Small, but very annoying, HD problem

cdmjr · 01-03-2005, 08:57 PM

I recently purchased a Western Digital 7200 RPM 160 GB hard drive, and installed it. I partitioned the disk into three NTFS drives. It all went smoothly, so I moved a lot of my larger files, and my collection of MP3s, onto one of the new drive partitions. I also moved some video files there.

Now here's my problem. The MP3 files all play with skips every few seconds, which makes for a very annoying listening experience. And some of the video files also play very sluggish and choppy.

I also had a problem burning a DVD (the burning program and the files I was burning are both on the new disk). The burner took twice as long as normal to burn.

Also, when I use Azureus to download something to one of the new drives, it slows down my entire computer.

Since the problem began, I ran the Western Digital troubleshooting program, and Checkdisk on the new drive. The WD program found nothing wrong (go figure), and Checkdisk seems to have fixed the problem with my DVD burning. But I still have the problems with MP3s, Video files, and Azureus.

I emailed WD's customer service and I'm waiting for a reply from them. But if anyone here knows of something else I can try, or a similar problem that was solved, please help.

Also, I'm running Windows XP Home Edition on a Dell Dimension 3000.

Lorand · 01-04-2005, 12:30 AM

Have you enabled DMA access for that drive?

cdmjr · 01-04-2005, 01:48 AM

If XP or the installer didn't do that automatically, then no. And, though I know a small inkling about computers, I'm still novice enough to not know what DMA access is, nor how to do it.

So how would I go about finding out if it is or not, how do I enable DMA access, and most importantly, would that fix my problem?

Lorand · 01-04-2005, 02:29 AM

Start / Settings / Control panel / System / Hardware / Device manager / IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers / Primary IDE channel / Advanced settings
At the Transfer mode select "DMA if available".

cdmjr · 01-04-2005, 02:38 AM

Okay, it's actually my secondary Hard Drive, but I checked both IDE channels, and they're already set to "DMA if available".

So that's already done, and it hasn't been helping for my mp3 quality, or anything else. Any other thoughts on what could be wrong?

Jas420221 · 01-04-2005, 06:45 AM

What is the jumper set at? Set it to slave if its not on it already.

Dont leave it on cable select. And its obviously not the Master.

Im not sure if that will help you, but it did correct a problem I had like that some time ago....

cdmjr · 01-04-2005, 10:08 PM

Okay the jumpers are already set properly. I just saw that bit about cable select in the slip of paper that came with the new HD. How do I turn that off, or make sure it's not on or whatever?

cdmjr · 01-04-2005, 10:21 PM

In the Advanced Settings for both of my hard drives, "Device 0" is set to "DMA if Available" and "Device 1" is set to "DMA if Available" also. But on Device 1 it says "PIO Mode" for Current Transfer Mode, while Device 0 says Ultra DMA Mode 2. This is the same on both drives.

Changing it to PIO has no effect on anything, also. So of the Transfer Mode on Device 1 is set at PIO no matter what I change, would that have an effect? Well it shouldn't, if the first hard drive has no problems playing. I'm so confused! Is it maybe a defective drive? Or has anyone else heard of anything like this before?

Lorand · 01-04-2005, 10:26 PM

Try connecting that second hdd as secondary master instead of primary slave.

cdmjr · 01-05-2005, 12:15 AM

How to I connect the second hd like that? Do I just hook the jumpers up exactly the same as on the primary master? Because I've already tried that and it came up with a message reading "Primary Disk not found" or something on startup. I could've, obviously, done it wrong. But is that what you mean?

01-03-2005, 08:57 PM	#1 (permalink)
cdmjr New Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 13	Small, but very annoying, HD problem I recently purchased a Western Digital 7200 RPM 160 GB hard drive, and installed it. I partitioned the disk into three NTFS drives. It all went smoothly, so I moved a lot of my larger files, and my collection of MP3s, onto one of the new drive partitions. I also moved some video files there. Now here's my problem. The MP3 files all play with skips every few seconds, which makes for a very annoying listening experience. And some of the video files also play very sluggish and choppy. I also had a problem burning a DVD (the burning program and the files I was burning are both on the new disk). The burner took twice as long as normal to burn. Also, when I use Azureus to download something to one of the new drives, it slows down my entire computer. Since the problem began, I ran the Western Digital troubleshooting program, and Checkdisk on the new drive. The WD program found nothing wrong (go figure), and Checkdisk seems to have fixed the problem with my DVD burning. But I still have the problems with MP3s, Video files, and Azureus. I emailed WD's customer service and I'm waiting for a reply from them. But if anyone here knows of something else I can try, or a similar problem that was solved, please help. Also, I'm running Windows XP Home Edition on a Dell Dimension 3000.

01-04-2005, 06:45 AM	#6 (permalink)
Jas420221 Bronze Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Age: 32 Posts: 32	What is the jumper set at? Set it to slave if its not on it already. Dont leave it on cable select. And its obviously not the Master. Im not sure if that will help you, but it did correct a problem I had like that some time ago.... __________________ AMD Athlon64 2800+ Asus K8V-X Mobo Generic 768MB RAM Nvidia Geforce5700 OC 128MB Generic 450W PS

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01-04-2005, 12:30 AM	#2 (permalink)
Lorand VIP Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Bucharest Age: 41 Posts: 3,042	Have you enabled DMA access for that drive?

01-04-2005, 01:48 AM	#3 (permalink)
cdmjr New Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 13	If XP or the installer didn't do that automatically, then no. And, though I know a small inkling about computers, I'm still novice enough to not know what DMA access is, nor how to do it. So how would I go about finding out if it is or not, how do I enable DMA access, and most importantly, would that fix my problem?

01-04-2005, 02:29 AM	#4 (permalink)
Lorand VIP Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Bucharest Age: 41 Posts: 3,042	Start / Settings / Control panel / System / Hardware / Device manager / IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers / Primary IDE channel / Advanced settings At the Transfer mode select "DMA if available".

01-04-2005, 02:38 AM	#5 (permalink)
cdmjr New Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 13	Okay, it's actually my secondary Hard Drive, but I checked both IDE channels, and they're already set to "DMA if available". So that's already done, and it hasn't been helping for my mp3 quality, or anything else. Any other thoughts on what could be wrong?

01-04-2005, 10:08 PM	#7 (permalink)
cdmjr New Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 13	Okay the jumpers are already set properly. I just saw that bit about cable select in the slip of paper that came with the new HD. How do I turn that off, or make sure it's not on or whatever?

01-04-2005, 10:21 PM	#8 (permalink)
cdmjr New Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 13	In the Advanced Settings for both of my hard drives, "Device 0" is set to "DMA if Available" and "Device 1" is set to "DMA if Available" also. But on Device 1 it says "PIO Mode" for Current Transfer Mode, while Device 0 says Ultra DMA Mode 2. This is the same on both drives. Changing it to PIO has no effect on anything, also. So of the Transfer Mode on Device 1 is set at PIO no matter what I change, would that have an effect? Well it shouldn't, if the first hard drive has no problems playing. I'm so confused! Is it maybe a defective drive? Or has anyone else heard of anything like this before?

01-04-2005, 10:26 PM	#9 (permalink)
Lorand VIP Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Bucharest Age: 41 Posts: 3,042	Try connecting that second hdd as secondary master instead of primary slave.

01-05-2005, 12:15 AM	#10 (permalink)
cdmjr New Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 13	How to I connect the second hd like that? Do I just hook the jumpers up exactly the same as on the primary master? Because I've already tried that and it came up with a message reading "Primary Disk not found" or something on startup. I could've, obviously, done it wrong. But is that what you mean?