Since bios update cannot install OS

BIOS update, EIDE card, or overlay software? (FAQ Hard disk recognition)
jsurgeson
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2003 5:21 pm

10/12/1998-SiS-5598-W877-2A5IIG5EC-00
Maxtor 40GB DiamondmaxPlus 8
OS attempted to install - win98 - linux rh7.2


I did a bios update, thanks to NickS for the help and patch.
All went ok with update, bios does not hang at hd detect and can see hd without caplimit jumper.
However when I attemp to to install win98 it does scandisk and then exits and will not continue, linux install exits with kernel panic interupt not snycing.

What I have done so far to fix:

I originaly used maxtors maxblast 3 hd software to format and partition which did not work.
I also wrote 0's to whole drive with this facility as well as removed ddo overlay.
I read in forum about DDO and mbr problems so I did fdisk /mbr followed by fdisk and created 1 dos primary partition which did not work.
I used zap.exe which did not work.
I used maxtor update udma facility to change to udma33 which did not work.

I am sure one or a combination of the above in the right order would probably work as I believ it has to do with the way the hd is formated or partitioned and how the bios sees the hd that is the problem, apart from my ignorance that is.

Please help as I have tried or think |I have tried all the suggestions on the forum.
mittern8
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 25
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 11:28 am
Location: Netherlands/Germany

Did you try partiioning the Harddisk with fdisk NOT as just one partition?
Think drivesize is limited on FAT32 partitions to 32GB in Win98. (look at M$).
So just try it with a smaller partition first and check if it works.

Success,
Manfred
no blood for oil!
stop the bushfire!
Rainbow
The UniFlasher
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FAT32 partition size is NOT limited to 32GB.
Patched and tested BIOSes are at http://wims.rainbow-software.org
UniFlash - Flash anything anywhere
jsurgeson
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2003 5:21 pm

Yes I did try multiple smaller partitions however using maxtor's maxblast 3 software.
It appears that the os do not appear to like the way is is been formatted.
Not knowing enough about the subject I just know that ther is a lot more to formatting a large drive and partitions on hd over 32gb than meets the eye, especialy on older mb.
Rainbow
The UniFlasher
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Have you tried loading the setup defaults in BIOS setup?
Patched and tested BIOSes are at http://wims.rainbow-software.org
UniFlash - Flash anything anywhere
jsurgeson
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2003 5:21 pm

yes I have defaulted cmos setup, at present set to auto/lba for hd0
in fact I think I have tried about every possible combination.
mittern8
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 25
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 11:28 am
Location: Netherlands/Germany

:oops: Ups, ja sorry dor that.
Rainbow is right, this 32GB was a limitation in Win2000.
So, hopefully, he is also right with the idea of resetting the CMOS to default. :wink:
But I remember I had some probs to with a partition size larger than 2GB on my 440BX mobo when I tried the first installation of 98 (has been partitioned under 95 before).
After I was able to create one smaller partition and deleting it afterwards everything went fine.
And it was only a 6.4GB HD already supported by the original BIOS.

Manfred
no blood for oil!
stop the bushfire!
KachiWachi
The New Guy
Posts: 1451
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2002 10:32 pm
Location: Pennsylvania, USA

Interesting...wonder why they did that for Win2000 (the 32GB thing)????

Maybe something went wrong in the patch...was this a first time try for this particular BIOS?
jsurgeson
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2003 5:21 pm

Hi KachiWachi

I was also thinking that something is not right with the patch, mayby NickS could comment as he did the patch. Also before the patch although the bios would not recognize the hd without the cap limit jumper it at least format and you could install os.
Something I have noticed that when I format and partition with Maxtors hd utility MaxBlast 3 software it sees and formats the hd as 41. something gb however fdisk me or 98 see and formats the hd as 39. something gb.
I am unsure why this is.
Is this not the reason why i cant load any os? as the mbr is reporting the hd size incorrectly.

