Hyperions IDE Driver

[LarsHansen]

Hi,

I installed the Via IDE Miniport Driver (VIA_IDE_MPD_V320b.zip) (DFI Ak-74 SC mainboard). It came with a nice utility which showed all possible information about IDE devices, allowed to set memory cache size and to enable Bus Mastering I think.
Then I installed the VIA Hyperion 5.10 driver package. I selected to install the PATA/SATA driver assuming PATA stands for parallel ATA which is the "old" predecessing IDE connection type.
Now the Miniports driver utility doesn't show up in the system tray anymore and the program doesn't start when opened. I liked it however so I like to continue to use it. Questions: 1. Did I loose any functionality like Bus mastering capability? 2. Can I start the program soehow?

thanks, Lars

[Mr. Chris]

What version of Windows are you running? I think the miniport driver only is needed with Millenium or earlier Windows. You should still be able to change the settings in Windows if you have XP. If you are running an earlier version of Windows, re-install an older version of 4 in 1 VIA drivers like the 4.43's. Chris.

[tcsenter]

Questions: 1. Did I loose any functionality like Bus mastering capability?

No, you lost the IDE driver which the utility required to function, replaced by a different [newer] driver that isn't compatible with the utility.

[LarsHansen]

@Mr Chris: I'm running Windows 98 SE. Is the 4.43 driver faster?
@tcsenter: thanks for the answer!

Can I uninstall the 5.10 driver and reinstall an older driver? Any special proceedings necessary then?

[Mr. Chris]

The 4.43's are better for 98SE. You may be able to get the Miniport utility to reinstall by reinstalling the 4.43's.

Not sure how to go about uninstalling the current 5.10's. But, I think if you go to Device Manager and expand the System Devices, now look for the VIA devices ( PCI to CPU Host bridge, PCI to PCI bridge, PCI to ISA bridge ) ( I'm going from memory here as I have not had 98SE for years and no longer run a VIA board ) Click on each devide and delete it. After they're all gone, restart and load the 4.43's.

Maybe TCS will look in with a better method that I suggested.

BTW, PATA is still PATA. It is still an industry standard. You did not lose any performance or functionality with the newer VIA drivers.

Please note, you may have to do a reinstall of Windows to go back to the older 4 in 1's. Consider, is that utility program worth the headache? If 98SE has System Restore, make a restore point if what I suggested doesn't work. Sorry I can't be of more specific help! Chris.

[tcsenter]

Download the IDE Miniport and re-install it:

VIA IDE Miniport Driver v3.20b

[LarsHansen]

Hi, thanks all! reinstalling the Miniport driver made the utility work again!