Hard drive much slower with DMA than PIO

by **MediumRare** on Sat Jun 23, 2007 6:16 am

This is a bit off topic in that it has nothing to do with optical drives, but there are a lot of knowledgeable people here who might be able to help.

I "inherited" a Dell Optiplex GX150 and am setting it up for a friend. It's running Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 and rollup. I installed all applicable updates (Intel chipset drivers etc.) that I could find on Dell's service page.

My problem is that the hard drive (WD 20 GiB) is excruciatingly slow if I activate DMA. It takes over 5 minutes to boot and over 15 sec to open any executable. If I put it in PIO, performance is acceptable. I can live with this, because it'll be used for surfing and texting, but I'd still like to find the reason for this.

I'm attaching the log from Nero's InfoTool which has a lot of information about the system.

Code: Select all: Nero InfoTool 4.03 Drive Information ------------------ Drive : TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-C2402 Type : DVD-ROM Drive Firmware Version : X021 Buffer Size : 128 KB Date : 04-26-01 Serial Number Vendor Specific : 04/26/01 Drive Letter : D:\ Location : 1:0 Mechanism : Tray Read Speed : 24 , 20 , 16 , 6 X Write Speed : n/a Read CD Text : Yes Return C2 Pointers : Yes Read CD-R : Yes Read CD-RW : Yes Read DVD-ROM : Yes Read DVD-RAM : No Read DVD-R : Yes Read DVD-RW : Yes Read DVD-R DL : Yes Read DVD+R : No Read DVD+RW : No Read DVD+R DL : No Read BD-ROM : No Read BD-R : No Read BD-RE : No Read HD DVD-ROM : No Read HD DVD-R : No Read HD DVD-RW : No Read HD-BURN : No Read Digital Audio : Yes Read CD+G : Yes Read VideoCD : Yes Write CD-R : No Write CD-RW : No Write DVD-R : No Write DVD-RW : No Write DVD-R DL : No Write DVD+R : No Write DVD+RW : No Write DVD+R DL : No Write DVD-RAM : No Write BD-R : No Write BD-RE : No Write HD DVD-R : No Write HD DVD-RW : No Write HD-BURN-R : No Write HD-BURN-RW : No Buffer Underrun Protection : No Mount Rainier : No SolidBurn : No Labelflash : No Modes : n/a Region Protection Control : RPC I Region : All Changes User Changes Vendor Disc Information (D:\) ------------------- Type : Keine Disk eingelegt Interface Information --------------------- Adapter 1 --------- Description : Primary IDE Channel Driver Description : System32\DRIVERS\atapi.sys Company : Microsoft Corporation Version : 5.00.2195.6699 Description : IDE/ATAPI Port Driver Attached Devices Description : Master: WDC WD200BB-75AUA1 Type : Disk Drive DMA : Off Adapter 2 --------- Description : Secondary IDE Channel Driver Description : System32\DRIVERS\atapi.sys Company : Microsoft Corporation Version : 5.00.2195.6699 Description : IDE/ATAPI Port Driver Attached Devices Description : Master: TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-C2402 Type : CD-Rom Drive DMA : Off Autorun : On Software Information -------------------- Operating System : Windows 2000 Professional (5.00.2195 Service Pack 4) Country : Germany Language : German ANSI Code Page : 1252 OEM Code Page : 850 DirectX : DirectX 7.0a Hardware Information -------------------- CPU : ? Bus Speed : ? Motherboard : ? System : ? BIOS : ? Memory : 510 MB Sound : AC'97-Soundkarte Video : NVIDIA TNT2 Pro 16 MB 4XAGP (Dell) Driver Information ------------------ Driver : Abiosdsk Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : abp480n5 Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : ACPI Description : ACPI-Treiber für NT Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : ACPIEC Description : ACPI Embedded Controller Driver Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : adpu160m Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : aeaudio Description : Andrea Audio Stub Driver Version : 1.0.0.2 (STUB) Company : Andrea Electronics Corporation Driver : Aha154x Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : aic116x Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : aic78u2 Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : aic78xx Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : ami0nt Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : amsint Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : asc Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : asc3350p Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : asc3550 Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : AsyncMac Description : MS Remote Access serial network driver Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : atapi Description : IDE/ATAPI Port Driver Version : 5.00.2195.6699 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : Atdisk Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : Atmarpc Description : IP/ATM