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DNS Benchmark v2 is Finished and Available! Guest:
That's right. It took an entire year, but the result far more accurate and feature laden than we originally planned. The world now has a universal, multi-protocol, super-accurate, DNS resolver performance-measuring tool. This major second version is not free. But the deal is, purchase it once for $9.95 and you own it — and it's entire future — without ever being asked to pay anything more. For an overview list of features and more, please see The DNS Benchmark page at GRC. If you decide to make it your own, thanks in advance. It's a piece of work I'm proud to offer for sale. And if you should have any questions, many of the people who have been using and testing it throughout the past year often hang out here.
/Steve. -
Be sure to checkout “Tips & Tricks” Dear Guest Visitor → Once you register and log-in please checkout the “Tips & Tricks” page for some very handy tips!
/Steve. -
BootAble – FreeDOS boot testing freeware
To obtain direct, low-level access to a system's mass storage drives, SpinRite runs under a GRC-customized version of FreeDOS which has been modified to add compatibility with all file systems. In order to run SpinRite it must first be possible to boot FreeDOS.
GRC's “BootAble” freeware allows anyone to easily create BIOS-bootable media in order to workout and confirm the details of getting a machine to boot FreeDOS through a BIOS. Once the means of doing that has been determined, the media created by SpinRite can be booted and run in the same way.
The participants here, who have taken the time to share their knowledge and experience, their successes and some frustrations with booting their computers into FreeDOS, have created a valuable knowledgebase which will benefit everyone who follows.
You may click on the image to the right to obtain your own copy of BootAble. Then use the knowledge and experience documented here to boot your computer(s) into FreeDOS. And please do not hesitate to ask questions – nowhere else can better answers be found.
(You may permanently close this reminder with the 'X' in the upper right.)
So share the LOG and let us look over your shoulder.
Thanks.
Type|Port|BIOS|Runtime|Size| Model | Serial ----+----+----+-------+----+------------------------------+------------------- AHCI| 2 | 81 | 46,655|1.0T|WDC WD10EZEX-08WN4A0 |WD-WCC6Y3UTPD0K AHCI| 3 | 82 | 46,619|1.0T|WDC WD10EZEX-08WN4A0 |WD-WCC6Y2VCEU9D BIOS| 80 | 80 | ... | 62G|This is the system boot drive | BIOS| 83 | 83 | ... |250G| NVMe drive | BIOS| 84 | 84 | ... |1.0T| USB drive | BIOS| 85 | 85 | ... |503G| USB drive | Ahh.
@DanR "... SpinRite 6.1 sees this as a BIOS drive ..."
Right!
So, remove everything BUT the boot USB drive, and only the
NVMe-as-BIOS drive, and test again.
If the NVME-as-BIOS drive then shows up for ReadSpeed, then the
computer's BIOS and or FreeDOS is/are unable to present that
NVMe-as-BIOS if and when it's part of a complex array of drives.
Both BIOS and FreeDOS expect only a single boot source per 'bus'
to turn over to a 'higher' operating system, such as modern
Windows, so the BIOS programmers never thought to search, nor
were paid to search, for everything, really.
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Also, try using MS-DOS via a RUFUS-built [ https://rufus.ie/en/ ]
USB boot drive, put ReadSpeed on it, and see if ReadSpeed
'sees' the NVME-as-BIOS that way.
In other words, you're troubleshooting your BIOS and your DOS.
Why does SpinRite 'work', but ReadSpeed does not?
Since SpinRite, like Windows, has some of it's own drivers, it has
ways of bypassing a limitation from BIOS and DOS.
ReadSpeed depends exclusively on the presentation from BIOS
and DOS, having no 'drivers' of it's own.
Let us know what you find.
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And ... since the NVMe shows up as BIOS, it may only be seen on
it's own if and when you boot from a non-BIOS drive, such as
installing a boot FreeDOS or MS-DOS and ReadSpeed on a SATA
drive, and boot from that.
SpinRite works under FreeDOS, not MS-DOS unless ... ask - we
have ways! ;-).
Because it is an NVMe drive!!!
SpinRite and ReadSpeed only have AHCI and ATA/IDE native drivers. ReadSpeed does not work thru the BIOS (there is no point in doing this). Thus ReadSpeed cannot access this NVMe drive. It can only detect it, and report that it is NVMe. That's all RS can do.
SpinRite sees this drive as a BIOS 83 drive. SpinRite can see, access, and scan this NVMe drive via the BIOS albeit at abominably s-l-o-w BIOS I/O speeds.
I think it’s the opposite, Peter. As I recall, ReadSpeed was developed mostly as a test bed for the native AHCI drivers that eventually went into SpinRite. It didn’t go through the BIOS for drive access.
SpinRite can access drives through the BIOS as well as via its native drivers.
Not necessarily a full opposite, but an explanation of why ReadSpeed
can't see NVMe-as-BIOS.
Thanks.
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