IBM Deskstar Problem

[Guest]

Hi! I'm brand new to this forum... And I hate to start stuff off with questions.. But it's kinda a really important one. I got a new IBM Deskstar 75GXP HDD for a present... I installed it in my system and now whenever there's heavy HDD activity, the entire system locks up. I'm currently using:

A-bit BE6-I with latest bios
PIII 550
256 megs of PC100 SDRAM
Win98 SE with all updates
Asus 3800 TNT2 Ultra 32 meg
Diamond MX300 With latest drivers
Realtek 8139 Lan card
HP 9110I CD-RW
45X CD-Rom
I returned it for another of the exact same type and it still gives me the same problem, I've tried it as a master, and as a slave. The problem only occurs when the IBM Deskstar 75GXP is being accessed heavily, I.E. During games or file transfers. I've reinstalled windows 3 times already, tried it without partitions, and with partitions, I've gotten all the updates/drivers that I can find for it and nothing has worked. I'm not sure if this is a compatability issue or not... It's the first time I've had this problem. My other HDD was also an IBM 20 GB and there was no problem with it. I know this isn't a tech support hotline or anything and I really don't expect anyone going outta their way to help... But if anyone knows how to fix it or what is conflicting, I'd be most appreciative!

 

[Guest]

I know you didn't have a problem with the other drive, but I would try to install the same setup and see if you can get it to lockup.. just to make sure it's the drive.

Are you using Diamond's latest drivers for the MX300? Vers 1.02 is old..and buggy. Try to get your hand on Aureals 2048 reference drivers if you're not using them.. they are better. You can't get to Aureal's site I don't think anymore. They have gone out of business, and I believe their site is now offline. I think you can get them here. http://www.vortexofsound.com/drivers/drivers.htm
Just to eliminate that it could be the soundcard I would pull it and try to lock it up under the same conditions it has locked up in the past.

Check to see if UDMA is checked in the drive's properties in Device Manager.

And the last thing that's rarely checked and often overlooked. You may have damaged the IDE cable or are having problems running on the onboard ATA66 (Abit's onboard ATA66 is known for it's share of problems). I would try it on the normal UDMA33 IDE channel by itself with a different cable as a master. Doesn't mean you have to leave it there.. just need to figure out where the problem is.

I don't know what the problem is.. I'm just trying to throw some ideas that you might not of tried to help you out.

 

[Guest]

Your problem is a combination of the Highpoint ATA66 controller and the IBM 75GXP. I think you'll find that if you moved the hard drive off the HPT366 controller it will work fine (although slower...the 75GXP is a fast drive and needs the extra overhead an ATA66 interface provides.) I tried a few drivers awhile back that was supposed to remedy this, but I still got the problem. I think there are some newer drivers out that address this more specificly that you should try. Try ftp://ftp.abit.com.tw/pub/beta/be6/bios/
for the very latest BIOS (betas) and
http://www.highpoint-tech.com/betadrivers.htm for the latest HPT366 drivers. Good luck. Hope it works. I'll betrying it soon myself.

 

[Guest]

Chord, FLamehead, Thanks for the attempts... I've tried both of your solutions... In the end however I believe that FLamehead was very much correct about the motherboard... I tried the bios update and it didn't do a single thing for me... I still get the lockups ONLY with my newer HDD.. I used my older one and it works fine.. I'm lookin at either getting a newer motherboard (Time to upgrade anyways) or probably just cashing in the HDD for credit towards something.... Maybe a video card or a Soundcard... Anyhow thanks for responding and helpin!

 

[Bruce_W_Schmidt]

The 75GXP is a ATA100 Pipeline through put ATA66 constant, Abit BE6 is ATA66 Pipeline through put ATA33 constant. The drive wants more than the board can give. ATA100 is backward compatible, But I am not shure HighPoint has drivers out yet. P.S. I have TWO and like them alot; on a ASUS CUSL2. Bruce©

 

[Guest]

If i were you i'd sit there day and night until i found what the problem was because you wont find a better drive then that one. one thing that came to my mind is that maybe your power supply cant handle it. there is so many systems that run without geting proper power and the new drive might have just put it over the line. i dont know just a thought