Arp Client Version : 5.00.2166.1 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : audstub Description : AudStub Driver Version : 5.00.2134.1 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : avgio Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : avgntflt Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : avipbb Description : Avira Driver for RootKit Detection Version : 1.00.01.09 Company : Avira GmbH Driver : BusLogic Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : cd20xrnt Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : Cdaudio Description : CD-ROM Audio Filter Driver Version : 5.00.2135.1 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : Cdfs Description : CD-ROM File System Driver Version : 5.00.2195.7006 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : Cdrom Description : SCSI CD-ROM Driver Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : Changer Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : Cpqarray Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : cpqarry2 Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : cpqfcalm Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : cpqfws2e Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : dac960nt Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : deckzpsx Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : Disk Description : PnP Disk Driver Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : dmboot Description : Treiber für NT Datenträgerverwaltung Version : 2195.6655.297.3 Company : VERITAS Software Corp. Driver : dmio Description : E/A-Treiber für NT Datenträgerverwaltung Version : 2195.6655.297.3 Company : VERITAS Software Corp. Driver : dmload Description : NT Disk Manager Startup Driver Version : 2195.6655.297.3 Company : VERITAS Software Corp. Driver : DMusic Description : Microsoft DirectMusic Software Synthesizer (WDM) Version : 5.00.2166.1 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : EFS Description : EFS File System Filter Driver Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : EL90BC Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : Fastfat Description : Fast FAT File System Driver Version : 5.00.2195.7061 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : Fd16_700 Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : Fdc Description : Floppy Disk Controller Driver Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : fireport Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : flashpnt Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : Flpydisk Description : Floppy Driver Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : FltMgr Description : Microsoft Filesystem Filter Manager Version : 5.00.2195.7039 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : Ftdisk Description : FT-Datenträgertreiber Version : 5.00.2195.7006 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : Gpc Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : i8042prt Description : i8042-Anschlusstreiber Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : ichaud Description : Integrated Controller Hub Audio Driver (WDM) Version : 5.00.2160.1 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : ini910u Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : IntelIde Description : Intel PCI IDE Treiber Version : 5.00.2195.6666 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : IpFilterDriver Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : IpInIp Description : IP in IP Encapsulation Driver Version : 5.00.2168.1 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : IpNat Description : IP Network Address Translator Version : 5.00.2195.6968 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : IPSEC Description : IPSEC Driver (US/Canada Only, Not for Export) Version : 5.00.2195.6738 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : ipsraidn Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : IRENUM Description : Infra-Red Bus Enumerator Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : isapnp Description : PNP-ISA-Bustreiber Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : kmixer Description : Kernel Mode Audio Mixer Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : lbrtfdc Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : lp6nds35 Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : Modem Description : Modemgerätetreiber Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : mraid35x Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : MSKSSRV Description : MS KS Server Version : 5.00.2134.1 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : MSPCLOCK Description : MS Proxy Clock Version : 5.00.2134.1 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : