Do hard drives need drivers?

Finalbuster · January 30th, 2003

My new hard drive unit (Western digital, 40 gigs) works kinda slow, so I'm wondering if that's normal or if it can be improved in any way...

**Kane** · January 30th, 2003

Chipset drivers for the IDE controller, but that's about it.

Finalbuster · January 31st, 2003

What do you mean by that? Like the Via hyperion drivers?

**Kane** · January 31st, 2003

Yes, but make sure you get the right ones for your chipset. ie: don't get the ViA ones if you have an SiS chipset.

Pro_D · January 31st, 2003

hmm, I too have had odd problems with slowdowns on drives, here is some wisdom for ya: Do not chain a fast device with a slow device.

If you, say, have an ls120 drive and you stick your ata133 drive on the same port your ata will move at about the same speed as the ls120. Generaly for IDE drives you want your hard drive paired with another hard drive (preferably of the same architecture: ata66, 100, 133, etc) and have periferals (like cd-roms) paired up, no mixing.

For the longest time I thought my 60 gig was dying till I pulled it off the same ribon as my ls120 and then zoom, it was like a second life for the thing.

and yah, chipset drivers matter too.

Also I recently got a nice fast drive in the mail and the box looked slightly banged up, the drive is slow!!! the manufacturer wont replace since it functions ok, just slow (and not paired up with anything)... then again its not a drive meant to be speedy but its ata100 and its slower than my non ata drives... heh

Sampah · January 31st, 2003

Maybe your motherboard detected it as ATA33 or 66 interface not ATA 100? some mobo are very happy to do that.

January 30th, 2003	#1 (permalink)
Finalbuster Nothing is like before. Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Santiago, Chile Posts: 581	Do hard drives need drivers? My new hard drive unit (Western digital, 40 gigs) works kinda slow, so I'm wondering if that's normal or if it can be improved in any way... __________________ Say yes to every opportunity that comes your way, as they may never come back.

January 30th, 2003	#2 (permalink)
Kane 邪魔ゎ指せない Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Gosport, England Posts: 26,255	Chipset drivers for the IDE controller, but that's about it. __________________ >Site Live< Pop over to my site for help with setting up PSX emulators. Help for the Final Fantasies and other RPGs avalaible Celes: (Desktop) Athlon 64 X2 4200+, 2Gb 400MHz DDR Ram, MSI K8N Platinum, GeForce 8800 GTS 320Mb, 500Gb RAID HDD, Vista Business Erika: (MCPC) Athlon XP 2400+, 1Gb 400MHz DDR Ram, geForce 6800 256Mb, 80Gb Hdd, XP 2005 MCE Kimiko: (Desktop 2) Athlon 64 3000+, 512Mb 400MHz DDR Ram, Asus K8V, geForce 6800 128Mb

January 31st, 2003	#3 (permalink)
Finalbuster Nothing is like before. Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Santiago, Chile Posts: 581	What do you mean by that? Like the Via hyperion drivers? __________________ Say yes to every opportunity that comes your way, as they may never come back.

January 31st, 2003	#4 (permalink)
Kane 邪魔ゎ指せない Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Gosport, England Posts: 26,255	Yes, but make sure you get the right ones for your chipset. ie: don't get the ViA ones if you have an SiS chipset. __________________ >Site Live< Pop over to my site for help with setting up PSX emulators. Help for the Final Fantasies and other RPGs avalaible Celes: (Desktop) Athlon 64 X2 4200+, 2Gb 400MHz DDR Ram, MSI K8N Platinum, GeForce 8800 GTS 320Mb, 500Gb RAID HDD, Vista Business Erika: (MCPC) Athlon XP 2400+, 1Gb 400MHz DDR Ram, geForce 6800 256Mb, 80Gb Hdd, XP 2005 MCE Kimiko: (Desktop 2) Athlon 64 3000+, 512Mb 400MHz DDR Ram, Asus K8V, geForce 6800 128Mb

January 31st, 2003	#5 (permalink)
Pro_D Registered User Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Arizona/us Posts: 41	hmm, I too have had odd problems with slowdowns on drives, here is some wisdom for ya: Do not chain a fast device with a slow device. If you, say, have an ls120 drive and you stick your ata133 drive on the same port your ata will move at about the same speed as the ls120. Generaly for IDE drives you want your hard drive paired with another hard drive (preferably of the same architecture: ata66, 100, 133, etc) and have periferals (like cd-roms) paired up, no mixing. For the longest time I thought my 60 gig was dying till I pulled it off the same ribon as my ls120 and then zoom, it was like a second life for the thing. and yah, chipset drivers matter too. Also I recently got a nice fast drive in the mail and the box looked slightly banged up, the drive is slow!!! the manufacturer wont replace since it functions ok, just slow (and not paired up with anything)... then again its not a drive meant to be speedy but its ata100 and its slower than my non ata drives... heh __________________ ...? Art: Anything manmade that makes you feal something positive or negative. It speaks to you... Effective/Good Art: Art that speaks to a large group of people...

January 31st, 2003	#6 (permalink)
Sampah The Handsome Man Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Unlucky Place Posts: 881	Maybe your motherboard detected it as ATA33 or 66 interface not ATA 100? some mobo are very happy to do that. __________________ PROCESSOR: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ @1.8Ghz RAM: Kingstone 512MB PC3200 MOBO: ECS Nforce4 A939 VGA: Pixelview Geforce 6600GT (Golden Limited Edition) 128MB OS: WinXP pro Service pack 2

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