Enable DMA on CDROM drive.


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How can I enable the DMA on my CD Writer? it's a Memorex 12Maxx on an ABIT KT7-A RAID, the CD Writer is the Master on the 1st channel of the VIA controller, with a DVD player as master on the 2nd channel of the via controller. the HDDs are obviously connected to the Highpoint controller. I'm running XP and I've tried the latest 4-in-1 drivers and still can't enable the DMA on the drivers properties on the 1st channel, the DVD had DMA enabled fine, and I know DMA works on the CDRW because before I had to reinstall windows XP the CDRW had DMA enabled, I just wish there was an easy way to get it working!

Hoagz

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hmm, that's kind of odd. usually switching the burner to the master will fix it, but yours is already on master. i fixed a similar problem a week ago. do you have the latest bios on your mobo and burner? also, is dma enabled in your bios settings?

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Go to device manager, look for a 'controllers', that have an mage of a hard drive on it (for example 'IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers'), you should be able to see Primary (IDE) Channel and Secondary (IDE) channel. Click on those and go to properties, then go to advanced Settings and look on the drop down box for 'Transfer Mode'. This worked for my IDE devices. Hope it helps!

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well, Windows XP bumps the drive down to a slower mode so it operates better unless it's fully compatible. You're drive is only 12X so UDMA 2 isn't needed. PIO 4 mode is 16MB/s max so thas way more than even 48X drives can handle. Don't install 4 in 1s with XP as they only cause more probs. Just get the BIOS for your mobo and see if that helps if not then don't worry about it and sometimes try putting the CDRW as a master on the second IDE and DVD on the first one. I know it sounds crazy but Windows XP is weird like that. I used to have my CDRW as a master to dvd drive then oneday it didn't say "CDRW Drive" in my computer so i change it to the slave and the dvd to master and it worked. Then it stopped again and then i gave them their own channels but it only works right (including being in full DMA 2) when the CDRW is on the first master and my dvd on the second master. My HDs are on the Highpoint controller too so keep switching them around. :)

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I've figured it out, all I did was change connectors on the cable, and now DMA is enabled... weird! the CDRW is now working in DMA mode, which means virtually zero CPU time when burning, which is the issue I had using PIO4 mode, using that my PC was virtually unusable when burning above 4x speed! Thanks for all your suggestions though.

Hoagz

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sweet, glad you figured it out. one other thing i noticed, just as a side note, is that for me, xp wouldn't make the changes until i removed the ide controller from the hardware manager, and had xp reinstall it.

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