BIOS Updates forum

above laptop giving hdd error on startup, fi to resume then suspend to partition not found then run HDPREPEZ this utility installed intially ok os found then next start up back to same hdd error ,also noticed dosn't appear to hold bios info changes beyond first entry and rare access to os will only happen on user mode on bios for h/drive. when auto detect page for hdd is openned shows not installed, page back to standard cmos setup and this has reverted to not installed, scrambled bios?
bios string is 51-3303-001159-1111111-071595-1430-007 sorry could not find it on the list to i.d. m/board
hope you can help,
p.s. other info suspect new h/drive added sometime in the past because of size i.e. 6.1gig also was told pentium 200 put in although only reading p166 ,don't know if this has any relevance
thanks slushy(fred wilkinson)

It makes me wonder if the BIOS supports only up to 4.3GB (or even only 540MB) and there is a Dynamic Disc Overlay program (to handle the bigger disc size) which is not working properly. If this is the case you probably should not be using Auto - normally with a DDO you would use a specific disc type or a User disc type which is less than 4.3GB/540MB. The DDO would then load from the area covered by this and replace the BIOS parameter with its own to allow access to the whole disc. Just for a laugh, try setting disk type 1 in CMOS and see what happens.

thanks nicks for your suggestion unfortunately no joy.
for anyone else out there who can help the background is as follows ,
on start up seeing prim/master hdd error.appended to desktop pc with adaptor in the absence of cd rom f fdisk and format on desktop to remove error(hopefully) re-loaded win98se successfully submitted to laptop and normal setup followed all relevant items enabled(yippee done it) no such luck on next startup back to same hdd error .re-submit to desktop o.s. still on h/drive boots up ok.
as a novice is this possibly a cmos problem seeing as this area stores drive info, 6.1 gig h/drive fitted(not original) user manual says 1.4 to 3.2 gig h/drive should this make any difference if lba is present in setup .
setup will only see h/drive in user mode and if you access auto detect (which is the same layout as standard cmos setup)it cancels out user entry in standard cmos setup(will not detect in auto mode)
originally had a hotch potch of win98 and me installed, further wrinkle will onlly go so far on win 98 boot disk the halts but will boot through to A prompt on me boot disk
sorry about the long winded explanation thought all info should be posted to assist in analysis
cheers fred wilkinson (slushy)

The previous owner may have used a DDO when they installed the drive, if it was too big for the BIOS in the laptop. Installing W98 using a machine which supports the full capacity will not fix this issue. You would need to prepare the disk using a utility provided by the disk manufacturer or sold by OnTrack systems which will automatically set the CMOS and install a DDO. The problem with installing W98 is then that you need to have the DDO loaded from the diskette which starts the setup (or if you're booting from CD - unlikely - it would need to be on the CD!)

When the overlay is installed on the HDD, the correct way to install Windows is to boot from a boot disk with CD-ROM support (using the method supported by the overlay - usually requires to press some key to boot from floppy when the overlay message appears) and then run SETUP from the CD.

to nicks
thanks for your support ref. the above laptop, the problem eventually deteriorated to not seeing the h.d. at all .followed your advice and went to on track for generic diagnostic ,did'nt find h.d
eventually found problem was duff h.d. connector board to h.d.
all functioning fine now win 98 and office 2000 loaded
ontrack diagnostic gives all ok on h.d.
thanks once again
fred (slushy)