Cloning success and question on DMA settings *PICS*

[BKthink]

After a few nights searching the forum, I settled on a strategy to clone and replace my T60 HD. It seems that in earlier times Acronis True Image was the go-to solution, but recent reports cast some doubt on the capability of the 2009 trial version.

- System = T60 running XP with 100GB Hitachi HTS541612J9S (HD replaced last year under warranty)
- New HD = 500GB Western Digital "Caviar Blue" WD500BEVT-22ZAT
- Lenovo HD Bay Adapter 45J7901
- Acronis True Image Home 2009 (trial version download 5/28/09)

1. Defrag old HD with JKDefrag and confirm ACHI mode in BIOS.
2. Install new HD in ultrabay adapter and confirm presence in Computer Management.
3. Download and install Acronis True Image Home 2009.
4. Run the ATIH clone wizard in Manual mode, resizing the partitions to keep the service partition its original size and the main partition to utilize all unallocated space. ATIH boots machine into its own environment and does its thing. Process completes successfully in 50 minutes and "press any key" shuts system down.
5. Remove old HD and boot from ultrabay for test. Boots up no problem. Transfer new HD to primary location.
6. All partitions are intact at the expected sizes, including the hidden service partition. Success!

Acronis True Image Home 2009 was very impressive. I uninstalled it after the cloning task, but I may purchase the full version because it seemed pretty well done.

I used HDTune to benchmark both drives (see below). I was expecting higher burst rate from the new Caviar drive. Checking the Device Manager shows that XP has set the new drive in Ultra DMA Mode 2. The old drive was set to Mode 5, as it should be. I then updated the Matrix driver to the current one, but the mode stayed the same. The drive is working well. HDTune is not reporting the "health" and "info" data from the WD drive, but it can benchmark it no problem.

Why did XP set this drive to UDMA-2?
How can I change the mode setting to 5, or get XP to do it?
Any other thoughts??

Bob





Admin note: Added *PICS* warning in subject line

[GomJabbar]

http://users.bigpond.net.au/ninjaduck/i ... /udma_fix/

[BKthink]

Thanks for that link, which explains that when XP detects a new storage device it tests the highest transfer mode and then "fails back" to the slower modes sequentially after six cumulative errors. I wonder if initially having the SATA-II drive in the ultrabay adapter caused XP to assign the UDMA-2 mode instead of something higher and more appropriate? I'm a little apprehensive about trying the fix, which according to the author only applies if the device is in PIO mode, although "redetecting the hardware" in its permanent location seems like the solution.

Bob

[BKthink]

Sort of an update on the DMA mode thing. In the Device Manager I set it to PIO and then back to DMA after booting each time, but it still listed DMA-2 at the end. Then I uninstalled the Primary IDE Channel and rebooted to let XP install a new driver, but that didn't get me anywhere new (still listing UDMA-2). Finally I removed the Ultrabay DVD Multidrive and the Primary IDE Channel now lists "Not Applicable" for the transfer mode in devices 0 and 1. No listing for the HD and the former UDMA-2 was referring to the optical drive?? The HD seems to be working well enough, although HDTune shows low burst rate and it cannot report any of the drive details/health/surface scan. I think I have to admit that I'm over my head at this point and it's probably best to just move on. If anyone has any ideas I'm all ears....

Bob

[BKthink]

I'm officially an idiot. I just ran "Lenovo System Toolbox" and generated Detailed Device Information, which clearly reports the current transfer mode for the drive to be UDMA-6. I have an inquiry into the author of HDTune to try and find out why it can't pull the data from this drive. I also think I have to also suspect the low Burst Rate reading if the utility can't properly communicate with the HD. Me thinks the HD is properly configured.

Bob