200GB SATA HD, but PC only sees 136GB?!?!

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Guest

Hi guys,

I bought a second SATA HD for my computer, but the computer does not see its
full capacity. Although it is 200GB, the BIOS reports it is only 136GB, and
hence so does Windows?!?! It awfully sounds like the old big hard drive
problem, whereby older hardware/OS could not see the full capacity of a HD.
But my first HD is 160GB, and is working just fine! I am using XP with SP2,
with a brand new GIGABYTE motherboard. I really cannot see where the problem
could come from? Any ideas/suggestions/advices will be most appreciated.

Many thanks in advance

Alex
 
Since it's a new Gigabyte Mobo check the manual or call Gigabyte Tech.
Support. They have been helpful when I've called.

JS
 
If the bios reports it as 136gb then either that is what it is or there is a
bios problem
Make & mod.# of the sata disk?
 
Thanks for the answer.

DL said:
bios problem
Make & mod.# of the sata disk?
Click to expand...

Seagate ST3200827AS Barracuda 200GB 7200RPM SATA

On a gigabyte K8N SLI mobo.

Any clue? Because it's a SATA 2.5?
 
Alexis said:
Hi guys,

I bought a second SATA HD for my computer, but the computer does not see
its
full capacity. Although it is 200GB, the BIOS reports it is only 136GB,
and
hence so does Windows?!?! It awfully sounds like the old big hard drive
problem, whereby older hardware/OS could not see the full capacity of a
HD.
But my first HD is 160GB, and is working just fine! I am using XP with
SP2,
with a brand new GIGABYTE motherboard. I really cannot see where the
problem
could come from? Any ideas/suggestions/advices will be most appreciated.

Many thanks in advance

Alex
Click to expand...

see if this helps.
http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/capacity/137/index.html
 
bud said:
see if this helps.
http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/capacity/137/index.html
Click to expand...

Kind of. I installed Seagate's software, which said that support for large
drive was not enabled. That is weird, because I run XP SP2 and the mobo is
brand new. Plus the main HD is 160GB. Anyway, the software did its thing, I
rebooted, but no luck, still 137GB. Even Seagate's software can only see
137GB ...
So I think there's only the BIOS left. The disk is a SATA rev 2.5. can that
play a role? The mobo is a gigabyte K8N SLI.

Anyway, thanks for the answer.
 
The motherboard may be newly purchased but it may not have the latest BIOS
version.
Check the Gigabyte web site for downloads.

JS
 
Both mobo and HD are sata2, there are no bios updates that indicate they are
to cure any hd size probs. Is the bios set to autodetect the hd?
If it is set to autodetect I'd be inclined to fire off a mail to both
Seagate & Gigabyte. Ensure you inform them that the winxp cd is sp1 or
greater, as this sp has large disk support.
It should'nt make any difference but did you F6 to install raid driver?
 
Many thanks for the informative answer.

DL said:
Is the bios set to autodetect the hd?
Click to expand...

It indeed is.
If it is set to autodetect I'd be inclined to fire off a mail to both
Seagate & Gigabyte. Ensure you inform them that the winxp cd is sp1 or
greater, as this sp has large disk support.
It should'nt make any difference but did you F6 to install raid driver?
Click to expand...

nope, XP was already installed on the first HD. What I did was installing a
new mobo and adding a second HD.

But I think I found the problem. I found on the giga-byte FAQ for my mobo
(K8N SLI)
"Why can't I enter WinXP after installing nvidia chipset driver when use
with some Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 SATAII hard disk ?
Please update Seagate harddisk firmware from 2AAA to 3AAE will fix this
issue."
While searching on the web, it seems to be a more or less common problem.
Essentially, the firmware of the HD is very buggy, so it creates probllem
like mine (not full capacity) or access time slowdown (reading slower than
writing). One solution would be to update the firmware, but Seagate do not
provide them. Or you can also limit the drive to SATA150, but it kind of
defeats the purpose of having a fast HD.

In other words, stay away from Seagate 7200.9 SATA drives!!!!!! Don't buy
them. Mine is already on its way back to the retailer.

I hope that will help other guys with the same problem.

Thanks again,

Alexis
 
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