Increasing UDMA mode on older laptop

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

I have an Dell 7000 laptop that I upgraded with a 600mhz Pentium III, 100mhz
memory and a 5400 Hitachi(8 meg buffer) drive capable of UDMA 5. However when
when I look at the DMA values with PC Wizard, UDMA mode enable is 2, while the
drive shows it could run at 5. A bit of research indicates the cable connection
from the hard drive to the controller needs to be changed from 40 to the newer
80 conductor versions to get beyond UDMA 2.

My questions:

A. Is such a cable available for a older laptop? (I'm comfortable opening the
machine, changing things and I have the hardware manual for the machine)

B. If I did manage to change the cable would I need to upgrade the drivers and
would it actually get me to UDMA 4 or 5?

Thank you
Arn

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

On or about 8/29/2004 4:10 PM, it came to pass that Benjamin Gawert wrote:
> arnb wrote:
>
>
>>I have an Dell 7000 laptop that I upgraded with a 600mhz Pentium III,
>>100mhz memory and a 5400 Hitachi(8 meg buffer) drive capable of UDMA
>>5. However when when I look at the DMA values with PC Wizard, UDMA
>>mode enable is 2, while the drive shows it could run at 5. A bit of
>>research indicates the cable connection from the hard drive to the
>>controller needs to be changed from 40 to the newer 80 conductor
>>versions to get beyond UDMA 2.
>
>
> Well, the cable is just one part of the game. You also need a controller
> that's capable of the higher DMA modes. Your laptop for sure only has a
> controller capable of UDMA/33, so a 80pin cable would not help You anything
> at all...
>
> Benjamin
>
>
Oops forgot about that part of the equation and there's no way I can change the
controller. Guess I live with UDMA/33 for now.

Thank you for the quick response.

Arn