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Slow boot at "Verifying DMI pool data..." - Is HDD damaged?



 
 
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  #1  
Old May 6th 04, 02:05 PM
river_kwai
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Posts: n/a
Default Slow boot at "Verifying DMI pool data..." - Is HDD damaged?

Each time I start the PC, the system spend a long time at "Verifyin
DMI
pool data..."

Windows hasn't loaded at that point, so it has nothing to do wit
Windows.

I have done a series of test to investigate this symptom.

I have stripped all the peripherals (network card, USB heade
connections at
the motherboard, CR-ROMs and left the system with just the graphic
card and hard disk connected) and the system still spend a long time a
"Verifying
DMI pool data..."

I then compared the Maxtor Hard Disk and my Fujitsu Hard Disk (Model
MPE3173AE) on two different PCs.

Specification of PC1:
Athlon 2000+
256 DDR PC3200
Motherboard GA-7VA

Specification of PC2:
AMD K6(III)
256 SD-RAM
Motherboard FIC PA-2013

Maxtor HDD 5T040H4:
Windows ME version 4.90.3000
ATA-100
3 partitions at 5Gb, 18Gb and 17Gb

Fujitsu MPE3173AE
Windows ME version 4.90.3000
ATA-33
1 single 17Gb partition

These are the test results:
1) Maxtor HDD took 4min 30s to boot up into Windows in PC1 (BIOS showe
HDD correctly and configured as ATA-100)
2) Fujitsu HDD took just under 40s to boot up in Windows in PC1 (BIO
showed HDD correctly and configured as ATA-33)
3) Maxtor HDD took 6min 30s to boot into Windows in PC2
4) Fujitsu HDD took 1min 30s to boot into Windows in PC2

Note: By booting into Windows I mean the time when transition fro
BIOS
screen to you see the Windows Wallpaper Background.

The fact that an older ATA-33 HDD boots faster then the Maxtor ATA-100
drive despite all other parameters being kept the same shows that the
problem lies with the Maxtor HDD. The Maxtor HDD spent a long time in
"Verifying DMI pool data..." but the Fujitsu HDD spent considerabl
less
time despite the same system set up, i.e. all I did was to swap th
HDD
while keeping all other components un-touched.

Can I conclude that my Maxtor HDD is damaged? I have done the Powerma
4.09 test and made sure that it is the only device on the cable and th
cable is a Ultra DMA cable. In its quick 90s test, it recommends ful
test when it stumbled upon SMART test. However, it passed al
subsequent test!

How can I convince Maxtor for an RMA?

Thank you.

Regards,
river_kwa
--------
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  #2  
Old May 6th 04, 03:24 PM
kony
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On Thu, 06 May 2004 13:05:21 GMT, river_kwai
wrote:

Each time I start the PC, the system spend a long time at "Verifying
DMI
pool data..."

Windows hasn't loaded at that point, so it has nothing to do with
Windows.

I have done a series of test to investigate this symptom.

I have stripped all the peripherals (network card, USB header
connections at
the motherboard, CR-ROMs and left the system with just the graphics
card and hard disk connected) and the system still spend a long time at
"Verifying
DMI pool data..."

I then compared the Maxtor Hard Disk and my Fujitsu Hard Disk (Model
MPE3173AE) on two different PCs.

Specification of PC1:
Athlon 2000+
256 DDR PC3200
Motherboard GA-7VA

Specification of PC2:
AMD K6(III)
256 SD-RAM
Motherboard FIC PA-2013

Maxtor HDD 5T040H4:
Windows ME version 4.90.3000
ATA-100
3 partitions at 5Gb, 18Gb and 17Gb

Fujitsu MPE3173AE
Windows ME version 4.90.3000
ATA-33
1 single 17Gb partition

These are the test results:
1) Maxtor HDD took 4min 30s to boot up into Windows in PC1 (BIOS showed
HDD correctly and configured as ATA-100)
2) Fujitsu HDD took just under 40s to boot up in Windows in PC1 (BIOS
showed HDD correctly and configured as ATA-33)
3) Maxtor HDD took 6min 30s to boot into Windows in PC2
4) Fujitsu HDD took 1min 30s to boot into Windows in PC2

Note: By booting into Windows I mean the time when transition from
BIOS
screen to you see the Windows Wallpaper Background.

