Adding Storage Drive To Dell Dimension 2400

Dey were Sooted

Hi

I've searched for answers on this but would like to confirm before I go ahead .

I was given a Dimension 2400 with Windows XP Pro on it and I've set it up as a network server in the house . It currenlty has a 1tb sata drive connected through usb but I would like to install the drive into the computer (as storage only) so as when I put the computer to sleep it will stop all drives spinning . At the moment when I put it to sleep I have to maually power down the 1tb which is connected by usb.

So from what I gather I can install a Sata drive with a PCI SATA adaptor and a power adaptor cable . Is this correct ? And if I am installing as a storage drive only could I install a 2tb drive ?

thanks in advance

Torqay

Yes, you can install a 2 TB drive with Windows XP, no problem.

For a Dell Dimension 2400, you will need a PCI SATA/RAID controller and a Molex > SATA power adapter though. However, unless you're using a gigabit network, there will be no benefit for the transfer rate, USB 2.0 is still a lot faster than a 100 Mbit network connection.

Dey were Sooted

Torqay wrote: »

Yes, you can install a 2 TB drive with Windows XP, no problem.

For a Dell Dimension 2400, you will need a PCI SATA/RAID controller and a Molex > SATA power adapter though. However, unless you're using a gigabit network, there will be no benefit for the transfer rate, USB 2.0 is still a lot faster than a 100 Mbit network connection.

thanks - it's not the speed i am trying to improve - it's just for keeping everything in one enclosure and being able to switch off all drives when I put the machine into sleep mode.

time to start shopping

thanks again !!!

Dey were Sooted

well i have it up and running but i am finding that the stream is lagging . i think the cheap pci card that i bought may be the problem

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Port-Expansion-VIA-VT6421a-chipset/dp/B000S87GG0

picked it up on ebay for a few quid less . . . .

can anyone recommend a decent not too pricey pci card . . ?

or if anyone thinks i am missing something please let me know . i have no idea about raid or if i need to do anything with raid settings. it is only one storage drive so all i did was install and setup . . .

Torqay

Of course you can try another card but I don't think it's the controller.

Devices on the PCI bus are prime suspects for latency issues, as PCI interrupts are often shared between more than once device. Finding the culprit isn't easy though.

Or the problem is the machine itself, that Dimension 2400 of yours is 8 years old or so. A Northie and PC270 DDR RAM isn't exactly a powerful combination by today's standards... or does it it stream OK from the IDE drive or an external USB drive?

Dey were Sooted

Torqay wrote: »

Of course you can try another card but I don't think it's the controller.

Devices on the PCI bus are prime suspects for latency issues, as PCI interrupts are often shared between more than once device. Finding the culprit isn't easy though.

Or the problem is the machine itself, that Dimension 2400 of yours is 8 years old or so. A Northie and PC270 DDR RAM isn't exactly a powerful combination by today's standards... or does it it stream OK from the IDE drive or an external USB drive?

you'ld be surprised how fast a machine it is . it boots up fairly fast and hardly any lag when doing jobs . i've carried out performance tweaks and there is barely any programs running on it as i only want it as a server . i have been streaming from a usb drive for a few months now without any issues . one of the tests i ran today was to copy a 1gb size file to the desktop from the drives . from the one through the pci it was going to take 15-20 mins . the usb one did it in less than 2 mins . the drives i am using are similar spec WD drives


so if it's not the card or machine is there some diagnostic tool i could run ? maybe something on ubcd which i already have .the only other card that is in a pci slot is for a phone line input which is no use to me . if i pull that out could it help solve the problem ? thanks again for the advice

Torqay

Start here:

From the START menu, select run and type in MSINFO32.exe and click OK. Open the “Hardware Resources” tree and then select the “Conflicts/Sharing” folder. Check if your SATA controller is sharing an IRQ.

And maybe this diagnostic tool is of help.

Dey were Sooted wrote: »

maybe something on ubcd which i already have .the only other card that is in a pci slot is for a phone line input which is no use to me . if i pull that out could it help solve the problem ? thanks again for the advice

UBCD no good, the problem most likely exists within the running OS.

And it can be shared with other devices than another PCI card.

Dey were Sooted

okay it is sharing an IRQ alright with the broadcom controller. i tried the card in other slots but still no improvement . it ends up sharing with either the graphics controller or the usb universal controller ....



i tried to find a solution online but to no avail .... so what next ?

Torqay

Dey were Sooted wrote: »

i tried to find a solution online but to no avail .... so what next ?

AFAIK, that BIOS in those Dimension PCs doesn't give you much options. Use the combination in which the SATA controller shares an IRQ with the USB controller, then disable the USB controller in the BIOS and see if it makes a difference.

Dey were Sooted

i tried that - the conflict/sharing is gone from the list but there is only little improvement


ran the diagnostic tool also and there are issues popping up alright . disabled all the drivers i could but still not ideal.

any other ideas ? is there any other way i could try and connect this drive other than by usb ? could adding more ram help fix it ? there is room for one more gig .

bonzodog2

Was the USB connection to an enclosure with its own power supply - is this why it does not power down?

If it is a 2.5" drive I'd get a USB powered enclosure and hibernate the machine rather than sleep. If you want it inside the case, some PCI USB cards have an internal port.

I have noticed with one machine, that even when hibernated, a USB mouse is still getting power.

Torqay

Although RAM is a commodity of which you can never have enough, I doubt it will solve the issue at hand as streaming works fine from the IDE and USB drives.

Of course, you can try another controller... or use some USB > SATA adapter and throw it inside the case. But do you really want to spend more money on this little endeavour of yours? What is so wrong with an external drive? (if you don't mind me asking)

Edit: scratch my last question, just read your OP again.

Dey were Sooted

bonzodog2 wrote: »

Was the USB connection to an enclosure with its own power supply - is this why it does not power down?

Yes . . .

It's a 3.5 inch drive . The reason I want to use sleep is so I can wake it on lan from another computer

Dey were Sooted

Torqay wrote: »

Although RAM is a commodity of which you can never have enough, I doubt it will solve the issue at hand as streaming works fine from the IDE and USB drives.

Of course, you can try another controller... or use some USB > SATA adapter and throw it inside the case. But do you really want to spend more money on this little endeavour of yours? What is so wrong with an external drive? (if you don't mind me asking)

Edit: scratch my last question, just read your OP again.

So if I mount the drive inside the case, Use the internal power supply and use a usb to data adaptor . . . Could it be the answer . . ?

Dey were Sooted

i had a usb sata adaptor lying around and tried this out . problem solved !!

Really wanna thank u Torqay for all the help and advice !!

Cheers Folks

Gav