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Does the Optiplex GX520 PATA IDE controller support UDMA modes in Windows XP Pro SP3
I have another thread in this forum related to this issue but it refers more to the CDROM devices. The question stated in the subject was formed to specifically to address the PC and Windows. Because the same PC when booted into Fedora 17 loads the UDMA drivers for the CDROM device I have connected. But for some reason Windows won't. The best it will do is PIO. When the drive isn't activated (from the BIOS) the Primary IDE setting reads Multi-Word DMA 2. Which is lousy also. When I make all the proper connections and activate the drive through the BIOS, Windows won't even load. The status bar goes back and forth about 10-12 times and then just stops. That's it. How can I get the PC and Windows to acquire and use the UDMA drivers?
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/p/19442446/20389612.aspx#20389612
kduck28
93 Posts
1
June 17th, 2013 10:00
After all the back and forth with this issue, it came down someone the IT department doing something strange to the Windows XP Pro SP3 installation on the machine. The PC was purshased as is from an company auction. So who knows what happened. maybe it could also be a corrupted reqistery. Bottom-line, no CD-RW/DVD-ROM would work in this PC.
My solution was to place my spare 160GB ATA/IDE hard drive in the PC as the master device and use the Sony CD-RW/DVD-ROM as the slave device and installed Windows XP Home SP3. Once that was completed I checked the properties of the Primary IDE Channel which indicated UDMA Mode 5 for "device 0" and UDMA Mode 2 for "device 1". So this was not a hardward or BIOS issue.
speedstep
8 Wizard
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June 13th, 2013 08:00
The controller can tell if you are using 80 wire vs 40 wire cables. They will ALWAYS revert to PIO mode when 40 wire cables are used.
hdc: host side 80-wire cable detection failed, limiting max speed to PIO 16
How Does It Work?
Every other line of the 80 conductor cables is tied to ground inside the connector. This results in a much better signal quality as the crosstalk (signals from adjacent lines coupling into each other) and ground bounce are greatly reduced. The cable is backward compatible with all old ATA drives. The connectors still have 40 pin sockets. Ultra ATA/66/100/133 drives still have 40 pin connectors.
80 Conductor Ribbon Cable
Required for UltraATA/66/100/133 Speed
Improved Signal Quality
Ground on all even lines or all odd lines in the cable
40 Pin Sockets on Cable (Just like before)
40 Pin Connectors on Drive (Just like before)
Backward compatible with all 3.5" drives
Supports Automatic Cable Type Detection
Supports Cable Select
Other reasons can show up in the event log, so check this first and see if you can find repeated Atapi errors recorded. After Multiple Failures Windows will revert to PIO mode.
kduck28
93 Posts
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June 13th, 2013 09:00
No errors in the event log. I'm using an 80-pin ribbon between the drive and IDE connector. I discovered that Dell used the RJ291 board for my GX520. And it says the IDE Channel supports ATA-66/100/133. So I don't understand why Windows won't load. Since Windows gives no messages to the screen while loading it's impossible to know what the heck it's doing or failing at.
Manufacturer: Intel ( OEM for Dell Optiplex GX520 )
Dell Compatible Part#: WG233 0WG233 H8052 RJ291 UG980 0UG980
Chipset: Intel 945G Express
Socket: LGA775
Expansion Slots: PCI x 2 and PCIe x 1
Other Features: Hyper-Threading Technology Support
Connectors: (6) USB 2.0 Ports, 10/100/1000 LAN
Peripheral Interface: (1) Serial ATA (SATA) Interface
Other: One IDE Channel Supporting ATA-66/100/133 and One Floppy Port
Video: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Audio: Standard Sound Audio System
Supported Memory: DDR2
Maximum Memory: 2 Dual Channel DIMM Support for up to 4 GB of memory
osprey4
4 Operator
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June 13th, 2013 12:00
Hi kduck28,
Two things. First, IDE devices need their jumper set to CS. If the jumper isn't set, the drive may still work in XP but not optimally.
Second, if XP detects read errors, the controller speed will automatically step down to PIO mode. The fix is to install the current version of the IAA, and use that utility to change the transfer mode back to DMA. It may take one or two reboots but it should work.
kduck28
93 Posts
0
June 13th, 2013 20:00
Hi Osprey4, man you're every where. :-) I made the check of the jumper. It is placed on the CS pins and fitted correctly. As mentioned, no errors are reported to the event log. This afternoon, for some unknown reason I can explain the PC did boot Windows in safe mode when before it would not. While in safe mode I disabled some PnP services and services related to Roxio. I rebooted back into safe mode successfully. I then changed from PIO Only to "Autodetect/DMA If Available" mode. Reboot PC but Windows locked up on the startup logo screen again. Went back to safe mode to set IDE channel to PIO Only. Reboot, and this time "full" Windows started successfully but remember only because Primary IDE channel is set to PIO. When I tried DMA, it locked up again.
I'm confused as to what is IAA. Need more details and information please.
kduck28
93 Posts
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June 14th, 2013 05:00
After pulling my hair out over night, I have resigned myself to just use the non-writeable CD-ROM drive. Only then does the Primary IDE Channel use the DMA driver (albeit it's the Multi-Word DMA Mode 2 driver). So it appears this Dell machine was designed and built to operate in this fashion. I guess they never envisioned that a CD-RW/DVD-ROM would be used for this model therefore they deliberately crippled its capabilities even though the specs say differently. The GX620 seems to be the advanced model which has everything the GX520 didn't support.
osprey4
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34.2K Posts
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June 14th, 2013 11:00
IAA is the Intel Application Accelerator. It's an advanced controller driver for some older systems. Not sure if it's compatible with the GX520.
I'm wondering if one of your drives is bad. I would try with one drive connected at a time. It may be there's a problem with one drive that's preventing the system from booting with the controller running in UDMA mode. IDE burners are dirt cheap on Ebay so you could always get something else.