MSPQM Description : MS Proxy Quality Manager Version : 5.00.2134.1 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : Ncrc710 Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : NdisTapi Description : NDIS 3.0 connection wrapper driver Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : Ndisuio Description : NDIS User mode I/O Driver Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : NdisWan Description : MS WAN Wrapper Network Driver (US/Canada Only, Not for Export) Version : 5.00.2195.6699 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : NetDetect Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : Npfs Description : NPFS Driver Version : 5.00.2147.1 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : Ntfs Description : NT File System Driver Version : 5.00.2195.7049 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : nv4 Description : NVIDIA Compatible Windows 2000 Miniport Driver, Version 3.27 Version : 5.00.2165.0327 Company : NVIDIA Corporation Driver : NwlnkFlt Description : NWLINK2 Traffic Filter Driver Version : 5.00.2134.1 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : NwlnkFwd Description : NWLINK2 Forwarder Driver Version : 5.00.2173.1 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : Parallel Description : Treiber für parallele Drucker Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : Parport Description : Treiber für parallelen Anschluss Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : PartMgr Description : Partition Manager Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : ParVdm Description : VDM-Paralleltreiber Version : 5.00.2135.1 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : PCI Description : NT-Plug & Play PCI-Enumerator Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : PCIDump Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : PCIIde Description : Allgemeiner PCI IDE Bustreiber Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : Pcmcia Description : PCMCIA-Treiber Version : 5.00.2195.6664 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : PowerSwitch Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : PptpMiniport Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : Ptilink Description : Parallel Technologies DirectParallel IO Library Version : 1.10 Company : Parallel Technologies, Inc. Driver : ql1080 Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : Ql10wnt Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : ql1240 Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : ql2100 Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : Rasl2tp Description : RAS L2TP mini-port/call-manager driver Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : Raspti Description : PTI DirectParallel(R) mini-port/call-manager driver Version : 5.00.2146.1 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : RCA Description : RCA filter Version : 5.00.2164.1 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : Rdbss Description : Redirected Drive Buffering SubSystem Driver Version : 5.00.2195.7061 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : redbook Description : Redbook-Audiofiltertreiber Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : serenum Description : Serial Port Enumerator Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : Serial Description : Treiber für serielle Geräte Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : Sfloppy Description : SCSI Floppy Driver Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : sglfb Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : Simbad Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : smwdm Description : SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio Version : 5.12.01.3508 Company : Analog Devices, Inc. Driver : Sparrow Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : Srv Description : Server driver Version : 5.00.2195.7087 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : ssmdrv Description : AVIRA SnapShot Driver Version : 7.0.1.1 Company : Avira GmbH Driver : swenum Description : Plug and Play Software Device Enumerator Version : 5.00.2134.1 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : swmidi Description : Microsoft GS Wavetable Synthesizer Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : symc810 Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : symc8xx Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : sym_hi Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : sysaudio Description : System Audio WDM Filter Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : Tcpip Description : TCP/IP driver Version : 5.00.2195.7087 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : tga Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : