Here is my problem :

I bought a Maxtor DiamondMax 10 300GB 16MB Cache SATA coupled with a Silicon Image 3112A SATA Controller. I was never able to

install Windows XP on this drive as it always crashed before the end.
I connect the hard drive to an existing Windows XP Pro SP2 installation and when i transfer any big files (500MB or more), i get

the "Delayed Write Failed" error and the hard drive just disapears from windows! The drive reappears after i reboot.

What i did :

1- I spent hours reading all i could find about this error on the internet but no solution yet!
2- I updated all the drivers and BIOS of all my hardware but no change.
3- I returned the drive where i bought it and they did tons of tests only to return the same drive saying the drive was perfectly

fonctional. So i guess the drive does not have any problems.
4- I thought it might be my Firewire controller because of Microsoft's article "885464", so i removed it from my computer but

didn't change anything.
5- For the silicon image 3112 SATA controller, windows xp installed drivers version 1.0.0.50. I updated to version 1.0.0.51 and

now instead of getting the "Delayed Write Failed" error, my computer just freezes and i need to reboot.

Some articles from the Microsoft Knowledge Base regarding the "delayed write failed" :

*** http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;885464 <-- The symptoms are exactly what I'm getting but the HotFix

didn't fix anything and i'm not using a 1394 Drive, i just have a 1394 controller, nothing connected to it.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;330174
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;870894
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;842520

Exact error i get :

-------------------
Windows - Delayed Write Failed : Windows was unable to save all the data for the file G:\$Mft. The data has been lost. This error

may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware or network connection. Please try to save this file elsewhere.
-------------------

From event viewer :
0000: 04 00 04 00 02 00 52 00 ......R.
0008: 00 00 00 00 32 00 04 80 ....2..box
0010: 00 00 00 00 9d 00 00 c0 ....box..À
0018: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0028: 9d 00 00 c0 box..À
-------------------

When i look into my event viewer, these errors appear every time the "delayed write failed" occurs (in chronological order) :

1- "An error was detected on device \Device\Harddisk2\D during a paging operation." (SOURCE = Disk)
2- "The device, \Device\Scsi\SI3112r1, did not respond within the timeout period." (SOURCE = SI3112r)
3- "The system failed to flush data to the transaction log. Corruption may occur." (SOURCE = Ftdisk)
4- "The device, \Device\Harddisk2\D, is not ready for access yet." (SOURCE = Disk)

My configuration :

Athlon XP 2600+
2x256 MB DDR-SDRAM 333mhz (dual channel)
GeForce 6600GT
SB Audigy 2
MSI 6570 K7N2G-L NForce 2 Chipset
-Bios = v4.1 080204
Firewire PCI Controller
***Silicon Image 3112 revision 2 <-- SATA PCI Controller
-Bios = 4.2.50
-WinXP Drivers = 1.0.0.51
IBM 120GB IDE
Maxtor 80GB IDE
Maxtor DiamondMax 10 300GB 16MB Cache SATA

I'm TOTALY desperate!!! Please, Anyone can help?? I invested a lot of money in this drive, and i can't get a refund so i need to

find a solution! Thank you all for the help!

Arnaud
http://www.xarj.com

What version of WinXP is on the CD that you attempted to install to this HD. What version is running on the system when the drive is connected on the add in controller card.

I would suspect the drives cache is at fault. See if you can turn it off via the manufacturers software.

What happens is the OS writes information to the drive and then goes looking for it. Drives will cache information and then write it when they please. If the OS looks and doesn't find it crashes. This is why on all drives containing databases you turn off any and all disk caches.

I had to do this once to a IBM ata100 drive to get Windows 2000 server to install. Once I figured that out it was a breeze and I never had a problem.

darn I forgot to add that I did not notice any performance dip due to turning off the cache...

and most importantly the drive is under warranty and you can rma it for a replacement. Usually you are out shipping one way and its a pain but you get a new drive.