The fact that an older ATA-33 HDD boots faster then the Maxtor ATA-100
drive despite all other parameters being kept the same shows that the
problem lies with the Maxtor HDD. The Maxtor HDD spent a long time in
"Verifying DMI pool data..." but the Fujitsu HDD spent considerable
less
time despite the same system set up, i.e. all I did was to swap the
HDD
while keeping all other components un-touched.

Can I conclude that my Maxtor HDD is damaged? I have done the Powermax
4.09 test and made sure that it is the only device on the cable and the
cable is a Ultra DMA cable. In its quick 90s test, it recommends full
test when it stumbled upon SMART test. However, it passed all
subsequent test!

How can I convince Maxtor for an RMA?


Double-check the drive jumpers and try different cables.

If that doesn't help then simply explain the situation to them (Maxtor).
  #3  
Old May 6th 04, 04:00 PM
Apollo
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"kony" wrote in message
...

Double-check the drive jumpers and try different cables.


That's what I'd think too, setting cable select can produce the symptom
described in some systems. I've also had slow-downs with maxtor drives when
they're connected to the slave ide plug, (the middle plug on the cable), but
set as master.

IMHO it's a configuration / compatibility(maybe) problem, check jumper is
correct, swap cable and go through the dmi hang page below step by step. If
you have altered any bios settings, write them down before you load bios
defaults or you'll loose your changes.


Have you tried the Maxtor support pages?
General for your model - http://snipurl.com/673a
DMI hang - http://snipurl.com/6730

Let us know how it goes.

--
Ian


  #4  
Old May 7th 04, 06:03 AM
Charles
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Sometimes it is a cable not plugged in right or something like the
jumpers. Try it in a different position. One hard drive could go bad
but not likely two unless you had a short or the IDE port went bad.
Make sure you unplug your computer when you unplug the IDE drives.

Each time I start the PC, the system spend a long time at "Verifying
DMI
pool data..."

Windows hasn't loaded at that point, so it has nothing to do with
Windows.

I have done a series of test to investigate this symptom.

I have stripped all the peripherals (network card, USB header
connections at
the motherboard, CR-ROMs and left the system with just the graphics
card and hard disk connected) and the system still spend a long time at
"Verifying
DMI pool data..."

I then compared the Maxtor Hard Disk and my Fujitsu Hard Disk (Model
MPE3173AE) on two different PCs.

Specification of PC1:
Athlon 2000+
256 DDR PC3200
Motherboard GA-7VA

Specification of PC2:
AMD K6(III)
256 SD-RAM
Motherboard FIC PA-2013

Maxtor HDD 5T040H4:
Windows ME version 4.90.3000
ATA-100
3 partitions at 5Gb, 18Gb and 17Gb

Fujitsu MPE3173AE
Windows ME version 4.90.3000
ATA-33
1 single 17Gb partition

These are the test results:
1) Maxtor HDD took 4min 30s to boot up into Windows in PC1 (BIOS showed
HDD correctly and configured as ATA-100)
2) Fujitsu HDD took just under 40s to boot up in Windows in PC1 (BIOS
showed HDD correctly and configured as ATA-33)
3) Maxtor HDD took 6min 30s to boot into Windows in PC2
4) Fujitsu HDD took 1min 30s to boot into Windows in PC2

Note: By booting into Windows I mean the time when transition from
BIOS
screen to you see the Windows Wallpaper Background.

The fact that an older ATA-33 HDD boots faster then the Maxtor ATA-100
drive despite all other parameters being kept the same shows that the
problem lies with the Maxtor HDD. The Maxtor HDD spent a long time in
"Verifying DMI pool data..." but the Fujitsu HDD spent considerable
less
time despite the same system set up, i.e. all I did was to swap the
HDD
while keeping all other components un-touched.

Can I conclude that my Maxtor HDD is damaged? I have done the Powermax
4.09 test and made sure that it is the only device on the cable and the
cable is a Ultra DMA cable. In its quick 90s test, it recommends full
test when it stumbled upon SMART test. However, it passed all
subsequent test!

