[RESOLVED] TDK VeloCD 32/10/40 causing hesitation

Installed a TDK VeloCD 32/10/40 CDRW into a system on the secondary IDE channel. Moved the existing Toshiba DVD-ROM to slave, and made the TDK Master.

System constantly hesitates with the TDK hooked up, freezing for a fraction of a second about every ten seconds, even with the drive sitting idle with no disc loaded.

Tried making the TDK slave. Caused worse hesitation. Disconnected the DVD-ROM entirely. Still hesitated regardless of master or slave settings. The hesitation is most noticeable playing games or when constantly moving the mouse pointer.

Tried moving the drive to the other head on the IDE cable, then switching between master and slave. Still hesitated. Tried a different IDE cable. Still hesitated. Played with BIOS and DMA settings. No change.

Disconnected the TDK and the hesitation is gone, regardless of where the DVD-ROM is on the bus, so this is definitely being caused by the TDK drive.

Could not find any firmware updates for this drive on TDK's site.

System is as follows:

Windows 98 SE (latest IDE drivers)
ECS K7S5A mobo (latest BIOS loaded)
1.4 gHz T-bird Athlon
512 MB Crucial PC2100 RAM
Hercules GeForce2 MX AGP graphics
Phillips Seismic Edge soundcard
Zoom PCI modem
Maxtor 60GB 5400 RPM hard drive as master on primary IDE channel
400W Enermax power supply

ACPI is enabled on the mobo, but the only devices sharing an interrupt are the modem and the USB controller. All the latest and greatest drivers are loaded for all devices.

I'm out of ideas. It's almost like the drive is not compatible with the SiS IDE controller on the chipset, or it's getting constantly paged by the system.

Any ideas, folks (besides "quit screwing around and go buy a Plextor")?

Did you try slaving it with the hard drive and putting the DVD drive on the secondary IDE channel?

I have the burner installed on one of my PC's and haven't had one problem with it. I am using a different chipset though.

Try calling TDK and see if they'll replace it. The drive could be defective. Or try it on another PC (if one is available).

Hope this helps.

Thanks, nytiger73.

I did pull the drive and plan to throw it into my test box (K6-2 450/Tyan Trinity 100 AT) tonight to see if it causes the same hesitation on a VIA IDE controller.

I was thinking about slaving it with the hard drive, but my understanding is placing it on the same channel will drag the Ultra/100 drive down to the Ultra/33 speeds that the CDRW runs at. Is this true?

I have also emailed TDK tech support... hopefully I'll hear something in "3 to 5 days." My guess is a defective drive or just another one of those weird incompatibilities between the board and the drive.

Just thinking from your description that it seems to act the autoinsert notification is on checking the drive. Just a theory. Wonder if you would see the hesitation with it turned off?

Yes it more than likely would drag the ATA100 drive down to ATA33. I'd be more inclined to think it's probably a defective drive. Supposedly there is a firmware update for it but I've never been able to find it.

Let me know how it works out on the board with the VIA chipset.

Installed the TDK into my K6-2 450/VIA MVP3-based system. Ran without a hitch. No hesitations whatsoever. DMA enabled.

Received a generic reply email back from TDK suggesting everything I've already tried (which I listed in the email to them!).

The drive must have an issue with the mobo. Going to install it into a Duron 900/Abit KT7E system (my sister's machine). If it works, I'll reinstall the Plextor 8432A drive that came out of the ECS-based machine (never had problems with it). My dad's agreed to live with the slower burner as long as he has access to the TDK on my sister's machine.

Thanks for the suggestions/replies!

No problem. Glad things worked out! Typical for a company to reply with a generic reply. I am in a battle with Soyo right now trying to get them to replace a defective motherboard I have.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by nytiger73:
<strong> Typical for a company to reply with a generic reply.
</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">At least you guys get replys!!! Abit doesn't bother.

Just a final FYI... TDK drive works fine on Abit KT7E board.

Again, thanks to all who posted.