Not able to run at ATA66 for my hardrive on a UDMA66 motherboard

[ffx10]

I have a Mitac motherboard model 5114..., the BIOS is awards bios. I think I did everything right, I am absolutely sure that the hard drive is ata66 compatible. I've used a 80 pin IDE cable, but when I boot up, it says that I dont have a 80 pin conductor cable, in other words, its saying that my IDE cable isnt 80 pin.

another problem is I could not get the hard disk to run on DMA mode. I went into the system properties in windows to set the DMA mode, but when I restart windows the DMA box is unchecked. I'm sure this hardisk is capable for running DMA and ATA 66, but when I took it to this motherboard, none of those work.

here is a description of my motherboard http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1305146729

[mjc]

Did you load the chipset drivers from the CD?

Have you checked for an update for them?

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[BigBlue66]

Hey,

I have used the exact same motherboard. MiTAC 5114VU. My son is using it at the moment with an AMD k6-2 550Mhz, and he is experiencing the same error message on bootup. And, he is using the 80 conductor, 40 pin cable.

We have determined that it is because his harddrive is not ATA66 compatible.

I assume that you have loaded all the pertinent motherboard IDE drivers?

As for the DMA mode not working correctly, I think that your harddrive is not all that you think it is, or you have to tweak something with the manufacturer's disk management software to enable DMA and/or ATA66 capability.

If you can get your hands on another harddrive that you know for sure is bus mastering and ATA66 capable, try it for testing purposes.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to go with the harddrive being at fault here, because I know for a fact that the motherboard's UDMA66 and bus mastering capabilities actually work.

Good luck. Oh, and by the way, for a Socket 7 board, the MiTAC is a very reliable board. I and my son have been using it now for over a year with absolutely no problems.

One thing you could do is make sure you have the latest drivers for the 8501 chipset. Do a search on Google.com and you should be able to find something. I remember downloading an IDE driver for that chipset at one time, but can't remember where I found it.

Another good possibility is that your current BIOS needs upgraded. Again, do a search for that as well. If I remember correctly, Sept. 2000 is the latest BIOS for that board.

Big Blue 66


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Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.
- Pamela Vault Starr

[BigBlue66]

Hey, Me Again,

Now that I think about it, you probably just need to install the latest VIA 4in1 drivers. Although, I think there are problems with the latest one, so try an earlier one, like the 4.28 to 4.32.

Cheers,

Big Blue 66

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Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.
- Pamela Vault Starr

[diurnal]

Try another cable i got the same message and slapped another cable in there and it worked.

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Sledgehammer will save the day!

[ffx10]

Thanx you guys. I was manage to find the BIOS I needed on Google.com to fix the 80 pin IDE cable error. I am fine now and AM running at ATA66. That fact that I am so sure my hardisk could run ATA66 is because it was running ATA66 on my other motherboard (Socket A). And the DMA mode is running fine as well on that motherboard. O by the way, I still couldnt enable the DMA mode. Any ideas? I had DMA mode working on the current motherboard but I kept messing with the settings, now I could not enable it.

Thanx for anyone replying to my topic ~^_^~

[BigBlue66]

Hey FFX,

Would you mind posting the link to that BIOS update you found? Thanks a heap.

Have you installed the VIA 4in1 drivers? I think our board is running version 4.28 right now with no problems. My kid says he has DMA enabled with no problems.

Good luck.

Big Blue 66

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Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.
- Pamela Vault Starr

[ffx10]

Hi guys, here is the site of the BIOS update that fixes this error. http://www2.driverguide.com/cgi/drifound.pl?ID=mitac&NAME=Mitac
(Its near the bottom of the page)

I will try to install the VIA 4 in 1 ver. 4.28, hope it works http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif