Can't Use Spinrite 6 for high capacity HDD's

  • Thread starter Thread starter calvin_b
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C

calvin_b

Environment - Win2K, Dell P4, Drive 0 = 40Gb, Drive 1 = 160GB, NTFS

Situation - chkdsk indicated index problems which it fixed, but I want
to ensure that there aren't other problems in the offing

When I run Spinrite, it 'sees' the drives, but in the entry for the
160GB drive it warns that the Bios setting (Auto) does not map to the
actual layout of the drive.I cannot run any analysis or repair routines
:(

Any ideas on how I can proceed? I've already flashed the Bios to the
latest level available from the Dell website.

TIA

calvin_b
 
calvin_b said:
Environment - Win2K, Dell P4, Drive 0 = 40Gb, Drive 1 = 160GB, NTFS
Click to expand...
Situation - chkdsk indicated index problems which it fixed, but
I want to ensure that there aren't other problems in the offing
Click to expand...
When I run Spinrite, it 'sees' the drives, but in the entry for the
160GB drive it warns that the Bios setting (Auto) does not map to the
actual layout of the drive.I cannot run any analysis or repair routines :(
Click to expand...
Any ideas on how I can proceed?
Click to expand...

Presumably there is some problem with 48 bit LBA
support somewhere, since that drive is over 128G.

Check that you do have Win2K 48 bit LBA support installed and enabled.

If the problem is still seen with that fine, put the boot into Gibson.
 
calvin_b said:
Thanks for the post...48 bit LBA seems to be enabled (according to
http://www.winguides.com/registry). I have full access to the drive via NTFS.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I had a brain fart too, it doesnt even use 2K at all, uses dos.

Demand an answer from Gibson. There isnt anything
obvious on a quick browse of the web site on that.
 
the Bios setting (Auto) does not map to the actual layout of the drive.
Click to expand...

Presumably that's the 'partition layout of the drive'.
I cannot run any analysis or repair routines :(


Presumably there is some problem with 48 bit LBA
support somewhere, since that drive is over 128G.

Check that you do have Win2K 48 bit LBA support installed and enabled.
Click to expand...

What good will that do to DOS, Clueless?
SpinRite doesn't run under Windows.
If the problem is still seen with that fine, put the boot into Gibson.
Click to expand...

Utterly clueless.
 
Rod Speed said:
Demand an answer from Gibson. There isnt anything
obvious on a quick browse of the web site on that.
Click to expand...

"Spinrite is so easy to use that it doesn't need documentation" - according
to many of the SR newsgroup folks. The website nor the old documenation (SR5
and down) shed a lot o' light on SR 6 operation, results and problems.
 
Thanks for your posts..all of you. The penny started to drop with me.
Spinrite runs under Free-Dos, so it must be subjected to the
limitations of what the OS can address in terms of disk capacity Y/N?
If so, does anyone know what those limits might be? I'm a Mac convert
(back 5 years) so i never got into the 'guts' of DOS I'm afraid.

TIA

calvin_b
 
Joep said:
"Spinrite is so easy to use that it doesn't need documentation" - according
to many of the SR newsgroup folks. The website nor the old documenation (SR5
and down) shed a lot o' light on SR 6 operation, results and problems.
Click to expand...

What problems. Steve Gibson is GOD and GOD is perfect.
 
calvin_b said:
Thanks for your posts..all of you. The penny started to drop with me.
Spinrite runs under Free-Dos, so it must be subjected to the
limitations of what the OS can address in terms of disk capacity Y/N?
Click to expand...

No. It can use bios calls direct.
If so, does anyone know what those limits might be?
Click to expand...

Doesn't likely apply.
I'm a Mac convert
(back 5 years) so i never got into the 'guts' of DOS I'm afraid.
Click to expand...

You could run Findpart to check whether there is a geometry mismatch
between the bios geometry translation and the a geometry parameters
used with the partition tables.
 
calvin_b said:
Thanks for your posts..all of you. The penny started to drop with me.
Spinrite runs under Free-Dos, so it must be subjected to the
limitations of what the OS can address in terms of disk capacity Y/N?
Click to expand...

Nope, that sort of program aint necessarily limited by the OS at all.
If so, does anyone know what those limits might be?
Click to expand...

None that are relevant in this particular situation.

The problem is that Spinrite is ****ed.
I'm a Mac convert (back 5 years)
Click to expand...

I wish you hadnt leapt out of that closet quite so
enthusiastically, there are clearly children reading here.
so i never got into the 'guts' of DOS I'm afraid.
Click to expand...

Its guts are completely irrelevant to this.
 
You are much better off using chkdsk to check file systems,
and the drive's diagnostics and SMART to check hardware.
I doubt spinrite matches either of them.
 
Calvin_b

I've used Spinrite 6 to test drives on receipt before release to users.
Works fine with 200+ GB drives. Takes about 11 1/2 hours to do a deep
Level 4 test on a 200GB Seagate ST320022A ATA drive.

I've seen drive geometry mismatches before, but can't recall any from
Spinrite. But it is a problematic piece of software -- just check
Steve's newsfeeds/newsgroups: news.grc.com, grc.spinrite and
grc.spinrite.dev. If you really want to pursue this, post your
questions there.

I wouldn't bother, however. You should offload all your data to
another drive and reformat and repartition the drive. Then get a clean
bill of health from Spinrite (or Disk Manager or whatever) and then
reload. Everything else is a waste of time, unless you want to examine
and identify exactly what has happened.

-- Roy Zider
 
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Subject: Re: Can't Use Spinrite 6 for high capacity HDD's
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[QUOTE]
What is Findpart? I have never heard of it, and how can I access it?
Click to expand...

You are on Google, aren't you?
TIA

Calvin_b
Click to expand...
[/QUOTE]
 
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