I also used maxtors UDMA software to change the udma setting to udma33, has this not screwed something up?
What should the udma setting be for this drive (maxtor diamondplus 8 ata/133) does the ata/133 mean the udma is 133? or am i being ignorant?

NickS if you are reading this does it not go back to something you said about the patch and I quote
"Please note that to simplify the automatic patching process, the disk capacity display has not been patched and the capacity may not be displayed correctly in the configuration report screen or CMOS setup. For example, a 120 GByte disc could show as 2139 Mbytes."
Just a thought. I wish I could sort this....

Jeff
NickS
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jsurgeson wrote:Something I have noticed that when I format and partition with Maxtors hd utility MaxBlast 3 software it sees and formats the hd as 41. something gb however fdisk me or 98 see and formats the hd as 39. something gb.
I am unsure why this is.
Is this not the reason why i cant load any os? as the mbr is reporting the hd size incorrectly.
No, this is merely the difference between displaying in SI gigabytes (10^9 bytes) as used by HDD makers, and "Gig" (1024*1024*1024) as used by programmers and RAM makers.
I also used maxtors UDMA software to change the udma setting to udma33, has this not screwed something up?
What should the udma setting be for this drive (maxtor diamondplus 8 ata/133) does the ata/133 mean the udma is 133? or am i being ignorant?
This doesn't affect capacity reporting. Capacity reporting can be affected by a manufacturer's utility e.g. IBM and need to be reset to original capacity, but if your W98/ME FDISK can see 39Gb this seems unlikely unless there's a DDO (Dynamic Disk Overlay) in play.
NickS if you are reading this does it not go back to something you said about the patch and I quote
"Please note that to simplify the automatic patching process, the disk capacity display has not been patched and the capacity may not be displayed correctly in the configuration report screen or CMOS setup. For example, a 120 GByte disc could show as 2139 Mbytes."
No, that's just the display routine. However, as you're only using a 40 GB disk, I can send you the BIOS patched for only the 32GB detect bug.
jsurgeson
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2003 5:21 pm

Hi Nick

Yes please send me that, please explain the differance between what you did send me and this new one.
Also I have been reading a bit on maxtor site about problem with ultra dma 133 drives and older mb pre nov 98, do you think that might have something to do with it? as it is a ata/133 drive on a old mb.
They talk about disabling dma mode until the correct bios update is available, is there not something that needs to be added in the bios update to alow this mb to work properly with a ata/133 hd?

Jeff
NickS
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Location: Thames Valley, UK

Apple_rom has a patcher which tries to disable the UDMA support bug in some BIOSes. However, setting the DMA mode to UDMA33 using the manufacturer's utility should achieve the same effect. I've just sent the BIOS with the 32GB detect bug patched. If that doesn't work we'll try apple_rom's patcher.
jsurgeson
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2003 5:21 pm

Hi NickS
Thanks but...no good same thing.
formats ok full size, creat one primary dos partition, attempt to install win98, enters setup runs check on file systems etc and says copying files needed then asks you to remove all disks and reboots and just repeats the same process, same problem as before still as well as with linus install.
It still does not like the hd even though it all reports ok.
What am i missing?
Jeff
jsurgeson
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2003 5:21 pm

Hi NickS
Can you do a patch that disables udma in the bios, I ask because of what maxtor say about ata133 drives and award bios that the hd may be forced to run in MS-DOS compatibility mode.
Do think this might be happening?
Although you said setting udma to 33 mode 2 is the same as changing bios I think the update udma software I used is not the right software for my maxtor ata/133 in fact it is not listed as one of the compatible drives!


What do I need to read and see what is in a binary file?

Jeff
NickS
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Joined: Fri May 03, 2002 10:34 am
Location: Thames Valley, UK

I don't know - maybe it is some HDD setting in BIOS which isn't properly implemented in this version of the BIOS.
The last BIOS I sent had patched only the 32GB autodetect bug which would cause the POST screen to hang autodetecting the drive.
I'll email you the version patched with Apple_rom's patcher for you to test.
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