Hi there everybody!
:)

I'll get right to the point here:

I'm trying to put a 250GB drive, into a Win98 box.
Why?
I'm building a media player, and only need Win98, to make things easy to suck the files across the network to the media box.

That actual media player is QuickView for DOS.

I used Disk Wizard to partition the drive into 60GB chunks, with a 2GB C: drive.

DW completes all this, and formats the partitions.

When I try to install Win98, all kinds of weird things happen, like reports that the intstaller cannot read from the CD, which is upsetting, as the CAB files were copied from the 98 CD, to the HDD partition, so it should read from the HDD, to install to the HDD, if you see what I mean...

I was able to install 98 after the 3rd attempt, but when I tried to run Explorer file manager, the system fell over with a BSOD - not a good sign for a clean install!!!
:eek:

When I rebooted, I was able to run explorer, but the system only sees the first four partions. Partitions G, H, and I are unaccessable; 98 SEES them there, but when you click them, you get the message: "Cannot access G: - A device attached to the system is not functioning."
:eek:

Something not right there!
:p

I've read all about the 137GB barrier, and the 48bit LBA etc, but my query is:

-I thought this only applied to partitons? If you make the partitions smaller then 137GB, there should be no problem, as the system just sees a list of hard-drives of varying sizes.

Now, when I think about this some more, I am inclined to think that YOU NEED THE 48BIT LBA, in order to access partions(even if they are 60GB or so) PAST the first 137GB point in the drive...

Am I right, or have I got myself completely muddled???

...it's not really a major issue, cos I am just going to replace the one 250GB drive, with a couple of spare 120GB drives, and these should work fine(i hope!), as they are less then 137GB in total size(each one).

I just want to clarify if I am thinking correctly or not.


MM.

BTW: can win98se support FAT32 drives as big as 120GB? I'd like to leave the 2nd of the two drives as one complete drive, set as the slave. This drive will be filled with DivX, so does not really need to be partitioned unless FAT32 restrictions demand this... MM.

Even if your bios etc can read beyond the 128/137 barrier all the DOS-based versions of windows, including Win98, cannot access the drive beyond that barrier. Making a number of smaller partititions doesnt work since the LBA values in the partition tables become unrecognisable/meaningless to systems that cant count beyond 128 billion.

Therefore although you can use large drives you should not allow Win98 etc to see any partitions that cross this barrier. Any attempted access to such partitions can result in data loss.

The fact that FAT32 partitons can exceed this barrier is different in nature from the 128/137 limitation intrinsic to the OSes themselves.



BTW: can win98se support FAT32 drives as big as 120GB
Not a problem if there is no BIOS limitation.

Thanks - i am thinking correctly then(about 137GB barrier and 48bit etc...). Thanks for confirmation about the 120GB drive. :) MM.

It appears that it is an internal limitation of certain drivers inside Win98/ME that negates 48bit LBA - rather than a limitation of the OS per se. It is reported that it is actually safe to access large drives and transfer files IN SAFE MODE or by rebooting into Win98's DOS.

I have not done this I might add - but it is interesting none the less. There is also a patch that purports to enable 48bit LBA in Win98/ME and can be got from http://members.aol.com/rloew1/Programs/Patch137.htm - at your own risk of course.