SI 3112a + nForce2 = problem?
Hello,
I would like to fix a problem I got with my computer which is directly related to the Silicon Image SATA controller 3112a.
My problem, which is well described here and according to this txt file, seems to be pretty common among users of that controller yet I couldn't find any solution after 2 days of searching, updating drivers, bios, etc.
I have got this problem not only when I play that game but also on others. And I also noticed slow swap file behaviour, I mean when I want to alt+tab to some application that use a lot of memory, it takes a longer time to show up than if my sytem was installed on a IDE drive. It might occur elsewhere maybe on files transfers but it isn't very noticeable.
Everything else works fine on my computer and when I test my hard drive with a benchmark utility, I got good results : here is a copy of an atto bench.
My sytem specs :
Abit NF7-S v2.0
512Mb DDR 3200
AMD Barton 3200+
Radeon 9800pro
Hitachi deskstar 7k250 80Gb SATA
Seagate 120Gb PATA
My system (winXP) is on the SATA drive and I got the latest drivers, bios version for all my components (sata controller included).
I didn't find any solution for that problem but I found a lot of people having that problem. Most of them dont suspect it comes from their SATA controller.
So the question is : Is there any solution for that matter?
Tell me if you need more info.
Any help is welcome.
Thank you in advance.
I would like to fix a problem I got with my computer which is directly related to the Silicon Image SATA controller 3112a.
My problem, which is well described here and according to this txt file, seems to be pretty common among users of that controller yet I couldn't find any solution after 2 days of searching, updating drivers, bios, etc.
I have got this problem not only when I play that game but also on others. And I also noticed slow swap file behaviour, I mean when I want to alt+tab to some application that use a lot of memory, it takes a longer time to show up than if my sytem was installed on a IDE drive. It might occur elsewhere maybe on files transfers but it isn't very noticeable.
Everything else works fine on my computer and when I test my hard drive with a benchmark utility, I got good results : here is a copy of an atto bench.
My sytem specs :
Abit NF7-S v2.0
512Mb DDR 3200
AMD Barton 3200+
Radeon 9800pro
Hitachi deskstar 7k250 80Gb SATA
Seagate 120Gb PATA
My system (winXP) is on the SATA drive and I got the latest drivers, bios version for all my components (sata controller included).
I didn't find any solution for that problem but I found a lot of people having that problem. Most of them dont suspect it comes from their SATA controller.
So the question is : Is there any solution for that matter?
Tell me if you need more info.
Any help is welcome.
Thank you in advance.
0
Comments
Now for those who are just skim reading, it would seem you're having a problem with stuttering in UT2004 ehbenjesaispas. Correct? I'm inclined to ignore all of the theory’s documented in the above linked to text document in favour of troubleshooting your issues from the ground up without deferring to any presumptions.
Let me start by saying, I have played UT2004 on many different nForce 2 systems using SATA HD's on a 3x12 SI controller, and have had no problems.
Firstly please let me know exactly what controller BIOS version you are using for both your motherboard and your SATA Bios. What SATA driver version and type you are using and finally what mode you are running your SATA controller in, BASE or RAID.
Secondly, what Catalyst drivers are you using? Have you tried using the ATI Catalyst uninstaller (found in our downloads section here at SM) to wipe your system clean of ATI stuff and then re-install with the latest and greatest Catalyst version?
Do you have any other symptoms apart from stuttering in UT2004? Any desktop based issues you haven't told us about?
You using the onboard Soundstorm audio right?
My reflex reaction to the prospect of the SI 3x12 controller causing you problem in UT2004 is, that it won't be the case. However we can investigate this possibility also. First though, please answer the above questions and provide us with the above requested information and we can start troubleshooting your issue's.
Kind Regards
Spinner
EDIT: Thread title modified and thread moved to gaming.
Actually it's not really correct.
As I said in my first post, I have this problem in every game, I used this txt I found because it's a good description. I use games for examples because it is very noticeable when I play them but I "feel" that my overall system is not as responsive as it should be and not as responsive as it is on a PATA drive.
I give you another example and I'll detail it better :
With the system I got, I can't play Half life 2 with high textures and high models on a SATA drive because every time a new animation, new object or new texture is to be shown on the screen, it access to the drive and it loads stuffs (normal behaviour) but it takes a too long time resulting in a small (or longer) freeze (with a sound loop). In such a game, it happens all the time.
I installed on another HD (PATA) a windows+drivers and the game to test it and it was running very fluently though it was only an udma 66 drive.
Therefore I think it comes from the sata controller.
I'm now using the latest bios for both my controller (4.2.50) and my mb (x.26) (I used the modified bios released on that forum) and the latest drivers (1.0.0.51 for the controller)
I'm running in raid (I didn't find any way to switch it in base)
Curently I'm running the 4.9 (the 4.10 introduced a bug with wolfenstein Ennemy Territory). I didn't test with the latest yet.
right. A pretty good chip.
As you can now see, it's actually not a issue concerning gaming but anyway I just want to fix that problem.
Thanks for reading this long post
Have you tried disconnecting your PATA disk? Bear with me here.
I tested without my PATA drives but, as I expected, nothing changed.
I got news, actually good news but embarrassing for me
I kind of solved the problem. After some test on my PATA drive it appears that I didn't install all my drivers. After installing the nforce unified, the problem came again.
After testing one by one the drivers unified, it appeard that the problem is caused by the GART driver.
Is it a necessary driver?
Why is it ruining my system?
anyway it has nothing to do with the sata controller. my bad.
The problem could be derived from an incompatibility with the GART driver version you are trying to use and say, your Catalyst drivers that you're using for your graphics card. You'll have to experiment but I recommend you upgrade to the latest ATI Catalyst drivers, which I believe are 4.11 and if you haven't already, download the latest nForce drivers from Nvidia and try them. They may contain a newer GART driver than the one you are currently trying to use.
Glad you got it sorted though mate. If you've any other questions or problems make sure you let me know.
Cheers
Spinner.
Iam having gaming problems with Raven Shield and it has been suggested to me that it might be BIOS/SATA related.....everything has been updated.
I am running NF7-S w/ FX5200 (128 Mb)