BIOS & 80Gb harddrive - any experts out there?
02 February 2003, 06:28 PM
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help! 
One of our pc's harddrives has been slowly dying, so I decided to buy a new harddrive - Seagate Barracuda 80Gb seemed a good deal.
The PC is a P3 450mhz and about 3 years old.
After installing the new harddrive I found that the BIOS wont autodetect it, the only way to get it working is by plugging it into IDA slot 2 (secondary controller) and plugging the original 6.4Gb drive into the primary IDA slot. The system then uses the original drive to boot with Windows XP then picking up both drives no problem.
I'm guessing my BIOS doesnt support the size of the drive and as such just isnt seeing it
???
Any other ideas? If its the BIOS (AWARD) any ideas where I can download the latest upgrades?
ta
Neil
(using wifes username)
One of our pc's harddrives has been slowly dying, so I decided to buy a new harddrive - Seagate Barracuda 80Gb seemed a good deal.
The PC is a P3 450mhz and about 3 years old.
After installing the new harddrive I found that the BIOS wont autodetect it, the only way to get it working is by plugging it into IDA slot 2 (secondary controller) and plugging the original 6.4Gb drive into the primary IDA slot. The system then uses the original drive to boot with Windows XP then picking up both drives no problem.
I'm guessing my BIOS doesnt support the size of the drive and as such just isnt seeing it
???Any other ideas? If its the BIOS (AWARD) any ideas where I can download the latest upgrades?
ta
Neil
(using wifes username)
02 February 2003, 06:40 PM
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Try the DOS based DiscWizard tool from:
http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/...s/discwiz.html
Sometimes helps get round BIOS limits.
http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/...s/discwiz.html
Sometimes helps get round BIOS limits.
02 February 2003, 06:40 PM
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I am not an expert - more of a comptent home user.
The bios would come from you mainboard manufacturer AFAIK.
Seagate have an installation program called Disc Wizard which comes with the drive to address these problems, I expect you bought OEM rather than retail and didn't get one.
You can get it here - http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/...s/discwiz.html
Take a look here for FAQ's http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/di..._faq.html#bios
Stu...
The bios would come from you mainboard manufacturer AFAIK.
Seagate have an installation program called Disc Wizard which comes with the drive to address these problems, I expect you bought OEM rather than retail and didn't get one.
You can get it here - http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/...s/discwiz.html
Take a look here for FAQ's http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/di..._faq.html#bios
Stu...
02 February 2003, 06:41 PM
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I had fun and games with my drive. it had about 16 pin options and 2 jumpers need. FDisk didnt recognise it was 80GB either. Is there a file size limit?
Si
Si
03 February 2003, 12:43 PM
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It is probably because an 80gb drive was not anticipated at the time the motherboard was made so the parameters for it are not in the BIOS.
Options are update the BIOS as previously mentioned or enter the parameters manually.
To do it manually you need to go into the BIOS and select a user defined type hard disk. Then type in the number of cylinders, heads etc. that correspond to those on the drive. Save the settings and exit, the drive should now be detected.
The parameters for the drive will either be on a sticker on the drive, or from the manufacturer.
Hope this helps
Options are update the BIOS as previously mentioned or enter the parameters manually.
To do it manually you need to go into the BIOS and select a user defined type hard disk. Then type in the number of cylinders, heads etc. that correspond to those on the drive. Save the settings and exit, the drive should now be detected.
The parameters for the drive will either be on a sticker on the drive, or from the manufacturer.
Hope this helps
03 February 2003, 01:11 PM
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Check that you're setting the master/slave jumpers on both drives correctly. If they're both on the same IDE cable, you may need to alter the jumpers on BOTH drives to ensure that they work together.
The fact that the new drive works on the 2nd channel implies that this is your problem, and confirms that the BIOS does actually understand it, so I'd be surprised if you need an upgrade. Were you able to partition the drive and format it to its full size? If so, then you're in business.
Some versions of FORMAT and FDISK do contain bugs that prevent you from formatting very large disks as a single drive. I installed a 120GB drive last week under Win 98, and had to download an updated version of FDISK and then partition it into two equal halves. Slightly annoying, but much cheaper and less hassle than replacing the OS.
A.
The fact that the new drive works on the 2nd channel implies that this is your problem, and confirms that the BIOS does actually understand it, so I'd be surprised if you need an upgrade. Were you able to partition the drive and format it to its full size? If so, then you're in business.
Some versions of FORMAT and FDISK do contain bugs that prevent you from formatting very large disks as a single drive. I installed a 120GB drive last week under Win 98, and had to download an updated version of FDISK and then partition it into two equal halves. Slightly annoying, but much cheaper and less hassle than replacing the OS.
A.
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