160GB IDE hard drive EXTREMELY slow boot

Fr@nk · Oct 14, 2006

Hello. I just built a system from scratch, using an nvidia motherboard and
Athlon 3800 CPU. The motherboard supports SATA, but I got a good deal on a
160GB IDE hard drive, so I got that. I installed it on the IDE0 channel
(using the moboard's IDE1 connector), set it to master, and installed a DVD
writer on IDE1 (the moboard's IDE2 connector) and set it to master. The BIOS
recognizes everything, and I can install my OS (MEPIS linux) to the hard
drive (after booting from the CD). Trouble is, after installation, when
booting from the hard drive, it literally takes almost an hour for the
system to boot! If I swap the 160GB drive out with an old 30GB IDE drive,
everything works (OS install, hard drive boot, etc.) fine. I'm not sure why
this 160GB drive is working so slow; could it be because:

1) the hard drive is more than 137GB in capacity (although the BIOS and the
OS report the full 160 capacity)?

2) it's an IDE (PATA?) drive, with the motherboard also supporting SATA (it
has the yellow SATA connectors; I'm just not using them)?

3) I need a special high-speed IDE connector/cable for this 7200rpm 160GB
hard drive? I think I'm using what came with the motherboard.

Thanks for any help someone can provide here.

Fr@nk

Rod Speed · Oct 14, 2006

Fr@nk said:
Hello. I just built a system from scratch, using an nvidia
motherboard and Athlon 3800 CPU. The motherboard supports SATA, but I
got a good deal on a 160GB IDE hard drive, so I got that. I installed
it on the IDE0 channel (using the moboard's IDE1 connector), set it
to master, and installed a DVD writer on IDE1 (the moboard's IDE2
connector) and set it to master. The BIOS recognizes everything, and
I can install my OS (MEPIS linux) to the hard drive (after booting
from the CD). Trouble is, after installation, when booting from the
hard drive, it literally takes almost an hour for the system to boot!
Fark.

If I swap the 160GB drive out with an old 30GB IDE drive, everything works (OS install, hard drive
boot, etc.) fine. I'm not sure why this 160GB drive is working so slow; could it be because:

1) the hard drive is more than 137GB in capacity (although the BIOS and the OS report the full 160
capacity)?

Nope, linux doesnt care.

2) it's an IDE (PATA?) drive, with the motherboard also supporting
SATA (it has the yellow SATA connectors; I'm just not using them)?
Nope.

3) I need a special high-speed IDE connector/cable for this 7200rpm
160GB hard drive? I think I'm using what came with the motherboard.

You need to use one with 80 wires. That wont be the problem
tho, even the slower 40 wire cable shouldnt take an hour to boot.

I'd try an XP install on the IDE drive, likely its some
quirk of MEPIS linux and nothing to do with the hardware.

AZ Nomad · Oct 14, 2006

Hello. I just built a system from scratch, using an nvidia motherboard and
Athlon 3800 CPU. The motherboard supports SATA, but I got a good deal on a
160GB IDE hard drive, so I got that. I installed it on the IDE0 channel
(using the moboard's IDE1 connector), set it to master, and installed a DVD
writer on IDE1 (the moboard's IDE2 connector) and set it to master. The BIOS
recognizes everything, and I can install my OS (MEPIS linux) to the hard
drive (after booting from the CD). Trouble is, after installation, when
booting from the hard drive, it literally takes almost an hour for the
system to boot! If I swap the 160GB drive out with an old 30GB IDE drive,
everything works (OS install, hard drive boot, etc.) fine. I'm not sure why
this 160GB drive is working so slow; could it be because:

1) the hard drive is more than 137GB in capacity (although the BIOS and the
OS report the full 160 capacity)?

no. Once the BIOS loads the boot manager, it is out of the picture.

2) it's an IDE (PATA?) drive, with the motherboard also supporting SATA (it
has the yellow SATA connectors; I'm just not using them)?

No, but make sure you are using DMA. Do:
# hdparm -I /dev/hda (or whatever the drive is) and make sure you have at
least udam2.

3) I need a special high-speed IDE connector/cable for this 7200rpm 160GB
hard drive? I think I'm using what came with the motherboard.

