ORIGINAL: Slaine
Yep very strange... In the device manager I see "SCSI/RAID Host Controller" and "Silicon Image SiI 3112 SATARaid Controller".
I'll check what is actually on hte PCB in the morning I guess

Probably no need, if Windows already recognizes it that way. While playing around in PowerStrip, you may have zeroed out the PCI latency on the SATA controller by accident. If you do that, it gets stuck at zero. But you can unstick it, from right inside PowerStrip. Find the "return to default" button (little square button near the lower right corner, with the clockwise arrow) and click on it. At the next reboot, the latency will be set back to the driver default, hopefully nonzero. (Evidently PowerStrip does not bother with storing the device driver default values.)

I say "hopefully nonzero" because I found that my SATA controller needed a certain amount of dedicated time set aside on the PCI bus (e.g. nonzero PCI latency) to guarantee no audio glitches.

Question: I am running in Andvanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) mode... is this likely to have anything to do with the mystery?

Doubt it. You can read up on this extensively elsewhere on this thread and forum.

(...Stuck not Disabling Creative Firewire...)
*shruggs* I guess so ... but there are worse things in life.

True. Have you looked for a jumper setting on the card that could disable it? Read that manual!

I'll try reducing the latency on the audio card when everything else is glitch free.

Again, click the Return to Default button on this one too, just to be sure. And FYI, it might actually take reducing the latency on that audio card in order to get glitch free in the first place. Remember, PCI latencies aren't about raw power, they're about achieving a proper balance of power. Yes, they can be too high, even on your audio card, as well as too low.

This system threw me a curveball. Your MOBO, the Abit NF-7S actually implements its SATA "onboard" using what Abit calls a SERILLEL. It's a quirky little device that hangs off of your IDE connector, letting you hook up a SATA device and a single PATA IDE device to an IDE channel. I haven't used one of these things, so I must presume that the SATA device acts as the IDE Master. I wondered if in this arrangement the SATA drive suffered bandwidth from funneling through the IDE port (not that it matters at today's platter transfer rates), but no, they claim full 150MBps SATA, so they must have hot-rodded the IDE port for 150MBps (sort of like a special "ATA150" mode) just for the SERILLEL.

Anyway, I'm not sure if I can answer your question. You say, "will this matter". Matter for what? Are you experiencing glitches? If not, then you are fine, leave it as it is....

sorry if i was not more descirptive...but i do have a RAID controller on the NF7-s mobo. it even shows it in the BIOS. i'm not using it at the moment but what i was wondering was the PCI latency issue. and it did come with the raid utilitie on the mobo. and from what i gather ...serillel is just a name for SATA...now i could be wrong but the drive works like a champ and this mobo seems to be one of the best mobo i have use for speed. has anyone here run into issue with the NF7-s rev.2 ( i made sure it was rev 2...btw)

Glad that it helped, Mr. ..wicked. As they say, "No rest for the wicked." Maybe now you can get some sleep?

My PCB is ver 1.4. What's yours? Just out of curiosity... it really shouldn't matter, but they may have changed later versions.

You said in an earlier post that you got your SiI3112 driver from Silicon Image. You might want to try this one from ASUS instead. It's specifically for the A7N8X Delixe MOBO, not a generic one. (That is your MOBO, right? Not the A7N8X-E Deluxe?).

ORIGINAL: ...wicked
...
Holy cow. I don't believe it.
You know, I have two other active threads going on about my computer woes at the moment, and I zoomed on into this one just because I figured "hey, SATA, don't know alot about it but it's on my mobo, let's check it out.". Turns out:
1: You have the same hardware config as I
2: My two weeks of UGH were solved right here.
...

Hey ...wick, now that your problem's licked, why not go back to those threads and tell them the good news too, if they haven't already heard. Maybe somebody else with card problems but who doesn't have SATA at the top of their list could be helped, too. Just a throught...

ORIGINAL: ...wicked
Good idea, consider it done!

Cool... Thanks!

caveman, I'd recommend that you search around or just start a new thread. You're asking a system-building question. That question's been asked & covered elsewhere extensively.

Back on page 1 of this thread, you'll find instructions on how to find the right slot. It's all about the PCI IRQ table, and finding the "free" slot.

alf,

Sorry for the late reply... been away for a week on vacation.

Your MOBO has a configuration similar to the A7N8X. You haven't mentioned whether or not you have isolated IRQ's or not. If you haven't, then that's the first thing to try.

First, you must reset all of your PCI latency timers back to their default (driver) values, either by using the restore button in PowerStrip, or by uninstalling PowerStrip, then rebooting. Then, follow this article completely.

