, I am sure both cables are
80
> > wire ones.
> >
> > Jan
>
> From your other posting:
>
> > I've got a ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe mobo, with 2 SATA HDD's installed. A
> > Pioneer DVD-121 ROM drive is installed as master on the secondary IDE
> > channel and it is the only device on the channel. On the primary IDE is
a
> > Plextor Premium CD Burner. It's also the only device on the channel.
I'm
> > running WinXP PRO SP1.
>
> Make sure the IDE is set to "Enhanced". You probably are already using
> this to get your two SATA drives on the Southbridge working. The UDMA
> mode cannot go any higher than the internal limits of the disk drive,
> and as many disk drives use SATA bridge chips, they only do ATA100
> internally before the SATA bridge. That is where non-native SATA is a
> lie - don't expect to see a miracle until all-native SATA controllers
> are introduced, and even then, your burst speed is only used to fill
> the cache on the drive. The head rate limits sustained transfer, even
> with native SATA. With a Raptor, that is about 70MB/sec.
>
> The IDE operate mode _must_ be set to [S-ATA] when in Enhanced mode.
> Otherwise, expect to see slowdowns in the interfaces, first reported
> on Abxzone.
>
> Report back what you find.
>
> HTH,
> Paul

Sorry Paul, but you seemed to have mixed up Bazza's other posting with mine.
Anyway, I get your point. I thought that my Seagate drives were using native
SATA, guess that was a marketing lie. Your explanation makes sense and
explains the UDMA 5 setting. My settings in the Bios are indeed Enhanced
mode on S-ATA.

What is your opinion about my bandwidth statement regarding optical drives
in my other post? Does this make any sense to you?

Appreciate your opinion!

Jan

 

[bazza]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

"Nikolaos Tampakis" wrote...
>
> If you're using a 40-wire IDE cable, then it will revert to ATA33 (UDMA
> mode 2). So try swapping cables (since the Plextor is running in UDMA
> mode 4, it definitely has a proper cable) and upon confirmation, just
> get yourself another 40-pin 80-wire cable.
>
> Regards
> Nikos

Thanks Nikos for replying. I will have to open the PC case to be sure, however, I'm 98% certain that both CD's are connected to the mobo via the 2 ASUS IDE cables that came with the mobo. To the best of my knowledge they are both 40-pin 80-wire cables.

Cheers
Barry...

 

[bazza]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

"Jan" wrote...
>
> I have the same MB and OS and much the same configuration: a Plextor DVD-ROM
> as master and only device on the primary IDE channel and a Plextor
> DVD-burner on the secondary IDE channel, also as master and only device on
> that channel. I get the same UDMA readings as you do: UDMA mode 4 on the
> primary channel and mode 2 on the secondary channel. I use Bios vs. 1016. In
> the Bios the maximum UDMA mode is autodetected and it is not possible for
> the user to change these settings to higher UDMA modes, only to lower ones.
>
> I personally think however, that UDMA mode 2 (33 MB/s) gives quite
> sufficient bandwith for optical storage hardware. When you take 16-speed DVD
> as an example, the maximum bandwith needed is 16x1380 KB/s = 21.6 MB/s.
> Remember this the theoretical max throughput and in the real world the speed
> will be (much) lower. In my situation there is no noticable difference in
> speed between UDMA 4 (66 MB/s) and UDMA 2 (33 MB/s) for the optical drives.
> This is consistent with the fact that only 21.6 MB/s is needed for the
> maximum bandwith.
>
> Having said this, I don't understand why the primary channel has a maximum
> of UDMA 4 and the secondary of UDMA 2. Opposed to you, my burner is on the
> secondary channel and the DVD-ROM drive is on the primary. This means, that
> it doesn't seem to matter what kind of optical drive is attached to channel
> 1 or 2. As a matter of fact I tried to switch the drives and this didn't
> make any difference at all: still UDMA mode 4 on the primary channel and
> UDMA 2 on the secondary one.
>
> I also have 2 Seagate SATA HD-drives connected to the Intel (not Promise)
> SATA connectors (no raid). According to the Bios they work in UDMA mode 5,
> while you would expect to see UDMA mode 6 (133 MB/s). Again I don't think
> this a problem, because Burst speed for the HD's is about 80 MB/s.
>
> Although I don't think it's a big problem, I am curious about the technical
> background. Maybe some of the other experts in this NG can shed some light
> on this.
>
> TIA!
>
> Jan
>

