SY-6BB, Bios-Update for HD > 32GB

BIOS update, EIDE card, or overlay software? (FAQ Hard disk recognition)
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Xizor
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/H/i,

how can I recognize if my Mainboard is a V1.0 oder just a SY-6BB? Is there a corrected BIOS file for the Soyo SY-6BB. I'm planning to reactivate this Mainboard with two 80GB Western Digital HDs.

Further information found:

09/06/1999 - i440BX - ITE867 - 2A69KS2GC-00

Regards,

Xizor
pcspecialist
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Most newer models have the version layout number written on the board. But since your motherboard is discontinued it may not be written on it. Even so all hope is not lost. When you boot your system the bios should be at the very top and next to it should be the bios version number. If the version number is less than v1.0-1A6 then the bios is not up to date. If you need to download the update you can find it at http://www.soyo.com.tw/downloads/dlmiss ... af334f042b but this file is unsupported by the manufacturer because the motherboard is discontinued so you will be using this file at your own risk. If you want to be able to support the 2 80GB harddrives you must have an OS on a partition formatted as NTFS (Windows NT, Windows 2000 if you have at least a 133mhz Pentium and 128mb ram, Windows XP if you have a 300Mhz 256mb ram). I hope this helps.
Xizor
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The Bios Version is V1.0-1A6. I'm planning to install windows 2000. On the board is a P3 550. 256MB RAM.

But I think the SY-6BB or the SY-6BB V1.0 don't support hdds which are bigger than 32GB. Therefore I need an update which fixes this issue.

But thanks.
pcspecialist
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What is your current harddrive size and what is your current OS?
You currently have the last Bios update available for this product. If you already have a drive that is greater than 8.4GB (and since this product is already equipped with EIDE technology, a technology that supports up to 200GB )your bios already contains the technology to detect larger drives so you don't need a bios update and you really have an OS level problem. Although the bios only supports up to 32gb Harddrive (Slot 1 Motherboard, but since this motherboard is also socket 370(PIII) bios support may be greater), most Hard drives come with a disk which allows your Operating system to see above the 32gb drive limit. If you are currently running Windows 95, 98, 9x, or ME you are not using the NTFS File System. Fat32 File systems (Win 98, 9x, ME) only support Partitions up to 32GB and I think this is the problem you are having from your posted thread topic (SY-6BB, Bios-Update for HD > 32GB).
edwin
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Many Award bioses up until 1999 have a bug where they cannot detect harddisks beyond 32GB (or sometimes 64GB) in size. Those can be patched by us.

http://wims.rainbow-software.org/

the Soyo SY-6BB V1.0 is listed. If you use that bios disks up to 128GB can be used without a problem.
edwin/evasive

Do not assume anything

System error, strike any user to continue...
Xizor
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Well I checked my mainboard. I found a SY-6BB V1.0 printed on it. I flashed the Bios with the patched v1.0 Bios-File. But now in bios setup I'm not able to detect a harddrive (at the moment I have connected a 20GB HD for testing purposes). The system hangs completely only a reset helps. The same happens on the standard cmos feature setup screen. The system freezes and doesn't show the information of the hd.
pcspecialist
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You didn't need to use that patch because you already have the latest bios from the system. Did the system recognize the 20GB harddrive before you "updated" the bios. Does the system recognize one of the larger drives. Are the jumpers on the drive set correctly. When the system starts how many beeps do you here and how long (ie short, long, continuos etc) I hope you backed up your bios before you flashed it. If not you'll need to download the bios file from soyo and reflash the bios because it is now corrupted. http://www.soyo.com.tw/downloads/dlmiss ... af334f042b
Make sure that there isn't an interuption(ie power failure) while flashing the bios otherwise you will have to repeat the process.
Xizor
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I flashed the original Bios-file. As I expected the 20 gig HD is recognized and a 80GB HD isn't. The SY-6BB supports only 32GB HD capacity.

It's stated on that webpage:

http://www.soyo.com/kb/kbdesc.php?id=28

But the patched version doesn't work either.

Update:
I made a cmos reset. Now the system detects the drives at boot time and there you can press F4 if you want to skip detection. The 80GB HD is now detected there. You can make settings in bios setup except in the hdd auto detection and standard cmos feature setup screens. There the system freezes. All other settings can be made.
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