Hard Disk - Device not present or update drivers

[PaulAlexander]

Hello to everyone,

I wonder wethwer you can help me with yhe following:

At first few words about the ill functioning system:
Operating Sys : Win98, Mobo Elite P6BAP -A+, CPU Celeron 736 MHz, Video card 3D Riva TNT2, RAM 256MB, Storage 2 HDs one IBM 60GB (7200 rpm) the other a small one of 6GB.
The error that keeps occuring is that Win98 can not display the capacity of 60GB of the hard Disk !! It displays a negative value D:-2718 pressumably the used space.
I think there must be a patch for this one by IBM for it's Hard Drives. Please if any of you could direct me to the right IBM link I'll be very much appreceiated.
Unless you believe that the solution of this problem is not the above I suspect.
The second error and the most important is that an exclamation mark appears infront of the Primary Hard Disk controller (dual FIFO) in Device manager. I'm refering to the DRive C: which in the case of my friend is only 6GB and used as primary.
In the device status section of this device there is the following Error Message:
THE DEVICE IS EITHER NOT PRESENT, NOT WORKING PROPERLY, OR DOESN'T HAVE ALL THE DRIVERS INSTALLED.
My question is that, if I remove the above Hard Drive C: while in Device manager by choosing it and clicking REMOVE and then attempt to reinstall it through a restart, (or if not detected install it manually through settings>control panel>Add new Hardware wizard), do I run the danger of not being able to recover C: and it's initial contents ??
Please send me your ideas on the above two problems and how to get rid of that exclamation mark.
Thanks in advance, PaulAlexander.

 

[PaulAlexander]

Hello again,

I feel that I have to come back and clarify a little bit more my 2nd question above.
I wrote above, whether it was safe to remove the Hard Disk C:.... what I meant to say is, if I could remove via the Device Manager and specifically in the category of the HARD DISK CONTROLLERS the "Primary IDE dual FIFO controller" and reinstall it after restart without affecting the directory and File structure of my HD C, so that I can have access to it as before??
Do I have the above option?
Thanks again. PaulAlexander

 

[Dreamland]

Removing and reinstalling in device manager should not affect the disk itself, PaulAlexander. I think your problem lies in the BIOS, hoever, and the way it is interpreting the logical layout of the disk. Win98 depends on the BIOS to accurately report specifics about the disk - it probably won't do you much good to 'fix' Win98 first.

Start by looking at the way the BIOS recognizes the disk during boot (before DOS or Windows loads). If you know how to go into the BIOS setup screens, check to see if your motherboard is set to automatically detect the HDD settings. There is usually a way to force it to detect the drive while you are in the setup screens.

Post the settings you find in BIOS as well as the 'name' reported during boot. Your next steps will vary depending on that. Also say if the drive had ever been recognized properly (or did this just start now?)

 

[PaulAlexander]

Hi Dreamland,

Thanks for your comments.
Talking about BIOS please note that the PC I'm trying to fix belongs to a friend of mine.
I have tried to enter BIOS few hours ago and to my surprise I have noticed, that I was unable to alter any of the settings using the keyboard arrows.
I tried to alter some "Disable" to "Enable" settings and simply wouldn't allow me to do so. They appeared as locked to intervention!! Is there something I'm missing somewhere?

The BIOS installed was AWARD and the version of it one of the earlier ones...V1.02 if I remember well.
Is there a Lock switch in there or some key I have to click to reactivate changes in the settings.
I noticed that no password was used in this BIOS.
Thank you looking forward to hear your points of view,
PaulAlexander

 

[edfair]

Or it is possible you are dealing with a M/B that has controller chips that are identified incorrectly.



Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[PaulAlexander]

Hi edfair,

Do I translate what you said....that the electronics of the HD are malfunctioning? Because the HD makes a lot of noise with an ultrasound wistle just audible on top of a metallic scratchy noise!!
The problem is why the BIOS appears locked and I can not enter to make changes where clearly the HD's 60GB is displayed wrongly? Could it be a bad battery? The owener told me that the Mobo is almost 5 years old.
Thank you. Please keep posting your ideas.
PaulAlexander