Gee, I'm not the only one and, yes, our PC configuration is very similar, just different manufactures ... Hitachi instead of Seagate. Both of my HD's also show UDMA Mode 5. I could be confused which channel, since Device Manager shows multiple Primary and Secondary IDE channels because of the SATA drives (2 of each). I just checked again, one Primary IDE channel has UDMA Mode 5, the other UDMA Mode 4. While the Secondaries have UDMA Mode 5 and UDMA Mode 2 ... so I must have the Pioneer on the secondary IDE channel (I'll physically verify that when I check the cables).

As to performance it makes a HUGE difference. I was ripping some songs using Audiograbber and the Pioneer would get around 5X to 6X speeds (as indicated by Audiograbber), while the Plextor would rip at around 22X to 24X. The more songs to be ripped the greater the time saved. Also it's quicker for me to copy a CD using JUST the Plextor than it is to use the Pioneer as the source drive.

Haven't checked my BIOS but like yourself, I'm reasonably certain that I have auto-detect as well. It appears there is something wrong somewhere. I was thinking that it was the Pioneer drive itself (or the firmware) rather than a mobo or a driver problem.

Anyway, it almost 1:00am in the morning here in Oz and I've got to go to work at 6:00am. When I get home later today, I'll check the cables and BIOS definitions.

Thanks and goodnight
Bazza...

 

[Jan]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

"Bazza" <Bazza@privacy.com> schreef in bericht
news:2kdeagF128g2U1@uni-berlin.de...
"Jan" wrote...
>
> I have the same MB and OS and much the same configuration: a Plextor
DVD-ROM
> as master and only device on the primary IDE channel and a Plextor
> DVD-burner on the secondary IDE channel, also as master and only device on
> that channel. I get the same UDMA readings as you do: UDMA mode 4 on the
> primary channel and mode 2 on the secondary channel. I use Bios vs. 1016.
In
> the Bios the maximum UDMA mode is autodetected and it is not possible for
> the user to change these settings to higher UDMA modes, only to lower
ones.
>
> I personally think however, that UDMA mode 2 (33 MB/s) gives quite
> sufficient bandwith for optical storage hardware. When you take 16-speed
DVD
> as an example, the maximum bandwith needed is 16x1380 KB/s = 21.6 MB/s.
> Remember this the theoretical max throughput and in the real world the
speed
> will be (much) lower. In my situation there is no noticable difference in
> speed between UDMA 4 (66 MB/s) and UDMA 2 (33 MB/s) for the optical
drives.
> This is consistent with the fact that only 21.6 MB/s is needed for the
> maximum bandwith.
>
> Having said this, I don't understand why the primary channel has a maximum
> of UDMA 4 and the secondary of UDMA 2. Opposed to you, my burner is on the
> secondary channel and the DVD-ROM drive is on the primary. This means,
that
> it doesn't seem to matter what kind of optical drive is attached to
channel
> 1 or 2. As a matter of fact I tried to switch the drives and this didn't
> make any difference at all: still UDMA mode 4 on the primary channel and
> UDMA 2 on the secondary one.
>
> I also have 2 Seagate SATA HD-drives connected to the Intel (not Promise)
> SATA connectors (no raid). According to the Bios they work in UDMA mode 5,
> while you would expect to see UDMA mode 6 (133 MB/s). Again I don't think
> this a problem, because Burst speed for the HD's is about 80 MB/s.
>
> Although I don't think it's a big problem, I am curious about the
technical
> background. Maybe some of the other experts in this NG can shed some light
> on this.
>
> TIA!
>
> Jan
>

