320 Gb WD Caviar with old A-trend board

[musicfreak]

09/23/98-i440BX-W977TF-ATC-6220C-00 is the string of an old computer of mine. I want larger HD support, so I'm looking for an Bios update.

I couldn't find the exact string in the list of Award ID's, but with some puzzling it seems a A-trend board, the ATC-6220 I think. There is also an old topic on this site, but the link with the bios isn't working anymore.

At this site I see 2 flies which higher dates. Can I safely use this files?

C't BIOS info gives me this:
BIOS Datum: 09/23/98
Award BIOS gefunden: Award Modular BIOS v4.51PG
Award ID-String: 09/23/98-i440BX-W977TF-ATC-6220C-00
Board/BIOS-Version: ATC-6220 VER:1.1 04 WB
OEM: ??
Chipset: i440BX

[edwin]

None of these will support this disk. Maximum size for any 4.5 generation Award bios is 128GB. Either use an external controller with its own bios or get a new motherboard. Maybe esupport has something cooked up but most likely that will be more expensive than an ATA133 controller card.

[cp]

which OS are you going to use? if it's Linux, Windows 2K/XP/VISTA there are no problems using the full capacity of the drive once you're within the OS.

[musicfreak]

Either use an external controller with its own bios or get a new motherboard.

I've searched for such a card but I can't find it. Not at Paradigit, Mycom or Salland automatisering (direct link).
Do you mean this ones?

[musicfreak]

which OS are you going to use? if it's Linux, Windows 2K/XP/VISTA there are no problems using the full capacity of the drive once you're within the OS.

Hmm... can the OS what the BIOS can't? I don't understand this I'm afraid...

But I'm using Windows 2000, and my computer won't bood with the 320 Gb disc as slave.

[KachiWachi]

http://www.48bitlba.com/

Thanks.

[cp]

do not detect the hdd in the bios and set the drive to NONE. once you booted W2k from another hdd you can access your new hdd without problems.
or if you just want your new hdd do the following: detect the drive in the bios. if the bios crashes on detection set the CLIP jumper on your hdd. now the hdd should be detected as 32GB in size (only for the bios though). install W2K somewhere within the 32GB. if booted up you will be able to use the full size of your hdd.
please make sure that the LATEST WINDOWS SP is installed!

for further information please read the link KachiWachi supplied. and please note that LBA48 is NOT hardware dependent. some sources may state otherwise, read the ATA/PI specs for the (real ;)) truth.

[musicfreak]

do not detect the hdd in the bios and set the drive to NONE. once you booted W2k from another hdd you can access your new hdd without problems.

Thanks for this suggestion, I've tried this but when I try to access the disk in Windows 2000 Windows says that I have to format the drive, what I dont want to do of course.

Sisoft Sandra gives me the following information about the drive (Sandra was installed on the Windows 2000 PC):

***

General Capabilities
Channel : Slave
Type : ATA
Interface : ATA
Removable : No
Model : WDC WD3200JB-00KFA0
Revision : 08.05J08
Serial Number : WD-WCAMR3364842
ATA/ATAPI Approved Version : 6.00
Cache Size : 8MB

Drive Geometry
CHS Geometry : 16383 x 16 x 63
CHS Total Sectors : 16514064
LBA Total Sectors : 625142448
Number of ECC Bytes : 65
Capacity : 298GB

Translation Mode Disk Geometry
CHS Geometry : 16709 x 255 x 63
Bytes Per Sector : 512 byte(s)
Capacity : 128GB

Partitions Information
Partition 1 : MBR FAT16 128GB

Logical Drives
Logical Drive : D:

Properties
IORDY Support : Yes
IORDY Disableable : Yes
DMA Support : Yes
LBA Support : Yes

Features
S.M.A.R.T Support : Yes
Security Support : Yes
Power Management Support : Yes
ACPI Power Management Support : No
Power-up in Standby : No
Packet Command Interface : No
Removable Media : No
Look-Ahead Buffer : Yes
Write-Back Cache : Yes
Host Protect Area : Yes
Microcode Update : Yes
Acoustic Management : Yes
48-bit LBA : Yes
Device Config Overlay : Yes

Active Features
S.M.A.R.T Enabled : Yes
Security Enabled : No
Power Management Enabled : Yes
Look-Ahead Buffer Enabled : Yes
Write-Back Cache Enabled : Yes
Host Protect Area Enabled : Yes
Acoustic Management Enabled : No

S.M.A.R.T Information
Version : 1.01
ATA Commands Support : Yes
ATAPI Commands Support : Yes
S.M.A.R.T Commands Support : Yes

Transfer Modes Support
Block Size : 16
Width : 16-bit
Maximum PIO Mode : PIO-4
Maximum DMA MW Mode : MWDMA-2
Maximum UDMA Mode : UDMA-5

Transfer Modes Active
Current Block Transfer : 16
Current Active Mode : MWDMA-2

Performance Tips
Warning 3104 : Current mode not optimal. Check settings.

Warning W3104 - Current transfer mode not optimal, i.e. not highest supported. This affects drive performance. If the controller is also capable of the highest supported transfer mode, there is no reason not to use it.

Fix: First check controller supported transfer modes. Then check the mode the driver for the controller/BIOS is set to use and modify; some default to a lower mode for compatibility. You may need to install newer drivers if the current drivers do not natively support the controller (especially for RAID). You may need to update the controller BIOS or drive firmware, if the mode does not stick. If data corruption occurs verify the cable and consider switching (if any) drives on the same channel onto other channels.

If the built-in controller does not support the mode, consider using the on-board/RAID controller or even disable the built-in controller and install a new controller.

***

The strange thing is is that there is no FAT16 partition on the disk, there is only one FAT32 partition containg all of the diskspace!

[cp]

first of all: is the latest service pack installed?
second: why on earth are you using FAT32?

please read this article:
http://storagereview.com/guide2000/ref/ ... FAT32.html

the important information is at the bottom of the page.

make sure to install the latest service pack, partition the drive with a program that is able to detect the correct size and get rid of the FAT32 filesystem.

btw. your chipset should be able to support at least UDMA-2. check the current UDMA mode in the hardware manager!

[musicfreak]

first of all: is the latest service pack installed?

Yes, it is. SP 4 with all the available updates.

second: why on earth are you using FAT32?

Believe it or not, there is a reason for this. I use this disk normally in my Argosy HD363N external networkdrive, and for this it has to be formatted with FAT32 (it's a linux HDD).

But, despite the disadvantages of the FAT32 filesystem, It still has to work or not? Another quenstion: will a Maxblast kind of program help in my situation?

btw. your chipset should be able to support at least UDMA-2. check the current UDMA mode in the hardware manager!

Hardware manager... is that This computer --> Harware --> Device manager? There I can't find a UDMA setting, I only see that te the writing cache is enabled.
I'm sorry, my English is not that good (I wish this was a board in Dutch ).

[KachiWachi]

Device Manager --> IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers --> Primary (Secondary) IDE Channel --> Advanced Settings Tab.

Thanks.

[cp]

Linux has NTFS read/write support. No need to stick with FAT32.

A Maxblast kind of util won't help you with the waste of space with the FAT32 filesystem.

Windows 2K SP4 should support LBA48 with every ide/ata controller.

[musicfreak]

Linux has NTFS read/write support. No need to stick with FAT32.

Linux does, but my Argosy networkdrive doesn't...