internal HD enclosure cpu usage problem?!?!?

aardvark · 12 Jan 2007 at 23:12

ok, i got a HD (as a replacement for a faulty one) and have now put it in an icy box internal enclosure (sata connection)

its one that has a key lock to turn it on and off.

so, i turn it on do stuff, etc. but when i safely remove hardware and turn off the power to the drive (using the key) my cpu shoots up to 50% (dual core) and stays there until i reset - nothing, however, shows up in processes - system idle is showing 99 but the graph clearly shows one core being used 100% - i'm pretty sure the graph is correct as the temp of the cpu stays high.

ok, i've just checked process explorer and that says:
system idle - 50
under this it says: interrupts - 25 (ish) and DPC's - 25(ish)
it looks like the last two are simply a breakdown of the system idle, but there is nothing else taking up the cpu to account for the other 50%.

any idea whats going on?

rpstewart · 13 Jan 2007 at 10:15

Take a look in the processes tab of Task Manager and sort it by CPU usage, it's far easier to interpret than process explorer.

aardvark · 13 Jan 2007 at 11:29

in task manager it only says system idle is using 99% - it doesn't show what is using the 50% that the cpu graph shows.

aardvark · 13 Jan 2007 at 11:57

more investigation seems to suggest that the problem lies with the hardware interrupts and the DPC's and that it may be driver related -but i'm a bit out of my depth here.

aardvark · 13 Jan 2007 at 17:32

ok, i've just tried to turn the hard drive on and nothing happens (no power even goes to the drive) - BUT, task manager shows the 50% useage now - again, process explorer shows that it is hardware interrupts and dpc's that are causing the problem!!

no problem shows up in device manager.
nothing shows up in the event logs.

is there anywhere else to look??

somewhere to look for irq conflicts or something like that??

cheers

aardvark · 13 Jan 2007 at 18:15

ok, more strange goings on.

i turned off write behind caching so i can turn off the drive without using 'safely remove hardware' (SRH)
if i use SRH and turn off the drive i immediately get 50% cpu usage and the drive also doesn't turn back on.
if i don't use SRH and just turn off, i DON'T get 50% cpu usage but again the drive does not turn back on.
- only after i have turned off the pc and turned back on again does the drive turn on in windows - simply restarting the pc is not enough.

:confused:

aardvark · 13 Jan 2007 at 18:34

me again!

i think the enclosure is faulty - the key sometimes works, sometimes it doesn't, and if you 'jiggle' it the drive sometimes gets power and sometimes doesn't.

i also get various disk errors in the event viewer when doing this - so i think i'll ring ocuk on monday and see what they say.

VeNT · 13 Jan 2007 at 18:48

is the key really for on and off?
sure its not locked and unlocked?
could be that its not in all the way! (had this issue before!)

aardvark · 13 Jan 2007 at 19:16

VeNT said:
is the key really for on and off?
sure its not locked and unlocked?
could be that its not in all the way! (had this issue before!)

it is for lock and unlock but also turns it on and off - its a pretty simple key and simply turns a little switch - it doesn't actually go 'in' anything like a proper lock/key might.

i don't know if the hardware interrupt errors are from a faulty controller board in the enclosure or its something about my pc, but there is definitely something dodgy about the switch - you can make the power go on and off simply by pushing the key in the lock in different directions (if you know what i mean) (and not even turning it) so that suggests a loose connection.

i've taken it out of my pc now - i don't want a loose power connection going to one of my hard drives - there is no telling what damage it could do.

VeNT · 13 Jan 2007 at 19:29

I'd guess the on and off thing is just for safty rather than being a real on and off switch.

aardvark · 3 Feb 2007 at 19:00

i got the replacement and finally got round to installing it - i still have the same problem really.

if i use safely remove hardware - i get the 50% cpu usage
if i don't use the srh and just turn it off - its fine

but the power switch is ok now and i can turn it on and off at will.

its not a big deal and i will simply turn off without using the srh and live with another xp mystery

- i just thought i'd let you know