I need a PCI card with two independent IDE channels to drive two DVD drives.
And I emphasize *independent*, because I currently have a Sil 0680-based card
with two IDE channels, but they are not independent. They are mutually
speed-limiting.
For example, when ripping two DVDs, if one is only able to read at 3x, the
other is also limited to 3x, even though alone it would be able to read at 5x.
If one runs into a read error, and loops through a few retries, the other
drive is paralyzed.
This also prevents both from burning reliably at the same time.
Just to be clear, both DVD drives are the master IDE devices on separate
cables, connected to separate channels on the card.
So, anyone know of a card with truly independent channels?
Previously Mike Ruskai <BUTthannydI@dontearthlinklike.netspam> wrote:
> I need a PCI card with two independent IDE channels to drive two DVD drives.
> And I emphasize *independent*, because I currently have a Sil 0680-based card
> with two IDE channels, but they are not independent. They are mutually
> speed-limiting.
> For example, when ripping two DVDs, if one is only able to read at 3x, the
> other is also limited to 3x, even though alone it would be able to read at 5x.
> If one runs into a read error, and loops through a few retries, the other
> drive is paralyzed.
> This also prevents both from burning reliably at the same time.
> Just to be clear, both DVD drives are the master IDE devices on separate
> cables, connected to separate channels on the card.
> So, anyone know of a card with truly independent channels?
This sounds strange. Maybe your bottleneck is the driver instead?
If not, I have made good experience with the Promise non-RAID
cards. With one drive on each channel, you can even do
softrware RAID on both drives without trouble.
On or about 4 May 2008 02:21:41 GMT did Arno Wagner <me@privacy.net> dribble
thusly:
>Previously Mike Ruskai <BUTthannydI@dontearthlinklike.netspam> wrote:
>> I need a PCI card with two independent IDE channels to drive two DVD drives.
>
>> And I emphasize *independent*, because I currently have a Sil 0680-based card
>> with two IDE channels, but they are not independent. They are mutually
>> speed-limiting.
>
>> For example, when ripping two DVDs, if one is only able to read at 3x, the
>> other is also limited to 3x, even though alone it would be able to read at 5x.
>> If one runs into a read error, and loops through a few retries, the other
>> drive is paralyzed.
>
>> This also prevents both from burning reliably at the same time.
>
>> Just to be clear, both DVD drives are the master IDE devices on separate
>> cables, connected to separate channels on the card.
>
>> So, anyone know of a card with truly independent channels?
>
>This sounds strange. Maybe your bottleneck is the driver instead?
I'm pretty sure it's the hardware. It's two IDE channels, but they're sharing
one bus connection, which I saw confirmed somewhere that was selling a Sil
0680 card.
>If not, I have made good experience with the Promise non-RAID
>cards. With one drive on each channel, you can even do
>softrware RAID on both drives without trouble.
I have no problems copying at 4X between DVD on the same Intel IDE channel.
That's 6MB/s, it should go faster. Are your applications using SPTI, not ASPI?
"Mike Ruskai" <BUTthannydI@DONTearthlinkLIKE.netSPAM> wrote in message
newsqvp14h2m643ojskvgs6im0bfkubsf9d1c@4ax.com...
>I need a PCI card with two independent IDE channels to drive two DVD drives.
>
> And I emphasize *independent*, because I currently have a Sil 0680-based card
> with two IDE channels, but they are not independent. They are mutually
> speed-limiting.
>
> For example, when ripping two DVDs, if one is only able to read at 3x, the
> other is also limited to 3x, even though alone it would be able to read at 5x.
> If one runs into a read error, and loops through a few retries, the other
> drive is paralyzed.
>
> This also prevents both from burning reliably at the same time.
>
> Just to be clear, both DVD drives are the master IDE devices on separate
> cables, connected to separate channels on the card.
>
> So, anyone know of a card with truly independent channels?
