Slow SATA performance on Mac Pro in XP/Bootcamp

[toysblack]

Hello,
maybe that have nothing to do with the macpro but, I have a problem with the network adapter under XP.
I have two Macpros. under OSX (both) the network throughput is around 55-60 MB/sec .
Its connected via a gigiabit 8 ports switch with reliable cat 6 cables.
...under Xp ( both ) the throughput is half or less , around 20-30 MB/sec...!
Is it because of a XP limitation, do i need to setup something?.
any suggestions are warmly welcome!

Thanks.

Florian.


( by the way, both of them have a PATA disk for XP fast enough to handle the gigabit ...!)

[rick98761]

can someone repost the instructions. They have been removed.

[xvx]

I also need the instructions on this.. anyone have it cached that can pull the source and post it else where?

or post me your 'txtsetup.oem' and 'winnt.sif' files to get the drivers to load properly on startup and I should be able to get it to work from http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.c...id=1703&page=6


thanks

[Neurorad]

Reupload of instructions from cache file!

[G5guy]

Fortunately I saved the web page. =) I also have the links so this is nice to copy/paste. I used pdf capture and the whole bit.

From the site:

****************
Simple Fix!
As you may or may not be aware, there exists a small compatibility problem between the Mac Pro and the recommended installation procedure for XP service pack 2 using Apple's BETA boot camp application. The problem degrades a single modern SATA hard drive performance from 60-80 Gigabyte/s throughput down to a steady 3792 Kilobytes/s. If you are currently running XP on your Mac Pro, you will most likely have this problem.

The problem is that currently Intel's XP SATA drivers (for the Intel 531 xESB chipset found on the Mac Pro) MUST be included as part of the Windows XP installation disk and installed as part of a new installation, and not as an after-thought. (Don't ask me why, I don't know!)

Luckily for us Mac users, the windows community has been busy building automated tools that allow us to install device drivers and windows fix-packs directly onto installation disks to perform clean installations. The ability to install fix-packs means that your Windows XP Service-Pack 1 installation disc can be updated and used to build a Windows XP Service-Pack 2 disc as required by the latest Intel chipsets.

Requirements
You will want to download (or legally acquire) the following items:
* Any Windows XP Home or Professional (full installation disk)
* Download Service Pack 2 Network Installation Package (if required)
* Download WPA_KILL by searching www.filewatcher.com (remove spyware)
* Download RemoveWGA from www.FirewallLeakTester.com (remove spyware)
* Download nLite for free (and make a small donation)
* Download .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package
* Download RVM XP Hot Fix Package (website )
__* Review other add-ons on that website
* Download Intel's 5000X chipset drivers (thanks to for first publishing)
* Download Intel's 631 xESB chipset SATA drivers (version 15/05/2006 7.4.0.1 005)
* Download ImgBurn bootable CD burning tool (and make a small donation)
* Download SiSoftware Sandra Light from here (benchmarking tool)

Building your custom XP boot disk
The first step is to download all the files into an installation directory (lets say C:\MacXP) on a working Windows box. This might be your currently booting XP on the Mac Pro, or any other modern windows box. I strongly recommend spending a few hours searching through the AddOn's for nLite. These packages allow for Adobe Acrobat Reader, AVG Antivirus, and other free tools to be installed auto-magically in your installation.

Second step is to make a unique directory for each of the Intel device drivers (e.g, C: \MacXP\IntelDriverA), copy the drivers into the respective folders and expand the contents. I recommend

Third step is to install the .NET framework required by nLite.

Fourth step is to install ImgBurn if you don't already have a CD burning tool installed. (I selected ImgBurn because it was free, and it worked for me, even on the crippled SATA drive on my MacPro).

We will use the nLite tool to build the custom bootable cdrom. By following the steps above you have all the modules ready to pass into nLite when it requests it. The nLite installation process is very well described here and I recommend you follow its instructions.

