First off, Let me thank all the great people here who took the time to write the guides for us newbies. This site has helped me an unbelievable amount so far (eventhough I still feel pretty lost), I know I have tons of reading to still do, I hope that when I'm done I'll be able to assist other newbies in their trials and tribulations of dvd backup. I am tryin to use search to answer my million questions before posting since I've already seen the same questions posted over and over again (I've moderated at other sites and know how annoying it can be). But this one I cant seem to find..... I just picked up my DVD-RW (720A) a couple of days ago, and after some issues (plugged the ide connector upside down, and couldn't even get the computer to startup.. LOL ), I've finally got it installed and Im just waiting and reading to obtain some understanding on what to do with my first dvd. Sooooo, I decided to start with the firmware upgrade from Sony, but I've run into a small problem. The instructions inform me to.... .... disable [DMA setting] in Windows before executing firmware update. I cant really figure this out as I assume it isn't just disabling the drive through device manager (by that I mean, right click on the drive in device manager, and choose disable). I have the drive set as secondary master and I'm running win2000pro. Any help would be greatly appreciated. And again, thanks for putting together such an information packed site!! Looking forward to contributing....maybe in about 2 or 3 years when I actually comprehend this stuff Jack
excuse my dyslexia when typing the topic, sometimes I type to fast to catch it....and I couldn't see an option to edit the actual title of the post. Really started off on the right there! D'OH!!
Ok to disable DMA on your Sony Dru-720a go to device manager, look for IDE/ATA ATAPI controllers, double click there, then choose "Secondary IDE channel" right click choose properties, then once in there choose "advanced" on the tabs, then it will appear, dispositive 1 and 0 and instead of "DMA if available" on transfer mode, choose "PIO". and thats all, do the same process but choose "DMA if available" to activate DMA again (which is very important to have on). Remember to this only on the secondary IDE channel, because the primary one is for the HD (unless its configured otherwise which I dont think so)and I dont think you want DMA disabled on your HD
Thanks Paztelu. I didn't get a chance to read your directions last night, but as soon as I get home from work today, I'll give it a go. I do remember seeing those settings, just wasn't confident enough to start changing them. Can't wait to get home, I'm looking forward to burning my first coaster. Eternal optimist here.
