SP2 - Problem Solved

Question

It has been a nightmare installing SP2 onto our Dell 4400 computers.
The problem is corrupted hard drive reads.

At first everything seemed to work ok but then:

1) After a few minutes, a 1 MB text file of source code would not compile because one letter has been changed.
2) An hour later, one EXE program kept crashing.
3) I noticed a GIF image was slightly corrupted.
4) The icons had to be rebuilt on bootup.
5) There were many warnings about "Registry was Recovered" on bootup.
6) IE began to crash on certain web sites (google).

7) Many programs began crashing.
8) The computer finally refused to boot even into safe mode until CHKDSK was run.

We made sure the computers were free from viruses and spyware.
We did the BIOS upgrades from Dell.
We even installed a virgin windows on a new hard drive.
We attempted several uninstalls and reinstalls with different Bios settings.
The same problem always persisted to variable degree.

We phoned Dell technical support and were told SP2 should not be installed on Dells until Microsoft gets the bugs ironed out.

We did some technical investigation and determined that SP2 is forcing the IDE hard drive controller from UltraDMA mode 5 to mode 6. The Intel 845/ICH2 chip set in this model is not capable of mode 6, so we assumed this was the cause of the problem. Our Dell models 4550 stayed at mode 5 and SP2 works great.

After a lengthy call to Microsoft tech support, we were told if SP2 forces the mode from 5 to 6, its because SP2 needs it at 6, and there is no way to put it back to 5. If we suspect this mode 6 is corrupting the hard drive, then we should forget about SP2.

The IDE mode can be checked at:
Control Panel> System> Hardware> Device Manager> IDE...> Primary...>

Finally we have come up with an easy solution that has completely solved this problem:
We installed the Intel Application Accelerator available at
http://support.intel.com/support/chipsets/sb/CS-015001.htm

This replaces the Microsoft IDE driver with the Intel one.
The UltraDMA mode now stays at 5 and SP2 is working great on these Dells.
The computers seem faster than ever!

This fix works even after SP2 is installed, but its best to do it before SP2.

I hope this helps other people who are having similar flaky problems with SP2.

wolf57642 · Answer

I had a very similar problem with my 4500 computer . However mine seemed to be the Largan camera I had installed on it. I also had trouble with the  Intel accelerator so I made my changes and then had to uninstall it because it would give me the blue screen of death driver irql not equal error. However I checked what you said and mine is also now showing Udma mode 5.    Who Knows!

FHaber · Answer

That's a horrendous tale - you had disk corruption! I wouldn't have trusted a thing on that system if it had run a few days at the wrong UDMA mode setting.

I wonder why this hasn't gotten more publicity?

JRosenfeld · Answer

On my Dell 8300, (875P chipset) UDMA mode recently changed from 6 to 5. But I think this was some time after installing SP2 (which I did mid August), though I don't know excactly when it happened as I only found out recently when running a benchmark for the drive. I have not found a way of getting it back to 6. My hard drive performance is relatively poor (about 75% of what it should be). Otherwise everything is running smoothly. It's more annoying than cripling.

Libra1 · Answer

I have a Dell Dimension 8400. I looked in the Device Manager and under IDE, it shows 82801FB. I didn't see that number anywhere at the Intel site. My primary IDE Controller says Ultra DMA Mode 5. Is this a problem for SP2?

I had installed SP2, which seemed to go well, then 3 weeks later had a major problem and the techs had me to a repair install of Windows - she said SP2 caused this. Remnants of SP2 remain on my computer, and are causing error messages in the Event Viewer.

Sincerely, Libra

JRosenfeld · Answer

Libra1,

No it's not a problem for SP2. It would not be a likely cause for any problems you encountered with SP2 (what were they?). If you give some details of the kinds of error messages you are getting (start a new thread), people might be able to help. In Event viewer you right click an event, click properties, note and post Source, category and event ID and any info in the description panel; also, if online, if you click the link in the description panel, MS will send a help and support page which may suggest a fix or link to MS knowledge base article. With source and event ID, you can also go to

http://www.eventid.net/

click search in the top menu, enter the info to see if their database has relevant information. Such a search is free; if you want to post there, registration costs $$.

Cymrultd · Answer

I am IMPRESSED   Thanks for the info. Microsoft and Dell don't have a clue about the Chipset Problem. Dell says just don't upgrade which is not an option when one is upgrading to XP Pro using Microsofts new XP release that includes SP2.  I knew that there was a problem with the disk but I couldn't point Dell or Microsoft to that issue. They both basically gave up. I'm impossable ( I keep on dogging the question for a month swapping cd-rom drives video cards etc.) and don't like to give up. How in the world did you link the problem with the intel chipset and find the work around? Again I'm totally impressed and thank you for the solution.

Windows General

SP2 - Problem Solved

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