How can I convince Maxtor for an RMA?

Thank you.

Regards,
river_kwai
--------
river_kwai
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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  #5  
Old May 7th 04, 04:13 PM
river_kwai
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I configure the drive as Master drive and have not use cable selec
(Maxtor does not recommend using the CABLE SELECT feature unless you
specific system documentation requires its use). I have connected t
Maxtor HDD into 2 different PCs using different cables (each time usin
the connector at the end of the cable and NOT the middle connector)
but in both PCs, the Maxtor HDD spends a long time in 'Verifying DM
Data Pool...' but not the Fujitsu HDD. So I don;t think the proble
lies in the cables.

I have used Maxtor's Powermax 4.09 and performed the tests up to th
burn in test with 2 passes and everything returned PASSED. I have no
performed the Low Level Format Test as it is data destructive. But onc
again I would like to draw your attention to the long time the syste
with Maxtor HDD (but not my older Fujitsu ATA-33 HDD) spends i
'Verifying DMI Data Pool...', can anyone suggest anything based on thi
symptom?

I have also searched the Maxtor Knowledge Base and have performed the
solution suggested in Maxtor Knowledge Base:
http://tinyurl.com/283yv
I have however skipped step 9 as it is data destructive.

I have just flashed my system with the latest BIOS (GA-7VA F11 Bios),
have clear DMI data pool and PnP data pool while I was flashing m
BIOS, so the system has to rebuild the DMI data pool when I reboote
the system upon flashing the BIOS. I was hoping this would have solve
the 'Verifying DMI Data Pool' problem but there were still n
improvements in the boot-up time despite my lengthy efforts and th
system still spend a long time 'Verifying DMI Data Pool...'.

What that is puzzling me is that once the system boots up, the drive i
performing very fast. But it takes 5 minutes to boot the PC up wit
ATA-100 Maxtor HDD and less than 40s with my older ATA-33 Fujits
drive
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  #6  
Old May 7th 04, 06:12 PM
kony
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On Fri, 07 May 2004 15:13:37 GMT, river_kwai
wrote:

I configure the drive as Master drive and have not use cable select
(Maxtor does not recommend using the CABLE SELECT feature unless your
specific system documentation requires its use). I have connected to
Maxtor HDD into 2 different PCs using different cables (each time using
the connector at the end of the cable and NOT the middle connector),
but in both PCs, the Maxtor HDD spends a long time in 'Verifying DMI
Data Pool...' but not the Fujitsu HDD. So I don;t think the problem
lies in the cables.


Ignore Maxtor's recommendation and try the drive as Cable Select. Many if
not all of Maxtor's drives now ship from the factory set to cable select
and I have about a dozen of them running in cable select mode right now.

Are you certain that your power supply is of sufficient capacity? What
make, model, wattage? If the drive isn't spinning up fast enough it may
cause a problem.



I have used Maxtor's Powermax 4.09 and performed the tests up to the
burn in test with 2 passes and everything returned PASSED. I have not
performed the Low Level Format Test as it is data destructive. But once
again I would like to draw your attention to the long time the system
with Maxtor HDD (but not my older Fujitsu ATA-33 HDD) spends in
'Verifying DMI Data Pool...', can anyone suggest anything based on this
symptom?

I have also searched the Maxtor Knowledge Base and have performed the
solution suggested in Maxtor Knowledge Base:
http://tinyurl.com/283yv
I have however skipped step 9 as it is data destructive.

I have just flashed my system with the latest BIOS (GA-7VA F11 Bios), I
have clear DMI data pool and PnP data pool while I was flashing my
BIOS, so the system has to rebuild the DMI data pool when I rebooted
the system upon flashing the BIOS. I was hoping this would have solved
the 'Verifying DMI Data Pool' problem but there were still no
improvements in the boot-up time despite my lengthy efforts and the
system still spend a long time 'Verifying DMI Data Pool...'.


Did you clear the CMOS and/or load the setup defaults after flashing the
bios? Try it if not. It's possible the bios still has a bug or two...
after all, if not then why would there ever be bios updates beyond support
for new CPU or HDD capacity, etc?


