ATA133 - How can you tell?

**Brangwen** · November 17th, 2002, 01:53 AM

Fellow Members:

I was visiting the IWill Forum and a fellow was trying to get his Maxtor ATA133 HDD running at the "proverbial" and "all important" ("cough, cough ...") ATA133.

I am running a Maxtor ATA133 HDD on my Win2KPro system. I looked under "Device Manager" where it stated my HDD was running at "Ultra DMA." But nothing about ATA.

The fellow at the IWill Forum stated there was a Utility in my mobo's BIOS (XP333-R) or in the mobo's Chipset which I intend to explore, that will show ATA burst or transfer rate. This "utility" notwithstanding, I am curious ....

How can one tell if a ATA133 HDD is in fact running at ATA133?

Thx.

Brangwen

**ocit** · November 17th, 2002, 01:58 AM

it says ULtra DMA mode 6 i belive. i could be wrong , mine is mode 5 (ata 100)

**Brangwen** · November 17th, 2002, 02:02 AM

ocit:

Where would DMA Mode 5 or 6 be listed? Device Manager?

Which OS, if it matters?

Brangwen

**JayMan** · November 17th, 2002, 02:07 AM

I know when i boot up it displays the DMA/ATA mode while going thru the POST....

JayMan

**daveleau** · November 17th, 2002, 02:10 AM

Would it be listed in the post info? Not the initial post info, but the system info given just before the system loads the OS.

Not here in the initial POST: http://www.spacewalker.com/english/s...p10QA/Bios.jpg
but later, just before the splash screen for the OS comes up. Usually, it lists the system info and gives the mode for the drives.

**ocit** · November 17th, 2002, 02:11 AM

yes either the post screen or under ide/ata controllers>primary ide channel in the device manager.

edit: i mean the 2nd post screen.

**Brangwen** · November 17th, 2002, 02:20 AM

Fellow Members:

Well ... now that the three of you mentioned it ... "Duh!"

Ocit: I did check the IDE Controllers and it is set to "AutoDetect" and "Ultra DMA" without a number after "Ultra DMA."

I haven't been tweakin' enough recently ... my system has been working too well on its own!

I'll reboot and take a squint!

Thx.

Brangwen

**hukilau** · November 17th, 2002, 02:31 AM

http://www.amdmb.com/article-display.php?ArticleID=151

Hey Brangwen, came across this little article, a bit out dated but interesting!

See Ja

Hukilau

**Brangwen** · November 17th, 2002, 02:46 AM

hukilau:

Thx! I didn't think I could feel worse than I did a little while ago!

Brangwen

PS: I was one of "those" who paid for the ATA133 gimmick!

Though I learned a bit about Serial ATA!

**Brangwen** · November 17th, 2002, 02:58 AM

Fellow Members:

I'm using Win2KPro (mentioned above I think) and the splash screen is up before I can see anything but a nanosecond of the first post screen ... I see XP 1900+ and 266 DDR and that's it!

I'll try the F8 key ...

Brangwen

**daveleau** · November 17th, 2002, 03:00 AM

The pause key is another good option. It will freeze the POST screen. To unfreeze it, hit pause again and then either enter or space-bar.

Dave

**Brangwen** · November 17th, 2002, 03:30 AM

daveleau:

I'm using a Matrox Parhelia with a 17" and a 19" Samsung SynMaster monitor. By the time I see the info on the first POST screen for a part of a second, the Win2000Pro splash is loading ... I don't have time to see the first digit of the BIOS string.,

F8 did me no good!

Brangwen

**ocit** · November 17th, 2002, 01:38 PM

i usually never see the 2nd post screen myself but if you time the pause key right it should freeze it for you. try counting after the post beep.

**Brangwen** · November 17th, 2002, 03:05 PM

Colleagues:

I was able to see Primary Master - ATA133 Mode on the second screen. (This Maxtor 40GB HDD is the only HDD on this box, and it's the only device on the Primary Channel!) That solves that mystery, though I'm curious if there is another way ... The fellow at the IWill Forum mentioning a Ali Magik Chipset Utility ... Ever hear of such a utility for ATA rates? I'm intrigued!

Thx.

Brangwen