60GB: soyo 5vd

BIOS update, EIDE card, or overlay software? (FAQ Hard disk recognition)
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sdwim
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Hi, i have a pretty old system and it doesn't recognize my hdd.
Heres what i have:

BIOS INFO:
Award Modular Bios v4.51PG
Plug and Play Bios extension v1.0A
Bios release 5VD B6
09/15/97-i430bx-ITE8680-2A59GS2GC-00

Hard Drive Info:
Maxtor DiamondMax 80 5400 RPM 61.4 GB AT Disk Drive

Some of the bios id's i have seen on wimbios that are similar to mine, have a later date than 1997, which makes me think there is a more recent bios thatn what I have. I searched all over the net and could not find it. I'd appreciate any help, or let me know if my case is hopeless. Also, if it's hopeless and you know how many gigs my bios can handle, please let me know. FYI i am able to run a 10 gig hard drive perfectly.
Rainbow
The UniFlasher
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Patched BIOS sent.
Patched and tested BIOSes are at http://wims.rainbow-software.org
UniFlash - Flash anything anywhere
sdwim
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wow worked like a charm, I never thought you guys were so good. I'm goin to click on all the banners on your site for a month :) Thanks a lot!
sdwim
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jsut tried formating the drive with a win 98 boot disk, and its sayin "trying to recover allocation unit" , a sign that it has bad sectors. I havent checked for bad sectors before, but it never gave me this problem. Could it be a bios related problem or no?
Rainbow
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Most probably the disk is really bad - try diagnostic utility from Maxtor - it should be BIOS independent and can tell if the drive is good or bad.
Patched and tested BIOSes are at http://wims.rainbow-software.org
UniFlash - Flash anything anywhere
soupy
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sdwim wrote:jsut tried formating the drive with a win 98 boot disk, and its sayin "trying to recover allocation unit" , a sign that it has bad sectors. I havent checked for bad sectors before, but it never gave me this problem. Could it be a bios related problem or no?
If you have an inordinate amount of them, it could also be a virus.
Flash your BIOS at your own risk.
sdwim
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i left the format overnight and somehow it got stopped somehow.. some fatal error, i tried scandisk on it and it said it could not scan the drive.. i got the powermax maxtor utility and said it could not start the dos program. I am goin to try to format again. If it doesnt work, ill get a new drive.
sdwim
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just got a new 60 gig hard drive from maxtor to replace the broken one. I made a win 98 boot disk and ran fdisk. Fdisk reports the size of the drive as 504 mbs. The cmos recognized it fine as 60 gigs. I don't want to try to format the drive for fear of breaking it like the other one. Could the new cmos be bad? Any suggestions?
soupy
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You need a newer FDISK, from the sound of it.
Flash your BIOS at your own risk.
georgep
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sdwim wrote:just got a new 60 gig hard drive from maxtor to replace the broken one. I made a win 98 boot disk and ran fdisk. Fdisk reports the size of the drive as 504 mbs. The cmos recognized it fine as 60 gigs. I don't want to try to format the drive for fear of breaking it like the other one. Could the new cmos be bad? Any suggestions?
Updated FDISK for Win98 at:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb ... 3/0/44.ASP
Rainbow
The UniFlasher
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Make sure the drive mode is configured in BIOS as LBA, not NORMAL or LARGE.
Patched and tested BIOSes are at http://wims.rainbow-software.org
UniFlash - Flash anything anywhere
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