80GB: 03/12/98 i440BX-W977TF-2A69KB3EC-00

BIOS update, EIDE card, or overlay software? (FAQ Hard disk recognition)
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wfarina
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I have a Pentium II 350 with Award Modular BIOS v4.51PG in it.
It also reads on the screen Pentium II AGP/PCI/ISA System BIOS Rev:1.0 (#20540)

The id is: 03/12/98 I440bx-W977TF-2A69KB3EC-00

The actual chip has a little sticker that reads: 1.0
The chip itself reads:
Award c. 1998
PCI/PNP 686
125281703
My problem is that I want to install an 80 GB Maxtor HD in the computer. The BIOS will not recognize the drive, even though it is set on AUTO.
I have come to the realization/conclusion that I need to upgrade the BIOS.
The board apparently is manufactured by BCM, but their web site does not apparently have an update to allow large drives to be used.
Can you advise?
NickS
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BCM QS440-BX, see http://www.bcmcom.com/tech/QS440bx/QS440BX.htm
Patched version of 2.10 BIOS tested with 80GB HDD at http://wims.rainbow-software.org/
wfarina
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Thanks for the quick response and the websites. I have one more question that came to me.
If I upgrade with the BIOS from BCM that will allow my computer to see drives up to 32 GB, will it allow me to partition an 80 GB drive into, say, (5) 16 GB partitions? Or for that matter, any other combination of partitions that are not larger than 32 GB?
Again, thanks for the help.
NickS
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Location: Thames Valley, UK

Yes.
NickS
BIOS Bodhisattva
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Joined: Fri May 03, 2002 10:34 am
Location: Thames Valley, UK

..subject to you having an FDISK which will cope with >64GB.
- if you have already used Disk Manager, EZ-Drive or similar, getting rid of it may be VERY hard. You will probably have to fdisk/mbr, repartition and reformat the disk and maybe run the manufacturer's utility to reset the disk size.
- remember that FAT32 does not allow single partitions over 32GB in size - an operating system which supports NTFS partitions is required.
- remember that for Windows 98 an updated FDISK is required from Microsoft to handle disks over 64GB in size.- remember that you *may* need to run the HDD manufacturer's utility to reduce the transfer rate of a UDMA66 or UDMA100 drive to UDMA33. See the post "links to ATA mode setting utilities" in the "Collected Wisdom" forum at WIM's BIOS forums.
Rainbow
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FAT32 allows partitions over 32GB but Windows 2000/XP cannot format them. You can format them using Windows 98/ME format and then use in Windows 98/ME/2K/XP. I have 40GB FAT32 partition in Windows ME.
Patched and tested BIOSes are at http://wims.rainbow-software.org
UniFlash - Flash anything anywhere
wfarina
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Rainbow,
Thanks for the tip and the websites.
I have noticed that the updated BIOS seems to be for ver. 2. I have version 1. (1 MB)
After reading some info on the BCM site, it is my understanding that I cannot update a 1 MB chip with a 2 MB update.
Can you clarify for me?
Rainbow
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Patched 128KB (1mbit) BIOS sent.
Patched and tested BIOSes are at http://wims.rainbow-software.org
UniFlash - Flash anything anywhere
wfarina
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Hi one and all,
For general information, in case anyone else has a similar problem like I had.
I downloaded the 1 MB BIOS update from the BCM site for my computer and installed it. The computer would not recognize the drive unless I put the Cylinder Limitation Jumper (CLJ) in place. Then it would only show the drive as a 32 GB. Good, but not great.
I then tried the patched BIOS that Rainbow sent to me. :lol: Yippee!!
My computer now has an 80 GB drive that I have partitioned and formatted using the Maxtor software that came with it.
Many thanks to all that responded and especially to Rainbow for his time and effort to send me the patched BIOS. :D
davidwu
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Thanks for share your experience.
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