When you come up to Integrating the device drivers you MUST install the Intel Drivers you have downloaded. Select the "Insert" tab, followed by the "Multiple Driver Folder". If you followed my suggested directory naming structure, select the "C:\MacXP" folder, and click okay. A window will display all the Intel Drivers. Select All, then Okay. A second window will appear listing driver names in the "Text mode integration options". Select the ESB2 SATA RAID Controller (Server ESB2) entry, and press okay. The window will reappear, click cancel. Confirm that the "Intel, TXT-iaStore_ESB2, HDC, 5.6.2.1 002, 01/16/2006" item is present in the list. Click next, and continue following the nLite instructions.

Fifth Step is burn the .IS0 image file generated by nLITE.

Sixth Step is to perform a re-install of Windows XP using your custom boot disk.

Seventh Step is to run SiSoftware Sandra Light software to confirm that you have reasonable hard drive performance that reflects the drives installed in your system.

Party!

*****************

I had to do lots of work since this was an image with links outside of it. But I know this is a hot topic for all.

[macgeek2005]

Originally Posted by G5guy

Fortunately I saved the web page. =) I also have the links so this is nice to copy/paste. I used pdf capture and the whole bit.

From the site:

****************
Simple Fix!
As you may or may not be aware, there exists a small compatibility problem between the Mac Pro and the recommended installation procedure for XP service pack 2 using Apple's BETA boot camp application. The problem degrades a single modern SATA hard drive performance from 60-80 Gigabyte/s throughput down to a steady 3792 Kilobytes/s. If you are currently running XP on your Mac Pro, you will most likely have this problem.

The problem is that currently Intel's XP SATA drivers (for the Intel 531 xESB chipset found on the Mac Pro) MUST be included as part of the Windows XP installation disk and installed as part of a new installation, and not as an after-thought. (Don't ask me why, I don't know!)

Luckily for us Mac users, the windows community has been busy building automated tools that allow us to install device drivers and windows fix-packs directly onto installation disks to perform clean installations. The ability to install fix-packs means that your Windows XP Service-Pack 1 installation disc can be updated and used to build a Windows XP Service-Pack 2 disc as required by the latest Intel chipsets.

Requirements
You will want to download (or legally acquire) the following items:
* Any Windows XP Home or Professional (full installation disk)
* Download Service Pack 2 Network Installation Package (if required)
* Download WPA_KILL by searching www.filewatcher.com (remove spyware)
* Download RemoveWGA from www.FirewallLeakTester.com (remove spyware)
* Download nLite for free (and make a small donation)
* Download .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package
* Download RVM XP Hot Fix Package (website)
__* Review other add-ons on that website
* Download Intel's 5000X chipset drivers (thanks to for first publishing)
* Download Intel's 631 xESB chipset SATA drivers (version 15/05/2006 7.4.0.1 005)
* Download ImgBurn bootable CD burning tool (and make a small donation)
* Download SiSoftware Sandra Light from here (benchmarking tool)

Building your custom XP boot disk
The first step is to download all the files into an installation directory (lets say C:\MacXP) on a working Windows box. This might be your currently booting XP on the Mac Pro, or any other modern windows box. I strongly recommend spending a few hours searching through the AddOn's for nLite. These packages allow for Adobe Acrobat Reader, AVG Antivirus, and other free tools to be installed auto-magically in your installation.

Second step is to make a unique directory for each of the Intel device drivers (e.g, C: \MacXP\IntelDriverA), copy the drivers into the respective folders and expand the contents. I recommend

Third step is to install the .NET framework required by nLite.

Fourth step is to install ImgBurn if you don't already have a CD burning tool installed. (I selected ImgBurn because it was free, and it worked for me, even on the crippled SATA drive on my MacPro).

We will use the nLite tool to build the custom bootable cdrom. By following the steps above you have all the modules ready to pass into nLite when it requests it. The nLite installation process is very well described here and I recommend you follow its instructions.