Gee, I'm not the only one and, yes, our PC configuration is very similar,
just different manufactures ... Hitachi instead of Seagate. Both of my HD's
also show UDMA Mode 5. I could be confused which channel, since Device
Manager shows multiple Primary and Secondary IDE channels because of the
SATA drives (2 of each). I just checked again, one Primary IDE channel has
UDMA Mode 5, the other UDMA Mode 4. While the Secondaries have UDMA Mode 5
and UDMA Mode 2 ... so I must have the Pioneer on the secondary IDE channel
(I'll physically verify that when I check the cables).

As to performance it makes a HUGE difference. I was ripping some songs
using Audiograbber and the Pioneer would get around 5X to 6X speeds (as
indicated by Audiograbber), while the Plextor would rip at around 22X to
24X. The more songs to be ripped the greater the time saved. Also it's
quicker for me to copy a CD using JUST the Plextor than it is to use the
Pioneer as the source drive.

Haven't checked my BIOS but like yourself, I'm reasonably certain that I
have auto-detect as well. It appears there is something wrong somewhere. I
was thinking that it was the Pioneer drive itself (or the firmware) rather
than a mobo or a driver problem.

Anyway, it almost 1:00am in the morning here in Oz and I've got to go to
work at 6:00am. When I get home later today, I'll check the cables and BIOS
definitions.

Thanks and goodnight
Bazza...

OK Bazza, but the difference in performance could be due to a problem with
the Pioneer. Just try to switch the Pioneer to the primary channel and look
if the performance goes up. If not, the problem is with the Pioneer. As I
said, there is no difference in performance in my case, using 2 Plextor
drives.

BTW, what are your comments about my bandwidth story?

Sleep well!

Jan

 

[bazza]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

"Bazza" wrote...
I've got a ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe mobo, with 2 SATA HDD's installed. A Pioneer DVD-121 ROM drive is installed as master on the secondary IDE channel and it is the only device on the channel. On the primary IDE is a Plextor Premium CD Burner. It's also the only device on the channel. I'm running WinXP PRO SP1.

I'm not sure of the BIOS version, I know it's not the latest, I think it's 1009 or similar.

Anyway, Device Manager shows the Plextor using Ultra DMA Mode 4, while the Pioneer is using Ultra DMA Mode 2. The Pioneer is SIGNIFICANTLY slower than the Plextor, eg. ripping music.

According to http://www.pioneeraus.com.au/computer/dvd-romdrives/dvd121/index.html, it states the Interface supports:

ATA PIO Mode 4 / Multi Word DMA Mode 2 / Ultra DMA Mode 4

Device manager shows everthing is working OK. WU doesn't have any device updates, etc. There are no Firmware updates listed in the Pioneer sites that I've found. However, I've found a FW DVD region crack that states that it is built on v1.07 ... the Pioneer came with FW v1.02.

As yet I haven't tried swapping cables or similar. Is it even worth trying?

Is this normal? If not, where would the problem most likely be ... the DVD drive (firmware?) or some where else (Driver/BIOS/whatever)?

Cheers
Bazza...
-----

I should have looked at the Main menu in the BIOS BEFORE I posted the above. There is shows:

Pri IDE Master: Pioneer
Pri IDE Slave: Empty
Sec IDE Master: Plextor
Sec IDE Slave: Empty
3rd IDE Master: Hitachi HDD (SATA)
4th IDE Master: Hitachi HDD (SATA)

Selecting the Pioneer it shows that it's using UDMA Mode 4, the Plextor: UDMA Mode 2 and the 2 HDD's: UDMA Mode 5.

So it's the Plextor and NOT the Pioneer. However, taking a looking at the Plextor site for the Premium and it only supports UDMA Mode 2 !!!

