Hard disc drive

[darm]

Many thanks to MJC for his advice. It worked first time.
Now my next problem is, I installed a 4Gb HDD and I know it's a 4 Gig but my system only recognises it as a 2 Gig drive in the BIOS setup.
I've tried fdisk and about everything else I can think of.
I'e got a PII 200 128Ram Windows ME.

[BigBlue66]

Hey Darm,

Sounds like a bios limitation to me. Older bioses can only recognize a certain amount of HDD space, such as 540mb, 2gb, etc..

Your best bet is to upgrade your bios, either by a flash utility, or if it's not soldered in, by a new bios chip.

Maybe some other people will have an idea or two, also.

Cheers,

Big Blue 66

[BigBlue66]

Hey Darm,

Sounds like a bios limitation to me. Older bioses can only recognize a certain amount of HDD space, such as 540mb, 2gb, etc..

Your best bet is to upgrade your bios, either by a flash utility, or if it's not soldered in, by a new bios chip. Be very, very careful with a flash utility though.

Maybe some other people will have an idea or two, also.

Cheers,

Big Blue 66

[Reid]

BB is right about the BIOS limitation. See Western Digital (http://www.wdc.com/products/drives/8-4barr.html) for more information.

Drive manufactures provide drive overlay software that overcomes the BIOS limitation, EZ-Drive is one example. You can download software from your drive manufacturers site. I prefer a BIOS upgrade solution, but there is some risk involved with a flash upgrade.



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reido@my-deja.com

Friends don't let friends install Windows ME

[darm]

Originally posted by Reid:
BB is right about the BIOS limitation. See Western Digital (http://www.wdc.com/products/drives/8-4barr.html) for more information.

Drive manufactures provide drive overlay software that overcomes the BIOS limitation, EZ-Drive is one example. You can download software from your drive manufacturers site. I prefer a BIOS upgrade solution, but there is some risk involved with a flash upgrade.

Thanx for the info but I had a 4Gig hdd in this computer before I changed it. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/confused.gif


If it 'aint broke don't fix it.

[darm]

I had a 4 Gig hdd on this computer before. So why does'nt it recognise another 4 gig. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/confused.gif

[Paleo Pete]

The older drive probably had the above mentioned Dynamic Drive Overlay installed.

One other possibility, have you tried to fdisk and partition the drive? If it hasn't been done yet, I don't think it's a BIOS limitation, that's usually 8GB. P-II should recognize 8GB drives. I may be wrong though. The 2GB problem is usually with FAT16. When you fdisk the drive it should ask if you want to enable large disk support. If you say Yes, it will partition the drive as FAT 32, which can recognize drives larger than 2GB.

In BIOS are you letting it autodetect? Try setting it as User and manually inputting the parameters, which should be printed on the drive's label, or on the manufacturer's website. Set the last parameter on the right as Large. Sometimes the manufacturer will also list suggested drive types. Type 21, type 37 etc. Check for that. The Tech Page (http://www.thetechpage.com/cgi-bin/default.cgi) has a very good list of hard drive info.

Otherwise, you might have to resort to the DDO, or a BIOS upgrade. I would prefer the BIOS upgrade too, but it is risky.

What is the board? Maybe we can dig up some info.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines!
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[darm]

Many Thanks for replying.
The board is American Megatrends IDT WINCHIP C6
BIOS 51-0831-001437-00101111-071595-M571-007_66_M571-H
Is this the info you require? http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/confused.gif

[PakiCode]

Hey.
Definitely a BIOS issue. Check following before updating your BIOS(Risky) or changing the BIOS chip. I think i do have solution to your problem, but not sure...
If you get a message at your start up to hit certain key to boot from a floppy then I think your problem is solved. Sometimes this message appears for only a second so u must pay close attention. And make sure your floppy is not in the drive. When you see this message go-ahead and hit the key(could be Esc, F1, DEL, ALT, CRT, etc.)After hitting it you should get a EZ Bios Screen, at the bottom of the screen you should have a message like press A for floppy and C for Hard Disk. Put your start Up Disk in and Hit A for floppy, now It will boot from floppy, Now follow the regular procedure, perform Fdisk, make sure to enable large disk support, format and install operating system.
Hope this will help.


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PakiCode
DeskTop Support

[darm]

I must agree with Pete, I don't think it's BIOS problem.
I've just found the handbook for my board at it says and I quote. "System BIOS supports 4 IDE HDD which do not need a device driver for S/W application http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/confused.gif and the capacity of each HDD can be larger than 528MB and up to 8.4GB"

If it ain't broke don't fix it.