See if isolating IRQ's helps, then come back and tell us if it did.

EDIT: On the subject of isolating IRQ's: Out of curiosity, I downloaded and read over the maunal for your MOBO. At the bottom of page 4-28, you will find that PCI slots 1 and 5 are hardwired to the SiI3112 SATA controller IRQ line. So, you should never plug any PCI cards into those slots, especially your audio card. Happy Easter/Passover/Resurrection Day!

No problem, sorry it didn't work out. Thanks for checking back, though.

ORIGINAL: billkath
Losguy,
just wanted to say thanks (in the front door!!) for that pci latency tip. Really helped me out with my layla24. I tried it yesterday, and then couldn't find who had posted about it to thank them personally.
Thank you!!

Bill, it's good to know, and I'm happy for you and for your DAW. Well then, why not just pour me a Guinness down at the pub? Oh darn, I won't be there to drink it in time! (Well, you'll just have to think of something to do with it, then...!)

Edit: Bill, I'm just pulling your chain. No cross-country slurs nor any offense whatsoever intended! P.S. You do Roy Orbison proud.

Excellent information, losguy.

As a result, I have put a short hold on my PC purchase so that I can investigate whether its ASUS P4C800-E motherboard implements the Promose SATA controller on the PCI bus or on the 875P southbridge interface.

thanks!

Keith

ORIGINAL: mcdonalk
Excellent information, losguy.
As a result, I have put a short hold on my PC purchase so that I can investigate whether its ASUS P4C800-E motherboard implements the Promose SATA controller on the PCI bus or on the 875P southbridge interface.
thanks!
Keith

Keith, you really don't need to worry about that board. The 875P has the ICH5 Southbridge with integrated SATA support. Just make sure that you use the integrated SATA for audio and not any other onboard SATA controller. Look back on this thread and you'll find discussion on this topic. Go for it!

if there's no chipset doing dual memory channels and integrated SATA at the same time for Athlon XP, wonder how Scott rigs his DAW1 on a Abit mobo and still stay away from heavy traffic on PCI bus - Powerstrip from the start?

Hello Jay,

Wow, this is by far the worst case of onboard peripheral IRQ sharing I've seen yet on a MOBO. (BTW, what is the Make and Model of this MOBO?) I'm not sure whether to congratulate you or offer my sympathies. FWIW, I have decided to take this board on as a special challenge.

For starters, I rearranged your PCI table and changed it to "code font" for easier readability:

           A B C D E F G H
 PCI 1     - - - - - s - -
 PCI 5     - - - - - s - -
 PCI 2     - - - - - - s -
 LAN       - - - - - - s -
 PCI 3     - - - - - - - s
 USB2.0    - - - - - - - s
 SATA      - - - - - - - s
 PCI 4     - - - - s - - -
 1394      - - - - s - - -
 AGP       s u - - - - - -
 USBHC0    s - - - - - - -
 USBHC3    s - - - - - - -
 USBHC1    - - - u - - - -
 USBHC2    - - u - - - - -
 

Now it's obvious that PCI Slots 1 and 5 share IRQ line F, Slot 2 and LAN share line G, Slot 3 shares line H with USB2.0 and SATA, and Slot 4 shares with 1394. Also, AGP shares line A with USBHC0 and USBHC3.

We'll start with the Delta 44 card:

1) You could put it in either PCI Slot 1 or 5, but then make sure to leave the other one empty. I'd recommend the farthest slot away from the AGP card, which most likely is Slot 5.
2) Since LAN is disabled, you could put it in Slot 2.
EDIT: This gives you two workable options for the PCI card slot. This could be helpful to you later, for satisfying ACPI and having the audio card still on its own IRQ.

Now some other recommendations for you:

If you plan to use SATA for audio:
1) Leave PCI Slot 3 empty to avoid timing conflicts.
2) Avoid using USB2.0 at all. (Sorry! That's just the way your MOBO is wired!)

If you plan to use USB2.0 for audio:
1) Leave PCI Slot 3 empty to avoid timing conflicts.
2) Avoid accessing your SATA drive during record/playback/monitor. (Sorry! That's just the way your MOBO is wired!)

Also, you should avoid having anything sitting on USBHC0 or USBHC3 to avoid timing conflicts with your AGP card. USBHC1 and USBHC2 are perfectly fine, though.

Hope that helps, and I do hope you get your system sorted out. The good news is that you ought to be able to get it running cleanly, but the bad news is that you will have to avoid certain hardware combinations (outlined above) to do so.

Please forgive my ignorance, but how do I access that table on my PC?

tia
Steve