Im having same problem with same error message : Windows - Delayed Write Failed : Windows was unable to save all the data for the file G:\$Mft. The data has been lost. This error

may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware or network connection. Please try to save this file elsewhere.
I have western digital 200 gig drive and replaced it with a new one. Same thign happened. Reinstalled windows. Same thing still. Tried to disable the check box for write caching an all drives but once I uncheck it I go back in to make sure its unchecked but its still checked and greyed out so I cant change it.. Once the write failed message appears the drive is completely unaccessible..
My Specs if needed are:
XP Pro.
Athalon 64 3500+ 939
Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI
Gigabyte GV-3D1
2G Geil 3200 DDR
36Gb Western Digital 10,000RPM Harddrive
200Gb Western Digital 7,200RPM Harddrive

Please anyone who can help is a champion..
BTW. I have read all the above post and none of the solutions have helped me.

IF THE WORLD DIDNT SUCK..... WE'D FALL OFF..

Oooops... I forgot.....
This is my version of Windows XP:
Windows XP Professional
Build 2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519 (Service Pack 2)

IF THE WORLD DIDNT SUCK..... WE'D FALL OFF..

Oooooops....x2
My Ultra DMA modes is set to 3 in BIOS.
Could changing that to a lower number help? But its been default on 3 with no problem for long time but now... grrrrrrr

IF THE WORLD DIDNT SUCK..... WE'D FALL OFF..

Waiting patiently.....

IF THE WORLD DIDNT SUCK..... WE'D FALL OFF..

I'm having the same problem as Ben - brand new 120GB Seagate drive is doing this, tho I can still read from it after the error happens. Error happens seemingly randomly and frequently. All analyses of the drive indicate it's working fine. Sorry for butting in like this Ben, but wanted to say that I'm running Windows 2000, so your problem may not be specific to XP.

If anybody still listening....
SYSTEM CACHE
System Cache size, which can be set through the System component of the
Control Panel, in the Windows Registry, or by using a utility
like Cacheman. This setting controls how much RAM is set aside to assist in buffering information written to
and read from your hard drive(s) to achieve faster information transfer. The optimal setting for maximum
disk speed is the ʹSystem Cacheʹ option under Memory Usage in Control Panel>System, or ʹMaximize
throughput for file sharingʹ option in Cacheman. However, keep in mind that selecting these options may
result in Delayed Write Failure for people with ATI graphics cards that have more than 512MB of RAM, a
large NTFS disk and/or multiple large volumes (60‐100 gigabyte hard drives possibly in RAID arrays). I
suggest you do not use these settings if your system meets any of the conditions above. Instead use the
Programs option (in Control Panel>System) or Balance option (in Cacheman) for maximum stability while
still retaining good performance.
Cacheman is a free utility that provides a user‐friendly interface for making most of the memory and cacherelated
changes covered in the Memory Optimization section. Note that I recommend the free version of
Cacheman, not Cacheman XP. All the important changes can be made using Cacheman. To access
Cacheman, download Cacheman 5.50 default distribution from the Cacheman Website, install it and then
launch the program.
The best way to change settings in Cacheman is to go to the ʹShow Wizardʹ menu and select All. Run
through each setting as prompted, and if you want to know more, click on the Help button on the main
screen. My recommended settings that correspond with the related settings I recommend in various other
sections of this guide are as follows:
Disk Cache: Balance
Icon Cache: Set large maximum Icon Cache size
Unload DLLs from Memory: Enable
Disable Paging Executive: Enable
IO Page Lock Limit: Large IO page lock limit value
Disable NTFS last access update: Enable
Disable creation of short filenames: Enable
Reserve more space for the Master File Table: Do not enable
Defragment hard disk when idle: Enable
Hung App Timeout: Optimize
Wait to Kill App / Service Timeout: Optimize
Menu Show Delay: Optimize
Filename Completion: Do not enable

Helped me... Thnx anyway for all your replies....

IF THE WORLD DIDNT SUCK..... WE'D FALL OFF..

I fixed the problem I was having with my Prolific bridge by installing a 128k filter I found here:

http://member.newsguy.com/~siccos/

Fixed the problem quite nicely but it may have sacrificed some performance. I'm willing to trade a little.