Mike Ruskai wrote:
> I need a PCI card with two independent IDE channels to drive two DVD drives.
>
> And I emphasize *independent*, because I currently have a Sil 0680-based card
> with two IDE channels, but they are not independent. They are mutually
> speed-limiting.
>
> For example, when ripping two DVDs, if one is only able to read at 3x, the
> other is also limited to 3x, even though alone it would be able to read at 5x.
> If one runs into a read error, and loops through a few retries, the other
> drive is paralyzed.
>
> This also prevents both from burning reliably at the same time.
I know this is the low-tech solution, but why not just do a
store-and-burn? That way each drive will be run at different times, and
you won't have any data contention problems.
> Just to be clear, both DVD drives are the master IDE devices on separate
> cables, connected to separate channels on the card.
>
> So, anyone know of a card with truly independent channels?
How about getting a SATA DVD burner? All SATA drives are their own
masters. DVD burners are cheaper than any external IDE controller solution.
On or about Mon, 05 May 2008 11:46:30 -0400 did Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@yahoo.com>
dribble thusly:
>Mike Ruskai wrote:
>> I need a PCI card with two independent IDE channels to drive two DVD drives.
>>
>> And I emphasize *independent*, because I currently have a Sil 0680-based card
>> with two IDE channels, but they are not independent. They are mutually
>> speed-limiting.
>>
>> For example, when ripping two DVDs, if one is only able to read at 3x, the
>> other is also limited to 3x, even though alone it would be able to read at 5x.
>> If one runs into a read error, and loops through a few retries, the other
>> drive is paralyzed.
>>
>> This also prevents both from burning reliably at the same time.
>
>I know this is the low-tech solution, but why not just do a
>store-and-burn? That way each drive will be run at different times, and
>you won't have any data contention problems.
I think you misunderstood. I don't mean reading from one and burning to the
other, I mean burning to both at the same time from either the same source
(when I want multiple copies of the same data), or two different sources.
I actually have three DVD drives, and I can burn to two at once, provided that
one is the burner attached to the motherboard's single IDE channel.
It's not infrequent that I'd want to burn three discs at a time, but I can't
due to the limitations of the controller.
>
>> Just to be clear, both DVD drives are the master IDE devices on separate
>> cables, connected to separate channels on the card.
>>
>> So, anyone know of a card with truly independent channels?
>
>How about getting a SATA DVD burner? All SATA drives are their own
>masters. DVD burners are cheaper than any external IDE controller solution.
Last I looked, SATA ATAPI devices were problematic at best. And certainly
more expensive than an IDE controller, if I could find one that will work.
So far it's looking like those that might be suitably independent don't
support ATAPI devices (Highpoint Rocket 133), or should support them but
apparently don't, due to poor firmware (Promise Ultra 133TX2).
I even tried adding a single-channel PCIe-to-IDE adapter from StarTech, but it
was atrocious - transferred at about 1.6x max DVD speed, and made the entire
system jittery while doing so.
It's making me more and more annoyed that SCSI has been abandoned in the
burner market, since I could otherwise have easily attached all three drives
to a single adapter, each running at full speed.
It has been a while since I looked at SATA, however, so I'll revisit that
option.
Mike Ruskai wrote:
>> Mike Ruskai wrote:
>>> And I emphasize *independent*, because I currently have a Sil 0680-based card
>>> with two IDE channels, but they are not independent. They are mutually
>>> speed-limiting.
>>>
>>> For example, when ripping two DVDs, if one is only able to read at 3x, the
>>> other is also limited to 3x, even though alone it would be able to read at 5x.
>>> If one runs into a read error, and loops through a few retries, the other
>>> drive is paralyzed.
>>>
>>> This also prevents both from burning reliably at the same time.
>> I know this is the low-tech solution, but why not just do a
>> store-and-burn? That way each drive will be run at different times, and
>> you won't have any data contention problems.