80 wire cables are needed to use udma5 (100MB/s) or udma6 (133MB/s).
Otherwise, you're limited to 66MB/s. Keep in mind that your drive probably
only does 45-60MB/s.

First things first: minimize your system. In the BIOS, disable anything
you don't need; remove any cards you don't need.

Ed Light · Oct 14, 2006

AZ Nomad said:
80 wire cables are needed to use udma5 (100MB/s) or udma6 (133MB/s).
Otherwise, you're limited to 66MB/s.

I think that *might* be 33MB/s.

--
Ed Light

Smiley :-/
MS Smiley :-\

Send spam to the FTC at
(e-mail address removed)
Thanks, robots.

Bring the Troops Home:
http://bringthemhomenow.org

Folkert Rienstra · Oct 15, 2006

no.

No what.

Once the BIOS loads the boot manager, it is out of the picture.

So what. He said "BIOS and the OS report the full 160 capacity".

No, but make sure you are using DMA.

Even if it wasn't it would fill 512MB of memory in less than 3 minutes with 3MB/s.
Obviously anything that takes longer is not due to hard disk transfer rate.

Do:
# hdparm -I /dev/hda (or whatever the drive is) and make sure you have at
least udam2.

80 wire cables are needed to use udma5 (100MB/s) or udma6 (133MB/s).

Nope. Everything above UDMA mode 2.

Otherwise, you're limited to 66MB/s.

Nope, UDMA2 (33MB/s). You are a regular expert, aren't you.

Keep in mind that your drive probably only does 45-60MB/s.

First things first: minimize your system. In the BIOS, disable anything
you don't need; remove any cards you don't need.

Mindlessly silly.

Fr@nk · Oct 15, 2006

You need to use one with 80 wires. That wont be the problem
tho, even the slower 40 wire cable shouldnt take an hour to boot.

I'd try an XP install on the IDE drive, likely its some
quirk of MEPIS linux and nothing to do with the hardware.

Rod/All-

Solved. Geez, it was just a defective hard drive! I tried every possible
cable/connector combination with the same results, so I finally disconnected
it and glanced at the pins. They were all there and straight, but if I
tilted the drive just a bit I could see one of the pins was too short
(pushed in?). So, back to the store I went...

Exchanged it for a SATA 160GB drive (Seagate). Took it home, popped it in
using the supplied cables, and voila, everything started working. Installed
MEPIS on it, rebooted, and it booted up lightning fast.

Thanks for the suggestions; I'll remember them next time. And I'll remember
the possibility of defective out-of-the-box hardware....

Fr@nk

AZ Nomad · Oct 15, 2006

I think that *might* be 33MB/s.

That's still not going to cause a system to take mroe than an hour too boot.

If the system is doing PIO, perhaps; or more likely a serious interrupt
conflict is going on. Perhaps the system is only seeing a fraction of the
memory and is swap/thrashing?

AZ Nomad · Oct 15, 2006

No what.

No, seeing only 137GB isn't going to cause a system to need an hour to boot.

So what. He said "BIOS and the OS report the full 160 capacity".

Then please give if a ****ing rest.

agreed

Mindlessly silly.

It's common sense. Any driver could be hogging the system.

Rod Speed · Oct 15, 2006

That's still not going to cause a system to take mroe than an hour too boot.
True.

If the system is doing PIO, perhaps;

Nope, plenty get into that situation once Win has
decided that its seen too many errors for DMA to
be safe, you dont get anything like an hour to boot.

or more likely a serious interrupt conflict is going on.

That shouldnt produce an hour to boot either.

Perhaps the system is only seeing a fraction
of the memory and is swap/thrashing?

Or that.

Folkert Rienstra · Oct 15, 2006

Wadayaknow.
A harddrive that retracts a pin just AFTER the installation phase,
and before it is booted the first time. Pesky little buggers, harddrives.

160GB IDE hard drive EXTREMELY slow boot

Fr@nk

Rod Speed

AZ Nomad

Ed Light

Folkert Rienstra

Fr@nk

AZ Nomad

AZ Nomad

Rod Speed

Folkert Rienstra