Udfs Description : UDF File System Driver Version : 5.00.2195.7006 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : uhcd Description : Universal Host Controller Driver Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : ultra66 Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : Update Description : Update Driver Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : usbhub Description : Default Hub Driver for USB Version : 5.00.2195.6689 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : USBSTOR Description : USB Mass Storage Class Driver Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : VgaSave Description : n/a Version : n/a Company : n/a Driver : Wanarp Description : MS Remote Access and Routing ARP Driver Version : 5.00.2195.6601 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : wdmaud Description : MMSYSTEM Wave/Midi API mapper Version : 5.00.2195.6655 Company : Microsoft Corporation Driver : msvcrt.dll Version : 6.10.9844.0 Driver : msvcirt.dll Version : 6.10.8637.0 Driver : mfc42.dll Version : 6.00.9586.0 Driver : mfc42loc.dll Version : 6.00.8665.0 Driver : OLE32.DLL Version : 5.00.2195.7059 Driver : OLEPRO32.DLL Version : 5.0.4522 Driver : oledlg.dll Version : 1.0 Driver : ADVAPI32.DLL Version : 5.00.2195.7038 Driver : comctl32.dll Version : 5.81 Driver : SETUPAPI.DLL Version : 5.00.2195.6622 Lower Filters ------------- Upper Filters ------------- Video Codecs ------------ Cinepak Codec von Radius : 1.10.0.6 Intel Indeo(R) Video R3.2 Intel Indeo(R) Video R3.2 Microsoft RLE : 5.00.2195.6612 Microsoft Video 1 : 5.00.2134.1 Microsoft H.263 Video Codec : 4.4.3385 Microsoft H.261 Video Codec : 4.4.3385 Intel 4|2|0 Video V2.50 : 4.4.3385 Indeo® video 5.10 : R.5.10.15.2.55 Audio Codecs ------------ Microsoft IMA ADPCM CODEC : 4.00.0.0 Microsoft ADPCM CODEC : 4.00.0.0 Microsoft CCITT G.711 A-Law- und u-Law-CODEC : 4.00.0.0 Microsoft GSM 6.10 Audio CODEC : 4.00.0.0 DSP Group TrueSpeech(TM) Software CODEC : 1.00.0.0 Lernout & Hauspie CODECs : 1.00.0.1 Microsoft G.723.1 CODEC : 1.02.0.1 Indeo® audio software : 2.05.0.53 Microsoft PCM-Konvertierung : 5.00.0.0 ASPI Information ---------------- System ASPI : ASPI is not installed Nero ASPI : ASPI is not installed Installed OS Patches -------------------- (Q284837) 1394 Audio/Video Control Device Stops Working Unexpectedly : No (Q319973) USB 2.0 Support : Yes (Q290089) Computer hangs After you connect Multiple IEEE 1394 devices : No (Q328120) IEEE 1394 device may disappear when you add new daisy-Chain devices : No (Q813908) SCSI Pass-Through Mode Sense Command May Crash the Computer : Yes (Q322804) Cannot Use Windows Media Player to Read XA Data on 1394 CD-ROM Devices : Yes (Q322823) Windows Explorer Does Not Detect That the CD-ROM That Was Previously in the CD Drive Has Been Replaced with a Blank CD-R : Yes (Q281672) Possible Data Loss After You Enable the 'Write Cache Enabled' Feature : Yes (Q327081) Data Added to Removable Media During Hibernation May Be Lost When You Resume Windows 2000 : Yes (Q332023) Slow Disk Performance When Write Caching Is Enabled : Yes (Q818194) USB - You Receive a 'KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED' Error Message : Yes (Q276409) Hotfix from Q259545 causes 'Stop 0x0000000A' Error Message in Disk.sys File : Yes (Q260055) OHCI1394 Driver May Cause a Memory Leak During Asynchronous Write Operation : No (Q262814) IEEE 1394 OHCI Driver Does Not Retry Busy Devices Properly : No (Q272155) Connectivity Problems Using VIA 1394 PCI Host Controllers : No (Q284837) 1394 Audio/Video Control Device Stops Working Unexpectedly : No (Q260233) Support for ATA 100 (Mode 5) in Windows 2000 : Yes (Q312190) A National Semiconductor IDE Controller May Not Function Correctly : Yes (Q310051) Windows 2000 Does Not Recognize a Digital Video Camera or Other 1394 OHCI Devices When Connected : No (Q814017) Windows Does Not Detect a SCSI Device After a Surprise Removal : Yes (Q816765) The Scsiport Driver May Not Read Registry Parameters That Are Specified for Miniport Drivers : Yes (Q290321) 'Stop 0x00000050' Error Message When You View Files on a DVD : Yes (Q313663) Udfs.sys Has a 2.2 Gigabyte Limitation with DVD-R Media : Yes (Q277877) USB Devices May Take More Than 30 Seconds to Wake Up After Hibernating : Yes (Q283787) Multifunction USB Device Cannot Transfer 4 KB or Larger Files : Yes (Q313600) An Error Occurs in Usbhub.sys if it Is Used as a Composite Driver : Yes (Q810090) USB Update : Yes (Q329112) Multi-Border DVD with More Than 4 GB of Data Not Readable Past First Border : Yes (Q812415) Problems with Multiple ATA devices : No (Q322359) Intelide.sys Is Not Used on Computers with ICH4 or ICH5 : Yes