So everything is configured and working correctly.

The only question now is - Why is the Pioneer roughly 4 times slower at ripping Audio CD's? I thought I was buying a decent brand / DVD drive.

The Pioneer site states the CD Data Transfer Rate at : 2586~ 6000 Kbytes/sec. (17.2X - 40X), I know you don't get this all of the time, but I'm only getting 5X to 6X.

Being curious, does anyone have any idea why?

Oh well, I would have brought a Plextor DVD-ROM if the were available in Australia (Plextor US don't sell them any more). Plextor Europe still has DVD-ROM's on their web site. I *maybe* going to Germany later this year, I'll look at buying one while I'm there.

Cheers and thanks to all
Barry...

 

[Jan]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

"Bazza" <Bazza@privacy.com> schreef in bericht
news:2kfrsuF1p6t7U1@uni-berlin.de...
"Bazza" wrote...
I've got a ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe mobo, with 2 SATA HDD's installed. A
Pioneer DVD-121 ROM drive is installed as master on the secondary IDE
channel and it is the only device on the channel. On the primary IDE is a
Plextor Premium CD Burner. It's also the only device on the channel. I'm
running WinXP PRO SP1.

I'm not sure of the BIOS version, I know it's not the latest, I think it's
1009 or similar.

Anyway, Device Manager shows the Plextor using Ultra DMA Mode 4, while the
Pioneer is using Ultra DMA Mode 2. The Pioneer is SIGNIFICANTLY slower than
the Plextor, eg. ripping music.

According to
http://www.pioneeraus.com.au/computer/dvd-romdrives/dvd121/index.html, it
states the Interface supports:

ATA PIO Mode 4 / Multi Word DMA Mode 2 / Ultra DMA Mode 4

Device manager shows everthing is working OK. WU doesn't have any device
updates, etc. There are no Firmware updates listed in the Pioneer sites
that I've found. However, I've found a FW DVD region crack that states that
it is built on v1.07 ... the Pioneer came with FW v1.02.

As yet I haven't tried swapping cables or similar. Is it even worth trying?

Is this normal? If not, where would the problem most likely be ... the DVD
drive (firmware?) or some where else (Driver/BIOS/whatever)?

Cheers
Bazza...
-----

I should have looked at the Main menu in the BIOS BEFORE I posted the above.
There is shows:

Pri IDE Master: Pioneer
Pri IDE Slave: Empty
Sec IDE Master: Plextor
Sec IDE Slave: Empty
3rd IDE Master: Hitachi HDD (SATA)
4th IDE Master: Hitachi HDD (SATA)

Selecting the Pioneer it shows that it's using UDMA Mode 4, the Plextor:
UDMA Mode 2 and the 2 HDD's: UDMA Mode 5.

So it's the Plextor and NOT the Pioneer. However, taking a looking at the
Plextor site for the Premium and it only supports UDMA Mode 2 !!!

So everything is configured and working correctly.

The only question now is - Why is the Pioneer roughly 4 times slower at
ripping Audio CD's? I thought I was buying a decent brand / DVD drive.

The Pioneer site states the CD Data Transfer Rate at : 2586~ 6000
Kbytes/sec. (17.2X - 40X), I know you don't get this all of the time, but
I'm only getting 5X to 6X.

Being curious, does anyone have any idea why?

Oh well, I would have brought a Plextor DVD-ROM if the were available in
Australia (Plextor US don't sell them any more). Plextor Europe still has
DVD-ROM's on their web site. I *maybe* going to Germany later this year,
I'll look at buying one while I'm there.

Cheers and thanks to all
Barry...

Hi Bazza!

I told you, UDMA-2 is no problem at all for the Plextor to function
according to its specs. There are 2 possiblities now:
1) The Pioneer has a techinal problem
2) You are mistaken about the speed. The standard 1x speed standard for CD
is 150 kB/s, for DVD it's 1380 kB/s (about 9 times faster). There is a
possibility that the reading you get from that program you used is in
DVD-speed terms for the Pioneer(1380 kB/s) and in CD-speed terms for the
Plextor (150 kB/s).

