New 60Gb HDD, can't see most of it

[AidanEnos]

I think the drive is FUBAR... but when I run Fdisk it only will see or create the primary partition of 14.1 Gb. I tried Partition Magic as well and it only saw the primary partition and didn't show any unformatted disk space.

This is my first drive over 10Gb so I wanted to ask before I returned it...

Is there anything else I should check?

The drive is a 60.0 GB AT Maxtor D740X-6L p/n MX6L060J3

Thanks,

AidanEnos

 

[Scotsdude]

Check the BIOS on your motherboard. It may not be able to recognise drives over a certain size.

Scotsdude

 

[garwain]

expanding on that...

1) you bios might be unable to DETECT the drive properly. Go to the documentation for the drive (I've heard that some HDDs actually come with documentation, but never seen any) or the manufacturiers website to find the proper bios settings for the HDD. Armed with this information, reboot and in your bios, set the HDD to a user defined (using LBA) and put in the settings manually that you got from the manufacturier.

2) If manually setting up the drive didn't help your bios is probably unable to handle large drives. Read the documentation for your motherboard and see if there is an updated bios at the manufacturers website.

 

[ceh4702]

Sounds like operator error!

You have probably exceeded the limits of the BIOS.....


There are some programs like EZMAX or EZDRIVE that will let you split your drive up into the maximum size of a partition. If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[dakota81]

The BIOS _must_ be able to properly detect a drive of that size first.

THEN - fdisk has a known size limitation even throughout the 98SE release, there is an updated fdisk file downloadable from Microsoft's site to recognize drives above 32gig.


If the bios cannot recognize that high, and there is no newer bios file on the internet, you can always purchase a PCI IDE controller and that will definately solve your troubles.

 

[Graywolf96]

Ceh4702 has the answer...I used EZMAX (came with Western Digital 40G 2nd drive) and it works fine.

But here's a question...updating BIOS...is this a good idea? What's the down side? How badly can I muck up my system? I have a P3 450, 384 RAM, Win 98SE, motherboard is SOYO (Tiger Direct Korean thing-couple years old at least-been good to me). The hard drive limit issue, and I think I have an AGP video card problem that might be related to the old system (it's Nvidia (Pine) 64M 400 MX and updated drivers from Pine or Nvidia do not resolve the problem...that is: the Windows screen log comes up and stays-no access to desktop).

 

[ceh4702]

Some older motherboards do not work well with 4X AGP cards. I had all kinds of trouble with a FIC AD11 motherboard. After talking to some people I replaced the motherboard with an Asus A7M266-E Motherboard and everything was fine. If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[IMRevbudgreen]

Updating BIOS can be the Rebirth, or complete Death of a motherboard. Don't flash BIOS unless the system doesn't operate properly, and there is no workaround. Prepare yourself for the motherboard to NEVER work again if you screw up flashing the BIOS, or a power problem occurs during flashing. That being said, if you are very familiar with motherboards and flashing, it is a EXTREMELY simple process. In your case, if the motherboard is otherwise useless, give it a try. You can only become more experienced with the process.
Not All Who Wander Are Lost

 

[garwain]

most importantly before flashing, check and double check that the update is for your motherboard. Using the wrong version can be a disaster.

reread all directions to make sure you completly understand what you are about to do

before flashing the bios, make a backup of your current bios in case of problems.

make another backup just in case there is a problem with the disk


Also, if something does go wrong with the flash, DO NOT SHUT YOUR COMPUTER OFF. get another copy of the update and try again. If that still doesn't work use the backup you made.

Should that not work then best of luck with your reboot. Maybe you'll be lucky but most likely you'll be heading off to shop for a new board.

 

[garwain]

most importantly before flashing, check and double check that the update is for your motherboard. Using the wrong version can be a disaster.

reread all directions to make sure you completly understand what you are about to do

before flashing the bios, make a backup of your current bios in case of problems.

make another backup just in case there is a problem with the disk


Also, if something does go wrong with the flash, DO NOT SHUT YOUR COMPUTER OFF. get another copy of the update and try again. If that still doesn't work use the backup you made.

Should that not work then best of luck with your reboot. Maybe you'll be lucky but most likely you'll be heading off to shop for a new board.

I have flashed hundreds of BIOSs (what's the plural for BIOS?), and only once had it mess up. It was an old board that I picked up from ebay and hoped to put a new processor on. Lost $20 Oh well... I in no way want to discourage you. It's usually safe enough as long as you have the right update and you have a backup on hand as well. But I just want you to know the risks as well.