Yamaha CRW-F1Z and Promise Ultra 100 TX2 Problem

[Amit]

Hi,

I am having problem with my CD Writer and the Promise Ultra 100TX2 card. My system information is as below:

Windows XP Pro SP1
ASUS P4T Motherboard
Intel P4 1.5 Ghz with 256 MB RDRAM
On Board Primary IDE Master is connected to WD 40GB HDD
On Board Primary IDE Slave is connected to Creative DVD-ROM Drive
On Board Secondary IDE Master is faulty and is disabled in BIOS
On Board Secondary IDE Slave is faulty and is disabled in BIOS
Promise Ultra 100TX2 Slot 1 Master is connected to WD 120GB HDD
Promise Ultra 100TX2 Slot 1 Slave is not used
Promise Ultra 100TX2 Slot 2 Master is connected to Yamaha CRW-F1Z
Promise Ultra 100TX2 Slot 2 Slave is not used

Promise Ultra 100TX2 is flashed to the Latest BIOS and is using the Latest Driver

Everything works great except that when I try to burn a CD in my Yamaha CD Writer (1.0d firmware version) my CPU usage goes to 100% and the drive keeps going into BURN PROTECTION MODE because of which my average burn speed is around 10X for a drive which can burn at 44X. If I connect my drive on the motherboard I can burn my CDs properly at the write speed.

I have also read on the internet that this card does not perform well with ATAPI devices. But this is a brand new drive and at the time of system bootup the Promise Ultra 100 TX2 BIOS tells me that it will be using UDMA 2 for my CD Writer.

Why is my writer not burning the CDs at the max speed when connected to Promise Ultra 100 TX2 ? Any help will be appreciated.


Best Regards,
Amit Chugh

[TactX]

Originally posted by Amit
... and at the time of system bootup the Promise Ultra 100 TX2 BIOS tells me that it will be using UDMA 2 for my CD Writer.
If the Promise BIOS tells you that it uses DMA for your device, it is not necessarily activated in Windows XP.

Have you checked that Windows is using DMA for your CD writer?

What is the CPU load like if you're just reading disks with you writer?
If it is at 100% while reading, this is a clear sign, that DMA is not activated.

btw: You should have posted this in the "PC Hard & Software" section.

[Amit]

Sorry about not posting in the right group, didn't see the PC Hard & Software :o

How can I see whether Windows XP is using UDMA mode since this Promise is not shown as IDE but shown as a SCSI Controller in the Device Manager. Also, reading disc's is fine it's just when I try to burn I have a problem. My CPU keeps hitting 100% usuage and so the Burn operation is stopped, because of Burn Protection I am not getting coasters but my speed is reduced to 1/3.

-Amit

[alexnoe]

Promise controllers don't work with cd recorders. As soon as you try to burn, they use PIO mode.

[dante the dutchman]

I had a problem like yours,it's because the data has to go through the processor and chipsets. try to put it in another way. I have a pci raid controller with 4 hd and connected one to my ide onboard and when i copied something my processor was also going 100% so try to change the configuratian that u have no probs with bypassing cpu and all.