>
> I think you misunderstood. I don't mean reading from one and burning to the
> other, I mean burning to both at the same time from either the same source
> (when I want multiple copies of the same data), or two different sources.
Well, yes, above you had talked about one drive reading while ripping,
so it sounded like you were talking about reading and writing
simultaneously, not writing and writing. But then you talked about
writing and writing briefly later, so it sounded like it was a side issue.
Anyways, regardless, I've also occasionally tried to write to two drives
at the same time. It was a disaster for speed, though there were no
media errors in the final product, so it was relatively reliable.
>> How about getting a SATA DVD burner? All SATA drives are their own
>> masters. DVD burners are cheaper than any external IDE controller solution.
>
> Last I looked, SATA ATAPI devices were problematic at best. And certainly
> more expensive than an IDE controller, if I could find one that will work.
Well, I haven't heard of any problems with SATA burners, but I won't
doubt they may have had some in the past. You can pick up a SATA burner
for between $20-25 on Ebay.
"Mike Ruskai" <BUTthannydI@DONTearthlinkLIKE.netSPAM> wrote in message
news:jq6v14t5k6lmr6cej7n9rc7rbssjvjdfb5@4ax.com...
>
> I actually have three DVD drives, and I can burn to two at once, provided that
> one is the burner attached to the motherboard's single IDE channel.
>
> It's not infrequent that I'd want to burn three discs at a time, but I can't
> due to the limitations of the controller.
PCI Latency Tool may help.
Make sure no devices' latency is too high (cause bus hogging),
and that the IDE devices are similar (64 is a common value).
Mike Ruskai wrote in news:jq6v14t5k6lmr6cej7n9rc7rbssjvjdfb5@4ax.com
> On or about Mon, 05 May 2008 11:46:30 -0400 did Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@yahoo.com>
> dribble thusly:
>
> > Mike Ruskai wrote:
> > > I need a PCI card with two independent IDE channels to drive two DVD drives.
> > >
> > > And I emphasize *independent*, because I currently have a Sil 0680-based card
> > > with two IDE channels, but they are not independent. They are mutually
> > > speed-limiting.
> > >
> > > For example, when ripping two DVDs, if one is only able to read at 3x, the
> > > other is also limited to 3x, even though alone it would be able to read at 5x.
> > > If one runs into a read error, and loops through a few retries, the other
> > > drive is paralyzed.
> > >
> > > This also prevents both from burning reliably at the same time.
> >
> > I know this is the low-tech solution, but why not just do a
> > store-and-burn? That way each drive will be run at different times, and
> > you won't have any data contention problems.
> I think you misunderstood.
Oy, watch it bud, this is Yousuf you're talking to.
CSIPHS KOOK of the year award nominee.
Arno Wagner wrote:
>
> Previously Mike Ruskai <BUTthannydI@dontearthlinklike.netspam> wrote:
> > I need a PCI card with two independent IDE channels to drive two DVD drives.
>
> > And I emphasize *independent*, because I currently have a Sil 0680-based card
> > with two IDE channels, but they are not independent. They are mutually
> > speed-limiting.
>
> > For example, when ripping two DVDs, if one is only able to read at 3x, the
> > other is also limited to 3x, even though alone it would be able to read at 5x.
> > If one runs into a read error, and loops through a few retries, the other
> > drive is paralyzed.
>
> > This also prevents both from burning reliably at the same time.
>
> > Just to be clear, both DVD drives are the master IDE devices on separate
> > cables, connected to separate channels on the card.
>
> > So, anyone know of a card with truly independent channels?
>
> This sounds strange. Maybe your bottleneck is the driver instead?
>
> If not, I have made good experience with the Promise non-RAID
> cards. With one drive on each channel, you can even do
> softrware RAID on both drives without trouble.
>
> Arno
Hello, Arno:
Are you implying that DVD drives can be RAIDed, perhaps? <g>
Dual-channel PCI IDE card? 
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