Relating to my other post about the PC Partner VIB878DS board, is there any chance of getting this BIOS patched for larger drive support if I email it through?
An email from PC Partner says the current BIOS will support up to 32GB. I would like to install or 40GB or 60GB hard drive at present (since I cannot buy below 32GB) but if it could be patched as large as possible this would be great as I don't know what I may do with this board in the future.
PC Partner VIB878DS
Great - Thanks Nick
The BIOS file for the VIB878DS (ITE Super I/O) is now on it's way to your email address as I originally said I would do, but had a thought that if you wanted to download it direct from the website at the following address, this would help to minimise any possible corruption. Whichever way - I don’t mind.
http://www.pcpartner.com/support/bios/VIA694.HTM#mvp3
The file for ITE Super I/O which I am hoping to be patched is:
V0930IAG.BIN
Thanks again.
The BIOS file for the VIB878DS (ITE Super I/O) is now on it's way to your email address as I originally said I would do, but had a thought that if you wanted to download it direct from the website at the following address, this would help to minimise any possible corruption. Whichever way - I don’t mind.
http://www.pcpartner.com/support/bios/VIA694.HTM#mvp3
The file for ITE Super I/O which I am hoping to be patched is:
V0930IAG.BIN
Thanks again.
Turns out it does not need patching:
Code: Select all
D:\Hardware\pcpartner>..\award\awd64gb V0930iag.bin
AWD64GB.EXE - Award BIOS patcher for HDDs over 32GB & 64GB v0.9
Copyright (c) 2002 Rainbow Software (http://rainbow.ht.st).
BIOS ID string: 06/16/1999-MVP3-586B8661-2A5LEV3IC-00
BIOS OEM string: BIOS-I (90930)
INT13h Extensions...Present: new-style
=> BIOS already supports HDDs over 32GB!
Searching for size calculation routine...is already OK
Searching for SETUP size calculation routine...is already OK
BIOS already supports HDDs over 32GB & 64GB - Nothing to do!Tested patched BIOSes. Untested patched BIOSes.
Emails *will* be ignored unless the subject line starts "Wim's BIOS forum"
Emails *will* be ignored unless the subject line starts "Wim's BIOS forum"
Thanks Nick - I do not understand all that code but since it says it already supports drives over 32GB and 64GB; this should bring the support up to 128GB, as the 64GB barrier is the last barrier before 128GB drive recognition - is that right? That being the case it looks like PC Partner tech. support gave me the wrong information.
When I install a 32GB+ or 64GB+ HDD on this machine, I will definitely post feedback. In the meantime, is there a way of simulating 32GB+ or 64GB+ support by entering manual disk parameters?
When I install a 32GB+ or 64GB+ HDD on this machine, I will definitely post feedback. In the meantime, is there a way of simulating 32GB+ or 64GB+ support by entering manual disk parameters?
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edwin
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hmm, never tried that. in my experience it's better to use an actual harddisk of that size.In the meantime, is there a way of simulating 32GB+ or 64GB+ support by entering manual disk parameters?
edwin/evasive
Do not assume anything
System error, strike any user to continue...
Do not assume anything
System error, strike any user to continue...
OK tonight I have tried the new WDC 80 GB 8MB cache IDE drive on this board and system. The board had the latest BIOS available from PC Partner which was reported by Nick to not require testing as it already had up to 128GB HDD support.
As I expected, the tools that Nick used did indeed report correct and apparently accurate support (for up to 128GB disks). The drive was shown in all HDD size reporting areas of that BIOS to be 80GB, which is the size of the disk. The only minor difficulty I had was in getting the drive to detect as a master. Apparently the default jumper, CS, was causing this BIOS to detect the drive as a slave. Documentation printed on the drive required no jumper present for a slave w/o master, and after placing the jumper plug onto what appeared to be a spare set of pins, the drive detected as a master.
So thankyou to Nick for taking a look at the BIOS and reporting back the information on the HDD capabilities of this BIOS.
I will also briefly mention that from memory, I further tested the old 1GB drive with Windows 2000 on this board and machine that I was discussing in my related topic (ITE or Super I/O under the High Tech BIOS Section category) and found that no corrupt folder did appear under this circumstance, and thus I concluded that the problem was an incompatibility between the main board, the HDD and Windows 98. I will eventually be looking at the contents of the new HDD under Windows 2000 and Windows 98 to further verify and proof my conclusions. I will post results, but this further testing may not be take place for a while.
As I expected, the tools that Nick used did indeed report correct and apparently accurate support (for up to 128GB disks). The drive was shown in all HDD size reporting areas of that BIOS to be 80GB, which is the size of the disk. The only minor difficulty I had was in getting the drive to detect as a master. Apparently the default jumper, CS, was causing this BIOS to detect the drive as a slave. Documentation printed on the drive required no jumper present for a slave w/o master, and after placing the jumper plug onto what appeared to be a spare set of pins, the drive detected as a master.
So thankyou to Nick for taking a look at the BIOS and reporting back the information on the HDD capabilities of this BIOS.
I will also briefly mention that from memory, I further tested the old 1GB drive with Windows 2000 on this board and machine that I was discussing in my related topic (ITE or Super I/O under the High Tech BIOS Section category) and found that no corrupt folder did appear under this circumstance, and thus I concluded that the problem was an incompatibility between the main board, the HDD and Windows 98. I will eventually be looking at the contents of the new HDD under Windows 2000 and Windows 98 to further verify and proof my conclusions. I will post results, but this further testing may not be take place for a while.
