Plextor 8/4/32A under Win2K

[Zenthar]

For some strange reasons, when I go in device manager in Win2K, my Plextor 8/4/32A is identified as SCSI and so is my Pioneer DVD-113.

I use an Asus A7V motherboard with BIOS 1005B and Via 4in1 4.28b. Both drives are connected to my ATA-66 controler (not the onboard promise controler). I also have an ATA-100 HD plugged in the Promise controler (identified as SCSI....). I think this issue might explain why I am not able to upgrade my firmware ...

Thank you for helping me out.

 

[jvanber]

No, I doubt this is why you can't flash your BIOS.

It is normal in NT and 2000 (NT5) for ATAPI devices to display as SCSI devices (or in NT4, to show up in the SCSI applet in the control panel). This doesn't mean that the device is scsi at all, it just means that NT and 2K handle controller enumerations a bit sloppily.

I had the same PLEXTOR burner on a UDMA/66 controller, and found that it worked great. Some drives don't handle the translation very well, but the plextor worked like a champ. I recently purchased the new Ricoh 12X/10X/32X/8X DVD/CDR/CDRW drive, but it kept freezing my system when attached to my UDMA/66 controller. On a UDMA/33 controller, it runs great. If you're booting from a non-integrated controller, you may want to try flashing your CONTROLLER's BIOS, as opposed to your motherboard's.

For more info on how NT handles IDE & SCSI, see: http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q161/5/63.asp

Otherwise, I really can't tell what you're asking, other than your system just isn't working that great. If you can provide more details, maybe I can make some suggestions not based on assumptions.

Hope this helps,

Joshua Van Berkum

 

[Zenthar]

I investigated the problem a bit further and I noticed that each drive seems to be identified by a serie of 3 numbers which are (Bus number, Target ID, LUN). I have no idea exctly how they are used, but I guess te could be a conflict if 2 drives share the same "ID". As a mater of fact, it apears that my Plextor drive was having the same "ID" as my WD hard drive (ATA-100) even if they are on 2 seprae controllers ... It seems that the 2 controllers have the same Bus number and same PCI bus (any relation???), so Target 0 on my on-board Promise (ATA-100) controller would end up with same "ID" as the Target 0 on my default controller.

To support my theory, I tried to plug my Plextor drive in my ATA-100 controller (so it would get a new Target ID) and it worked, I was able to flash the firmware.

I will try uninstalling the Via Busmaster driver to see if it solves a part of the problem ... If you have any other suggestion, I would be more than happy to hear it.

 

[jvanber]

I'd imagine that you've completely run out of interrupts, so your two controllers are sharing the same interrupt (probably 14 or 15). You can see this info usually immediately after your system posts. If you have your UDMA/66 controller plugged into a PCI slot, check your motherboard guide and make sure that slot isn't "hard coded" to share a particular Interrupt/DMA channel. This could seriously help you out.

Just an idea.

Joshua

 

[Zenthar]

IT is not in a PCI slot. I have an Asus A7V mobo, and both controllers are on-board. If I alsready ran out of IRQ it sucks ... I don't have that much stuff in my PC. Besside my drives I have a sound card, a network card and a graphic card ...

 

[jvanber]

I'm sure you have run out of interrupts, so that's ok. Just make sure that you're sharing them properly. Look in your manual -- often times, PCI slot 2 will share either an Interrupt/DMA with another device. Maybe that's it, I can't say for sure -- you'll just have to read up on it. It does suck, but that's just the architecture, so read up and make it work. :O)

Joshua

 

[Zenthar]

Do you know any good source of information about IRQ "management"? I don't know much about it.

 

[jvanber]

Your best bet would be any A+ REFERENCE book. Its VERY interesting material, especially if you're into building your own systems. Also, the A+ certification serves as a great catapult to entering the IT industry.

Here's a couple links I found to get you started:
http://info.astrian.net/jargon/terms/i/interrupt.html
http://www.ora.com/reference/dictionary/terms/I/Interrupt_Request.htm
http://www.helmig.com/j_helmig/intshare.htm

Honestly, with a bit of reading, you'll probably come across most of the answers to any question or misunderstanding you've ever had.

Good luck.

Joshua