7200 drive problem

Waysid

New member
I've had this frustrating problem for a while and I though I would check if anyone had any ideas...

Here's my machine.
pIII 733 - 256MB ram
Gigabyte mobo w/ via chipset
Promise ATA100 controller

drive 1 - 5400 drive with o/s and all other software
drive 2 - 7200 drive with nothing on it

Both drives are connected to ATA100 controller as masters.

So here is the problem....if I record (using SOnar, Sound ForgeXP, or Acid) to the 5400 drive then I have no problems (except that I have very little disk space)

If I record to the 7200 drive then the resulting wave file will have this pop/crackle sound at regular intervals. 1 or 2 per second throughout the duration of the wave file.

I have tried almost everything I can think of to remedy this - new soundcard drives, new mobo drivers, moving the drives to different IDE slots, optimising my window settings, optimising software settings etc, etc.

So in conclusion, my slow drive has no problems in any software, my fast drive can record a single clean wave. I have concluded that either my fast hard drive (brand new btw) is defective or my motherboard sucks and can't provide data to fast drive fast enough.

Does anyone have any thoughts? Any help would be appreciated.

Chris
 
oops that was meant to read CANT below...

So in conclusion, my slow drive has no problems in any software, my fast drive CANT record a single clean wave. I have concluded that either my fast hard drive (brand new btw) is defective or my motherboard sucks and can't provide data to fast drive fast enough
 
Thanks for the reply. Both drives are set as masters right now. The 5400 is the master on IDE1 and the 7200 is the master on IDE2. I have tried various other configurations and none of them made a difference.

Chris
 
Sorry I just deleted my post as i realised that! Are you operating thro the new ata100 card or just the ide ports on the motherboard? Try taking the ATA100 promise board out and trying them on the motherboard IDE ports.
 
I am going throught the IDE ports on the promise ATA100 controller. I have tried putting the 5400 on the mobo IDE slots and using just the 7200 on the controller but it didn't make a difference. I can't remember exactly, but I think when I tried putting the 7200 on the mobo IDE (which is ATA66) then the popping improved or maybe even dissapeared but then the transfer speed wasn't great, which is the whole reason I bought and 7200 drive and an ATA100 controller in the first place ;-(
 
I suspect that it may be cheaper in the long run to upgrade the mobo and forget about the ata100 board (we are on ata133 now anyway).

New Gigabyte mobo is $75
 
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I figure its either the motherboard or the hard drive (7200). I just wanted to see if people think its more likely the motherboard or more likely the hard drive that's causing the problem...or something else entirely.
 
I would test the new drive on another mobo if you suspect that. But belive me you get loadso mobo for your money so just upgrade anyway , even to test the drive (please tell me its not an IBM!)
 
You will not notice a difference in recording between ATA/33/66/100/133.

Problems between certain drives and certain controllers are common (from poor data transfer to data corruption)...so much so that I typically don't use 3rd party ATA controllers anymore.

I would first check to make sure that your drive is operating in the correct mode (matching your controller). Some drives require that you jumper into the correct mode, while others will go automatically. I would also check to make sure that the drive is detected properly by the controller, and that it's operating in DMA mode.

If that fails, put it on the standard controller and be done with it!

Slackmaster 2000
 
Yeah I agree except problems between drives normally occur when u put them on the same IDE port wouldn't u agree Slackmaster? They are both masters here!
 
Thanks for the reply.

I'm pretty confident the drive is setup correctly ie. using the correct mode and DMA enabled etc.

I guess you could be right...maybe the Promise card just doesn't like FIREBALL AS drive. The problem with putting is back on the regular controller is that the transfer rates are not as high as they could be (with it just being ATA66). True they are probably high enough that I can get my recording done, I just wanted to get my moneys worth for buying a fast drive.

Getting a new mobo with ATA100 built in...should improve this and because they are so cheap its probably worth doing it anyway just to improve overall performance...anyway I guess I have my answer ;-)
 
Well its been pretty much like having a chat in real time!!!....

Tell us how it's sorted one way or the other. Good luck.
 
You won't notice any difference for *recording* at all between ATA/66 and ATA/100, I promise! Grab a copy of dskbench somewhere and run some tests yourself (it mimics multiple large file sustained transfer).

Slackmaster 2000
 
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