When you come up to Integrating the device drivers you MUST install the Intel Drivers you have downloaded. Select the "Insert" tab, followed by the "Multiple Driver Folder". If you followed my suggested directory naming structure, select the "C:\MacXP" folder, and click okay. A window will display all the Intel Drivers. Select All, then Okay. A second window will appear listing driver names in the "Text mode integration options". Select the ESB2 SATA RAID Controller (Server ESB2) entry, and press okay. The window will reappear, click cancel. Confirm that the "Intel, TXT-iaStore_ESB2, HDC, 5.6.2.1 002, 01/1 6/2006" item is present in the list. Click next, and continue following the nLite instructions.

Fifth Step is burn the .IS0 image file generated by nLITE.

Sixth Step is to perform a re-install of Windows XP using your custom boot disk.

Seventh Step is to run SiSoftware Sandra Light software to confirm that you have reasonable hard drive performance that reflects the drives installed in your system.

Party!

*****************

I had to do lots of work since this was an image with links outside of it. But I know this is a hot topic for all.

Too much trouble. I'll wait until apple fixes it themselves.

[xvx]

Thank you very much guys.

[G5guy]

Perhaps one of you guys who went thru this can modify the above instructions for the bare minimum to work so it does not seem as confusing. This includes fixing the sound, etc.

[leaknoil]

Doesnt seem to work for me. It does put the CD drive into DMA mode for what its worth though. The SATA drives stay in PIO mode. I end up with two Intel ATA buses and two of eash Primary IDE Channnel and Secondary. Only the buss with the cdrom drive goes into DMA mode.

[The Inevitable]

In case anybody wants it, I put up a mirror of the site here.

[stewzie10000]

Had a problem with the Windows XP installation stalling at 34 minutes during "Installing Devices" and found the solution. I shut down the computer and unplugged all of my Firewire devices (includes iSight, iPod, disk drives, etc.) and then restarted onto the Windows XP disk. The Mac Pro tried to boot the aborted installation and then restarted the installation. No stall this time, so apparently one or more Firewire devices was causing the trouble. Looking good... finalizing installation now.

[apfhex]

Originally Posted by G5guy

Perhaps one of you guys who went thru this can modify the above instructions for the bare minimum to work so it does not seem as confusing. This includes fixing the sound, etc.

I may be getting ahead of myself here (still a while 'till I get my MP), but I believe this is as trimmed down as it gets. Thanks G5guy for typing it all out. Obviously these instructions are only to describe how to do it with nLite. If anyone has a different application that they use, it would be cool to hear about.

* Download nLite
* Download .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package
* Download Intel's 5000X chipset drivers
* Download Intel's 631 xESB chipset SATA drivers (version 15/05/2006 7.4.0.1 005)

1. Download all the files into an installation directory (lets say C:\MacXP) on a working Windows box. This might be your currently booting XP on the Mac Pro.

2. Make a unique directory for each of the Intel device drivers (e.g, C:\MacXP\IntelDriverA, C:\MacXP\IntelDriverB), copy the drivers into the respective folders and expand the contents.

3. Install the .NET framework required by nLite.

4. We will use the nLite tool to build the custom bootable cdrom. The nLite installation process is very well described here and I recommend you follow its instructions.

When you come up to Integrating the device drivers you MUST install the Intel Drivers you have downloaded. Select the "Insert" tab, followed by the "Multiple Driver Folder". If you followed my suggested directory naming structure, select the "C:\MacXP" folder, and click okay. A window will display all the Intel Drivers. Select All, then Okay. A second window will appear listing driver names in the "Text mode integration options". Select the ESB2 SATA RAID Controller (Server ESB2) entry, and press okay. The window will reappear, click cancel. Confirm that the "Intel, TXT-iaStore_ESB2, HDC, 5.6.2.1 002, 01/16/2006" item is present in the list. Click next, and continue following the nLite instructions.

