maxtor and epox

[lighthse]

I need help! I'm having maxtor60+ 30gb...
Besides being quite noisy, it makes the mouse movement jerky...or maybe I should say laggy...when hdd reads...
emm...is it common with maxtor drives?
how can I maximize the performance?

using this hdd on epox 8k7a+ highpoint port
512ddr ram with win2k...

i really wonder where the problem lies...
could it be the bios? or is it that I have not set maxtor to the maximum? could it be hdd hardware problem or highpoint controller problem or driver problem? or maybe mouse...

 

[TunaBoo]

Most likely it is DMA is not enabled. In win2k they hide DMA under the controller section instead of on the actual drive as in 9x.

 

[lighthse]

i cannot enable dma...they are all detected as scsi devices although they are all ide....
btw i have 2 hdd on epox raid port...maxtor and western digital

what could be the problem?

 

[lighthse]

i installed highpoint driver before installing win2k which is according to epox website....
i wonder if this will affect...

 

[Sundog]

PS2 mouse or USB?

 

[lighthse]

I tested different mouse...
so it isn't mouse problem....
very irriiiiitating!!!! help!

 

[Shmorq]

Have you installed Service Pack 2 for Win2K? I believe it fixes the problem where you can't enable DMA for ATA100 devices.

 

[lighthse]

yes...it's with win2k sp2
all ide devices are detected as scsi...real funny...
is it because of using this raid port of epox..


another thing I noticed - its more noisy than my western digital...
could it be hardware problem? this western-d is stacked above maxtor in enlight casing...used all 3slots for floppy and hdd

or could it be the screwssss?hahaha....not sure about that

mouse movement only become jerky when there's hdd activity...it's ok when drive not seeking...

 

[TunaBoo]

<< yes...it's with win2k sp2
all ide devices are detected as scsi...real funny...
is it because of using this raid port of epox..


another thing I noticed - its more noisy than my western digital...
could it be hardware problem? this western-d is stacked above maxtor in enlight casing...used all 3slots for floppy and hdd

or could it be the screwssss?hahaha....not sure about that

mouse movement only become jerky when there's hdd activity...it's ok when drive not seeking... >>



Well when you use a raid controller (IDE), 99% of the time it says the drives are SCSI in windows. This is because is because windows is not communicationg directly to the drive, but over the PCI bus through a controler in the same way a SCSI drive would. If your ccontroller realizes that the drives are ata 100, It will switch to that speed and enable DMA for you. Make sure the newest controller drivers are installed, and that you have a 80 wire cable.

It is more noisy than your WD? Is it a maxtor diamond or a diamondmaxplus? Diamondmaxplus are the quiet ones. Also, is your WD 5400 or 7200 RPMs? 5400 RPM drives are usually less noisy. If it is just LOUD it is probably not going bad. If it makes strange sounds, then it might be. It is kind of bad you have your hard drives stacked. Be sure you have an intake right in front of them blowing air over them, I use a 92 mil PanfloL1A in my case to blow over my 60GXP. It used to be burning hot, not it is room temperature.

 

[lighthse]

i'm using diamondmax 60plus 7200rpm
western-d also 7200rpm...as compared it's much more noisy...
will it be due to they are too close together? or screws too tight?

 

[lighthse]

jerk only when there's hdd activity....it comes together with that loud irritating seeking noise of maxtor....

sian...i can't figure out the problem yet

 

[billyjak]

Do you have the latest Bios installed

 

[lighthse]

yes with lastest bios and drivers

.....
only got problem when there's hdd activity

hardware problem?

 

[ElFenix]

tunaboo - actually, plus is how maxtor denotes 7200 rpm drives.

lightse, i have a +60 and its pretty quiet, running on the motherboard's built in ports.
how do you install a driver before the operating system? thats completely messed up.

have you tried moving the drive to the motherboard ports? the highpoint probably isn't any faster (and if the northbridge connects over vlink to the southbridge i can gaurantee its slower) so unless you're using the RAID feature...

but that drive shouldn't be anywhere near loud.

 

[lighthse]

instructions i get from epox...install raid port driver before installing win2k...

i'm gonna test my other western digital hdd which's also on raid port...gonna install win2k in it...if no problems encountered will mean that new maxtor's defective and i dun think i can trust maxtor anymore

 

[datallah]

OH please! The odds that there is actually something wrong with your drive are very low. Listen to the people in this forum and update your raid controller drivers to the latest (from the chipset manufacturer not epox), also check on the chipset manufacturer's web site about how to verify DMA mode.

Dont be so quick to assume that there is something wrong with your drive.

 

[lighthse]

i have updated all to lastest bios and drivers but problem still unsolved...

 

[lighthse]

arhhhh...i'm really desperate now...still cant find whats wrong...
tested on both hdd...still same program...
so till now all i can say is not mouse, hdd problem....i don't think its bios or drivers problem...

i'm suspecting highpoint raid port on epox...
could it be the culprit? arhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...........


my system:
epox 8k7a+
amd 1.33
crucial pc2100 2x256mb
creative tnt2 ultra
maxtor plus60 ata100 on highpoint primary master
western-d ata66 on highpoint secondary master
cdrom and zipdrive onboard ide primary master and slave
enlight casing with 2 hdd and floppy taking up and 3slots...
floppy on top, western-d at middle and maxtor at bottom...
win2k pro with lastest drivers

i wonder whether the 2hdd r too close together


this delayed effect/jerkyness of mouse whenever there's hdd activity is really driving me crazy!
experts pls help!!!!!!!!!!!:bounce:

 

[Greel]

I Think I just might know the answer to this one!
u got 2 hd's and a 1.33 u might want to see what size ps u got and if its drawing too much power and temp freezing for more power to come back.
tbirds usually use 50watts(more or less) agp cards can draw a little bit and 7200 rpm drive draw quite a bit. check that and if its not that then try taking both drives off the pci based raid controller and put them in the epox ide slots u have the cdrom and zip in.

if that doesn't work i dunno, i'd probably do a rebuild(take everything out only vid, hd, floppy, and cd and do a clean install and see how it goes then reinstall all extra hardware and software.

Don't worry its prob just the enlight PSU (most likely) prob a 230-250 most and drawing too much and freezing the system.



<< Classic Gamers are Endangered Species >>

 

[lighthse]

its 300w psu
so it shouldnt be the problem...

my guess is highpoint port....
i wonder if i shift both hdd to normal ide...how's performance like?
then set the following...
primary master: maxtor ata100
primary slave: western digital ata66
secondary master: sony 52x cdrom
secondary slave: iomega internal 250zipdrive

...hopefully that will solve the problem

 

[TunaBoo]

Greel - Hard drives draw WELL under 1 amp. A lot I look at draw around 600 ma and 12V and 600 ma at 5V. Whoopie doo.

lighthse - This is the day of the T-Bird. 300 watt is a very small PSU. 300 watt will NOT be AMD approved. Sure it will usually work, but it is not recommended. IIRC you need a 350 watter for 1.33 GHz. I know 350 watters usually limit people to 1.5 or 1.6 GHz, so it would not be suprising if it was a little low on power at 1.33 GHz.

By any chance - did you forget to enable DMA in the bios?

 

[lighthse]

problem finally solved...its the highpoint driver...
although i'm using 370A with latest driver it gives me trouble!
so i used driver ver1.03 which epox said it can't be used for 370A....hahahah
....but it worked for me!