G

by **Wesociety** on Sat Jun 23, 2007 10:59 am

Dell's usually come with some type of diagnostic tools, on CD or within the BIOS. Run a HDD diagnostic test to see if there is an issue with the drive...

by **MediumRare** on Sun Jun 24, 2007 6:20 am

I downloaded and ran the Dell diagnostic test, and everything was OK. I think it's some kind of issue with the w2k drivers. I may have to try a new installation and check incrementally after each service pack or patch, but that's a lot of work. :evil:

One lesson I learned, is that I'll add at least a small FAT partition for data transfer etc.. I had to put the tool on 5 floppies because booting from a floppy with NTFSDOS didn't leave enough real memory to run the tests. :-?

I'm open to further suggestions.

G

by **MediumRare** on Fri Jun 29, 2007 5:02 pm

I started down the incremental installation route (on another partition) and encountered the problem right on the first step: a fresh installation of W2K showed this behaviour :evil:

and it didn't change after installing the chipset drivers.

So now I'm stumped. Googling for "W2K slow DMA" or PIO or variations just seems to hit the usual "turn on DMA" recipes (and this thread :roll:

).

Any ideas?

G

by **Ian** on Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:53 pm

That's very odd. We had a few GX150's at work a few years ago and never had problems like that.

Stupid question.. but did you check the settings in the BIOS?

by **MediumRare** on Sat Jun 30, 2007 9:31 am

Ian wrote:Stupid question.. but did you check the settings in the BIOS?

I've been though the BIOS a number of times and haven't found anything unusual. However, it's a special Dell BIOS which doesn't resemble the standard flavours (AMI, Phoenix, Award).

In particular, there don't seem to be any settings regarding DMA.

I took a couple of pictures with the main menu and details for the hard drive and integrated devices. I can't see anything strange there, but maybe you can spot something I missed.

The hard drive allows "off" and 47 antedeluvian types in addition to "auto". I subsequently set the primary and secondary slaves back to "off" from "auto" because the only effect that had was to add a 1 min detection wait to the boot process.

G

by **SithTracy** on Sat Jun 30, 2007 1:12 pm

On your last screen capture, what options do you have on the IDE interface besides "Auto"?

Just for kicks, download and run Memtest86+... If you are having DMA issues, I have to wonder if your memory is good. And did you check the jumpers on the drive to make sure it is not jumped incorrectly?

by **Ian** on Sat Jun 30, 2007 3:37 pm

Also, what kind of cable are you using? 40 or 80 pin?

by **MediumRare** on Sat Jun 30, 2007 7:16 pm

The other option for the IDE interface was "Off", the cable is/was 80 wires.

I think it was a cable problem.

@SithTracy: That link you posted is dead or highjacked, but I have enough utility Cds with memtest86 on them. I ran it for about 2 hours during supper (and a couple of episodes of Corner Gas

) with no problems.

Then I checked the jumper settings. The drive was on cable select, but changing it so "solitary master" didn't help.

So I tried another cable. The only 80 wire cable I had was a round one (see picture), so this was obviously something temporary, But this time, things were normal with DMA- not really faster than PIO, but not slower either.

So I replaced the original cable and started the computer again and it continued to behave well.

I think reseating the connections must have helped. It's just as well, too, because flat IDE cables are almost impossible to find now- and nothing else will fit this very compact case.

This machine was phased out at work because of limited upgrade possibilities (only low profile cards fit), so I really expected that the problems resulted from something I did and weren't present previously. But maybe they ran it with PIO all along. :roll:

Anyway, it looks like things are OK now. Thanks for the open ears and the helpful suggestions!

G

Hard drive much slower with DMA than PIO

Hard drive much slower with DMA than PIO

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