5. Burn the .IS0 image file generated by nLITE.

6. Perform a re-install of Windows XP using your custom boot disk.

Here's what was posted earlier in the thread about fixing the sound after this. Thanks to jlmodell and waremaster.

1. Go to "System Device" (Right click on My Computer, select Properties, then choose Device Manager) and you'll see a yellow mark on a device named "PCI Device". Right click and select Update Driver.

2. Select your Realtek HD audio driver path and go to Directoty "WDM" such as c:\driver\audio\HDAudio\WDM and then click Open.

3. Windows will install Microsoft UAA Driver and install your HD Audio driver automatically.

[AlexBlack]

I have a quick question. When i am having nLite make a new ISO with the drivers for me its not creating a iso file. Its filling a folder with the contents that would have been in the ISO. Do you guys know how to fix that?

[AlexBlack]

Disregard my previous post, sorry guys I am blind. I just didnt see the huge button on the nlite main menu.

[leaknoil]

This doesnt work at all for me. Device manager still reports pio mode on everything but, the dvd drive. I've burned 5 different nlite'd cds and tried four different drive configurations.

Either you need a specfic version of xp or people aren't actually looking to see if they are actually in DMA mode and just assuming they are.

[stingray]

Hi guys!

Works fine for me.

Except that I also had the problem that my Realtek HD audio didn't work at first. I had to go to the Realtek Website and download the drivers. After that it worked fine.

Then I tried to install my Esi RomIO Midi adapater (which also worked before on my MacPro) - however now my Sequencer can't see it anymore although it seems to be correctly installed in the device manager... Strange. Anyway I plan to switch to MacOSX on the long run for the music - latencies are so much lower than under Windows.

Cheers,
Stingray

[Borman]

Anyone having a problem with nLite's progress bar going all the way, but its still on Integrating Drivers? Ill wait it out for a bit, but really, no reason to wait if its a bug of some sort.

[stingray]

Originally Posted by leaknoil

Either you need a specfic version of xp or people aren't actually looking to see if they are actually in DMA mode and just assuming they are.

I used a Windows XP SP2 Professional. In my device manager it now shows something like Multi word DMA mode 2 for my HDD.

Cheers,
stingray

[syrianos]

i'm trying to get win xp x64 edition - built 1830 to slistream with sp2 but i get an error that some files aree not copied correctly,
should i just continue?
and why istall the raid drivers and not the ahci ones?

thx

[scratchmaster]

on the xp side of the mac pro.. is there any way to disable the ausio coming for the speaker in the mac pro but yet still have sound coming out of the line out for applications like winamp and so on ??

[Spanky Deluxe]

Originally Posted by Laslo Panaflex

All my custom cds stall at the "installing devices 34 minutes left".

I have made custom cds with only the SATA driver, SATA and only the xp chipset drivers, and SATA and ALL the chipset drivers.

I give up, hopefully someone will just post a pre-made .iso so on some torrent site

Like I said earlier, someone could do a ppf patch file for the iso. That way it can be completely legal and a much smaller download.

[d00d]

Are the chipset drivers even necessary? Couldn't you just get away with just the SATA drivers and let Apple's drivers CD take care of the rest?

[jlmodell]

Originally Posted by d00d

Are the chipset drivers even necessary? Couldn't you just get away with just the SATA drivers and let Apple's drivers CD take care of the rest?

I suppose if you someone was willing to test they could. Since my hd access speed is now corrected, I don't plan on reformatting until Vista, and only after it's confirmed working, etc etc.

[barber107]

I am going to start building my slipstream and I'll do it without the chipset drivers to see if it still works. This is partially because I cannot find a good link to the drivers and because I want to see if it helps people.

My question is, when you build your own slipstream, is it still necessary to use Apple's driver disk? Or will that mess it up?

Thanks,

Barber

[rick98761]

quick question, can I install this updated XP overtop the old one i have on my macpro, or do I need to do a total format for sata to start working properly?