What that is puzzling me is that once the system boots up, the drive is
performing very fast. But it takes 5 minutes to boot the PC up with
ATA-100 Maxtor HDD and less than 40s with my older ATA-33 Fujitsu
drive.
--------


5 minutes is just too long to be considered a mere inconvenient delay,
contact Maxtor and see if they'll issue you an RMA if all else fails.
  #7  
Old May 8th 04, 01:05 AM
river_kwai
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Posts: n/a
Default

I have configured the drive as Cable Select, I did load setup default
after flashing BIOS. I did everything and this annoying probloem i
still there!

This is the response I get from Maxtor:

Further to your request, I understand that your computer system hang
and
gives the error message Verifying DMI Pool Data. This error i
associated
with computer that have an Award BIOS only. It has been determine
that
this error is not attributed to a hardware failure, or error with
hard
drive. Take a look at the following knowledge base article for
better
understand, and possible solution for the error.

And the quoted the Maxtor knowledge base article:

http://tinyurl.com/283yv

They don't seem helpful and I am wondering if all people with Maxto
HDD on Award BIOS would have such problems. I don;t think that's th
case as it would have meant many unhappy customers, but yet Maxto
seemed not to be able to help. If the problem lies between Maxtor HD
and Award BIOS, is requesting an RMA going to solve my problem
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  #8  
Old May 8th 04, 07:13 AM
kony
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Posts: n/a
Default

On Sat, 08 May 2004 00:05:31 GMT, river_kwai
wrote:

I have configured the drive as Cable Select, I did load setup defaults
after flashing BIOS. I did everything and this annoying probloem is
still there!

This is the response I get from Maxtor:

Further to your request, I understand that your computer system hangs
and
gives the error message Verifying DMI Pool Data. This error is
associated
with computer that have an Award BIOS only. It has been determined
that
this error is not attributed to a hardware failure, or error with a
hard
drive. Take a look at the following knowledge base article for a
better
understand, and possible solution for the error.

And the quoted the Maxtor knowledge base article:

http://tinyurl.com/283yv

They don't seem helpful and I am wondering if all people with Maxtor
HDD on Award BIOS would have such problems. I don;t think that's the
case as it would have meant many unhappy customers, but yet Maxtor
seemed not to be able to help. If the problem lies between Maxtor HDD
and Award BIOS, is requesting an RMA going to solve my problem?


The majority of systems I have here are using an Award BIOS of one version
or another, and none of them (that I'm aware of) have this problem. In
fact I do have one of those Maxtor drives, a 5T040H4, that RMA replaced
another of that same model... after a few months of use it began making an
odd chirp-like "beeping" sound, which I can only assume was a bearing
defect. However that particular drive would periodically not show up in
bios enumeration screen and running the diagnostics produced an error code
applicable towards RMA. That was over 2 years ago, today the replacement
is still running fine.

Perhaps there was some issue with the 5T040H4 drives, or perhaps it's
partly to blame on both the drive and the motherboard, but you've already
tried 2 different motherboards making motherboard less likely to be the
problem.... it is not simply an issue of it being an Award bios.

If you RMA the drive "now", there's a quite good chance you'd receive a
different, newer drive that may work even if the motherboard/bios is
partly to blame, or even same drive but with a firmware that doesn't cause
this. The puzzling part isn't the delay at "verifying DMI...", it's that
the drive continues to take so long to boot the OS after it passed that
stage in the boot process. I would focus on that issue, use that as the
reason for the RMA.
  #9  
Old May 10th 04, 02:34 PM
river_kwai
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Posts: n/a
Default

A big thanks to everyone that have helped me over the past week.

The problem is finally solved. I have tried so many complicated things
but what solved it is trivial, defragmenting C drive!

It never occured to me that defragmenting would have solved the
problem. I did scandisk and everything before and nothing helped. But
Trent suggested defragmenting and I tried and after that, the boot up
process was back to the normal speed of booting up within 30s. I am
glad that it is finally solved now.

A lesson learnt is never to underestimate the importance of PC
maintenance - basic task of defrgamenting your hard disk.

Once again, I would like top say a big thanks to Apollo, Kony, Charles,
Trent and everyone that have gave advice to me.
--------
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