Jan

 

[Paul]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

In article <40e2d5d4$0$62394$5fc3050@dreader2.news.tiscali.nl>, "Jan"
<jstaaijNOSPAM@worldonline.nl> wrote:

> "Bazza" <Bazza@privacy.com> schreef in bericht
> news:2kfrsuF1p6t7U1@uni-berlin.de...
> "Bazza" wrote...
> I've got a ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe mobo, with 2 SATA HDD's installed. A
> Pioneer DVD-121 ROM drive is installed as master on the secondary IDE
> channel and it is the only device on the channel. On the primary IDE is a
> Plextor Premium CD Burner. It's also the only device on the channel. I'm
> running WinXP PRO SP1.
>
> I'm not sure of the BIOS version, I know it's not the latest, I think it's
> 1009 or similar.
>
> Anyway, Device Manager shows the Plextor using Ultra DMA Mode 4, while the
> Pioneer is using Ultra DMA Mode 2. The Pioneer is SIGNIFICANTLY slower than
> the Plextor, eg. ripping music.
>
> According to
> http://www.pioneeraus.com.au/computer/dvd-romdrives/dvd121/index.html, it
> states the Interface supports:
>
> ATA PIO Mode 4 / Multi Word DMA Mode 2 / Ultra DMA Mode 4
>
> Device manager shows everthing is working OK. WU doesn't have any device
> updates, etc. There are no Firmware updates listed in the Pioneer sites
> that I've found. However, I've found a FW DVD region crack that states that
> it is built on v1.07 ... the Pioneer came with FW v1.02.
>
> As yet I haven't tried swapping cables or similar. Is it even worth trying?
>
> Is this normal? If not, where would the problem most likely be ... the DVD
> drive (firmware?) or some where else (Driver/BIOS/whatever)?
>
> Cheers
> Bazza...
> -----
>
> I should have looked at the Main menu in the BIOS BEFORE I posted the above.
> There is shows:
>
> Pri IDE Master: Pioneer
> Pri IDE Slave: Empty
> Sec IDE Master: Plextor
> Sec IDE Slave: Empty
> 3rd IDE Master: Hitachi HDD (SATA)
> 4th IDE Master: Hitachi HDD (SATA)
>
> Selecting the Pioneer it shows that it's using UDMA Mode 4, the Plextor:
> UDMA Mode 2 and the 2 HDD's: UDMA Mode 5.
>
> So it's the Plextor and NOT the Pioneer. However, taking a looking at the
> Plextor site for the Premium and it only supports UDMA Mode 2 !!!
>
> So everything is configured and working correctly.
>
> The only question now is - Why is the Pioneer roughly 4 times slower at
> ripping Audio CD's? I thought I was buying a decent brand / DVD drive.
>
> The Pioneer site states the CD Data Transfer Rate at : 2586~ 6000
> Kbytes/sec. (17.2X - 40X), I know you don't get this all of the time, but
> I'm only getting 5X to 6X.
>
> Being curious, does anyone have any idea why?
>
> Oh well, I would have brought a Plextor DVD-ROM if the were available in
> Australia (Plextor US don't sell them any more). Plextor Europe still has
> DVD-ROM's on their web site. I *maybe* going to Germany later this year,
> I'll look at buying one while I'm there.
>
> Cheers and thanks to all
> Barry...
>
> Hi Bazza!
>
> I told you, UDMA-2 is no problem at all for the Plextor to function
> according to its specs. There are 2 possiblities now:
> 1) The Pioneer has a techinal problem
> 2) You are mistaken about the speed. The standard 1x speed standard for CD
> is 150 kB/s, for DVD it's 1380 kB/s (about 9 times faster). There is a
> possibility that the reading you get from that program you used is in
> DVD-speed terms for the Pioneer(1380 kB/s) and in CD-speed terms for the
> Plextor (150 kB/s).
>
> Jan

Two comments.

