AK31V3.1 - how large hdd to be supported?

by **Tomasz** » Tue May 19, 2009 5:31 pm

I have got mobo "AK31V3.1 (VIA KT 233).
How large hard drive can I use with that mobo..?
How to check it without connecting physical hdd..?

Best regards,
Tom.

by **Denniss** » Tue May 19, 2009 7:26 pm

http://eu.shuttle.com/archive/en/ak31.htm
Should be your board - please compare images.

It should have native support for HDD up to 128 GiB and may support even bigger HDD. Otherwise any modern OS could be used to access space above a possible Bios limit

by **Tomasz** » Wed May 20, 2009 7:54 am

Denis - thanks for information!
But - is it possible to "break" BIOS file to patch it for 160GB hdd to be supported..?
I remember "Rainbow" did such favour for me with other BIOS file in the past.. B))
Tom.

by cp » Wed May 20, 2009 8:40 am

native bios support for HDDs larger than 128GB would require 48bit LBA support in the bios. this is not possible with reasonable effort. but it isn't required at all if you're using a modern OS (Linux, Windows 2000 SP4, XP SP2, Vista) the only thing you have to take care of is that your boot partition (which holds the OS) is within the BIOS-detected space. the rest of the HDD can be used without any restrictions once the OS is loaded.

by **Tomasz** » Thu May 28, 2009 11:40 pm

I use GRUB to boot any of my OS'es... installed at 1. partition on my existing 80GB hdd; now I'm convinced there will be no problem to boot and use 160GB hdd.
Thanks to All,
Tom.

by cp » Fri May 29, 2009 2:06 pm

GRUB still uses BIOS calls to access disks (LBA or CHS), so it can only boot partitions that are within a BIOS-known space. The problem accessing disks beyond 128GB dissolves when the OS (and its drivers) is loaded. This isn't a problem, at least from my point of view, because a custom Linux kernel requires 1-2MB (on a 20MB boot partition) and contains everything that is needed for 48bit LBA. An old 32MB CF-card on an ide-to-cf-adaptor should be more than enough :)

by **Tomasz** » Fri May 29, 2009 4:20 pm

Is it a good way to partition hdd:
1, 2, 3 partition up to the 128GB capacity (and not to across that limit), rest of the hdd - till the end of (--> 160GB)?
Or in general - is one of the partition end must be at 128GB capacity?

Tom.

by cp » Fri May 29, 2009 8:27 pm

depends on how many different OS are installed. if using Windows it's always a good idea to make a boot partition which holds the OS. its size should be around 4-8GB. the rest of the hdd should be a single extended partition which only holds one logical partition.
the boot partiton should only be used to install Windows and for the hibernation data file (which can not be saved anywhere else). all programs, my documents and all other data should be saved to the extended partition to keep the boot partition clean.
with linux you can create a 20MB boot partition which holds the kernel and do what you want with the rest of the harddisk. once the kernel is loaded 48-bit LBA is used anyway.

there's no need to align a partition to any boundary or cut it at any boundary.

by **Tomasz** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:32 am

Thanks a lot!
Tom.

by **windows88** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 12:23 pm