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[joecool]

During playback from my IDE HDD (Windows 2000) there are always a lot of clicks and pops. (Strangely, the first two minutes of playing back any track are ok sometimes.)

The same files sound all ok when they're copied to my SCSI HDD and played from there.
As the 17 GB SCSI HDD can't take all of my .ape files I would like to use the 120 GB IDE HDD instead which I only bought for that purpose.

How can I get playback with that IDE HDD to work ok?
If you have any helpful suggestion please let me know.
Thanks in advance!


cu, joecool

[xen-uno]

1)

What playback mode are you using? Check MJ>Settings>Options>Playback>Output. It's set to DirectSound here. If you click on the Settings button, there will be a slider that is self explanatory...so experiment.

2)

Since it seems to be drive specific, then it could be the IDE controller is in PIO mode (vs DMA). Do the following => open Control Panel>System>Hardware (tab)>Device Manager (button)>IDE/ATAPI contollers>Primary IDE channel (dbl click)***>Advanced Settings (tab) and change all the transfer modes to DMA if available

***after completing all the steps, do the same for the Secondary IDE channel

These steps assume your on a NT system (NT/W2k/XP)

10^-27

[Crossy]

I had a similar problem long ago .. it occured when I moved over from Win98SE to Win2k Professional (Desktop version). I also used the "default - Playback - Output" option. Using a fast IDE harddisc on an external UDMA100 controller from Promise (TX2-100).

I found out that my problem was harware related - PCI bus latency. Caused by the CRAPPY CHIPSET I was using - VIA 694T - paired with an overclocked Celeron Tulatin 1100 running at 1400 Mhz. Tthe mainboard was from Shuttle (actually quite nice) and itself ok. What caused the problem was PCI burst traffic blocking by VIA's chipset.

On advice of a friend I settled for an Intel Chipset - BX. Consequently I got myself another mainboard - Asus P3BF - one of the best pieces out there running at 133Mhz FSB. Well the problem suddenly disappeared. Everything running smoothly now..

The problem also won't arise on other non-Intel chipsets like SIS or ALI. Only affected are those VIA chipsets where the link between NORHT- and SOUTHBRIDGE is still at 133Mhz and routed over the PCI. Many Socket-A (Athlon) designs could also be affected by this including the KT-266A and the KT333. Everything beyond from VIA should be ok in this regard because more recent chipsets and SOUTHBRIDGES introduced a hispeed link up to 1GB/s bandwidth, bypassing PCI..

hope this helps
CROSSY

[joecool]

Thanks to both of you for your valuable replies!

@ xen-uno:
- Playback Mode was already DirectSound.
- The slider does not seem to have any influence on the problem.
- “DMA, if available” pointed me the right direction towards a solution. My drive did unfortunately remain in PIO mode even with “DMA, if available” set.

@ Crossy:
- In my case the chipset is an Intel, processor is a Pentium 650MHz (not overclocked).

My IDE configuration first looked like this:
- Primary channel, Slave: HDD
- Secondary channel, Master: DVD-ROM drive
No other IDE devices.
(There are also SCSI HDDs.)

I have then read in other boards about HDDs that will remain in PIO mode instead of DMA.
I tried the following things suggested there without any effect:
- find a pin at the HDDs IDE socket, which may be damaged
- swap the IDE channels used by the drives
- use a different IDE cable
- uninstall the IDE channel connected to the HDD and reboot
But none of these actions led to the HDD running in DMA mode.

The solution:
In an old posting of some board I read the suggestion to change slave/master. Now I had:
- Primary channel, Master: HDD (instead of slave)
- Secondary channel, Master: DVD-ROM drive (unchanged)

In my eyes (non expert) it shouldn’t matter if the HDD is master or slave (at least as long it’s the only device connected to that IDE channel), should it?

Anyway I’m glad that everything works fine now.


Thanks again for your help!

cu, joecool