1) Using a standard "quoting" character, like "> ", makes it easier
to figure out where one post ends, and the next begins. It will
also make it easy for you to converse "in line", i.e. to put
comments right next to someone else's text.
2) For CD/DVD questions, try the http://club.cdfreaks.com forum.
They know everything over there.

HTH,
Paul

 

[bazza]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

"Paul" wrote...

<snip>
>
> Two comments.
>
> 1) Using a standard "quoting" character, like "> ", makes it easier
> to figure out where one post ends, and the next begins. It will
> also make it easy for you to converse "in line", i.e. to put
> comments right next to someone else's text.
> 2) For CD/DVD questions, try the http://club.cdfreaks.com forum.
> They know everything over there.
>
> HTH,
> Paul

Paul,

I have OE6 configured to use ">" in NG replies. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't.
Not sure why, although I suspect that OE didn't this time because I was "replying" to my original post.

Bazza...

 

[bazza]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

"Jan" wrote ...
>
> "Bazza" wrote ...
>
> I should have looked at the Main menu in the BIOS BEFORE I posted the above.
> There is shows:
>
> Pri IDE Master: Pioneer
> Pri IDE Slave: Empty
> Sec IDE Master: Plextor
> Sec IDE Slave: Empty
> 3rd IDE Master: Hitachi HDD (SATA)
> 4th IDE Master: Hitachi HDD (SATA)
>
> Selecting the Pioneer it shows that it's using UDMA Mode 4, the Plextor:
> UDMA Mode 2 and the 2 HDD's: UDMA Mode 5.
>
> So it's the Plextor and NOT the Pioneer. However, taking a looking at the
> Plextor site for the Premium and it only supports UDMA Mode 2 !!!
>
> So everything is configured and working correctly.
>
> The only question now is - Why is the Pioneer roughly 4 times slower at
> ripping Audio CD's? I thought I was buying a decent brand / DVD drive.
>
> The Pioneer site states the CD Data Transfer Rate at : 2586~ 6000
> Kbytes/sec. (17.2X - 40X), I know you don't get this all of the time, but
> I'm only getting 5X to 6X.
>
> Being curious, does anyone have any idea why?
>
> Oh well, I would have brought a Plextor DVD-ROM if the were available in
> Australia (Plextor US don't sell them any more). Plextor Europe still has
> DVD-ROM's on their web site. I *maybe* going to Germany later this year,
> I'll look at buying one while I'm there.
>
> Cheers and thanks to all
> Barry...
>
> Hi Bazza!
>
> I told you, UDMA-2 is no problem at all for the Plextor to function
> according to its specs. There are 2 possiblities now:
> 1) The Pioneer has a techinal problem
> 2) You are mistaken about the speed. The standard 1x speed standard for CD
> is 150 kB/s, for DVD it's 1380 kB/s (about 9 times faster). There is a
> possibility that the reading you get from that program you used is in
> DVD-speed terms for the Pioneer(1380 kB/s) and in CD-speed terms for the
> Plextor (150 kB/s).
>
> Jan
>

Howdy Jan,

Well I don't know what the problem is/was. I ripped 2 CD's once in each drive:

20 Tracks, approx. 72 mins playing time

Pioneer: 4' 07" Plextor: 4' 00"

At this point I thought it might have been CD related. So I (re-)ripped one of the "slow" CD's:

13 Tracks, approx. 40 mins playing time

Pioneer: 2' 39" Plextor: 2' 25"

Audiograbber was showing 20X or higher for both drives.

I haven't changed anything. Believe me, I haven't ... not deliberately anyway.

Oh well. Consider the problem (if there ever was one) resolved.

Cheers and thanks very muchly
Bazza...