IBM PIII doesn't recognize 80 Gig h/d

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docsavage20

The 6 gig C: drive died in my IBM PIII so I got an 80 gig drive at the
local Mega mart to use as the new C: drive but on installation, it
shows up as 14 gig and some change in the system summary. I already
have a 60 gig D drive which it recognizes no problem.

A couple of years ago I updated the bios, the bios is showing as
7/19/01. Shouldn't it recognize a drive of this size? FWIW, it shows to
be type 6862PW5.

Any suggestions? I went to ibm.com but they seem to have gotten rid of
what used to be great resources for their older PC's. Maybe I'm looking
in the wrong place?

Thanks for all shared knowledge and Happy New Year.
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote
The 6 gig C: drive died in my IBM PIII so I got an 80 gig drive at
the local Mega mart to use as the new C: drive but on installation,
Click to expand...

What exactly do you meant by that ? Just physically plugging it in ?
it shows up as 14 gig and some change in the system summary.
Click to expand...

What 'system summary' ?
I already have a 60 gig D drive which it recognizes no problem.
Click to expand...

That is the crucial bit.
A couple of years ago I updated the bios, the bios is showing
as 7/19/01. Shouldn't it recognize a drive of this size?
Click to expand...

Yes, and it clearly handles the 60G drive fine.
FWIW, it shows to be type 6862PW5.
Click to expand...
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Check what you have the drive type set
to in the bios. It should be set to AUTO.

If its set for AUTO, try wiping the drive with something like clearhdd from
http://www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDrive/utilities/clearhdd.htm
and then partition and format the drive and see what the size is then.
I went to ibm.com but they seem to have gotten rid of
what used to be great resources for their older PC's.
Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place?
Click to expand...

Yes, it should still be there.
 
Rod said:
(e-mail address removed) wrote


What exactly do you meant by that ? Just physically plugging it in ?
Click to expand...

I mean I took the old 6 gig drive out and plugged the 80 gig drive in
its place. Haven't attempted to install the O/S yet since I wanted to
resolve the size recognition issue first or determine if it was somehow
unsolveable.
What 'system summary' ?
Click to expand...

The part in the pre-o/s load setup/configuration screen that you can
access even if there's no h/d in the computer (what I've always thought
of as "bios") that says "System Summary".
That is the crucial bit.


Yes, and it clearly handles the 60G drive fine.



Check what you have the drive type set
to in the bios. It should be set to AUTO.
Click to expand...

I'll check again but I don't think there is such an option.
If its set for AUTO, try wiping the drive with something like clearhdd from
http://www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDrive/utilities/clearhdd.htm
and then partition and format the drive and see what the size is then.
Click to expand...

I'll give that a try. I take it I need to do this on a computer with an
O/S already installed?
Yes, it should still be there.
Click to expand...

Went under "support/downloads" at ibm.com/us and see no option under
PC's but the PC 300 family. The site looks different than it did the
last time I looked, which was a while ago. Also looks like someone else
is handling their support - some company called Lenovo.

Btw, thought I should add the 60-gig drive it already has and the newer
80-gig drive are both Western Digital Caviar drives.
 
You said "changes in the system summary". What changes? Make sure the
jumpers are correct. Try switching them from slave to master. What
happens then? Make sure there is no jumper that limits the number of
cylinders. Try it in another machine. What then?
 
Irwin said:
You said "changes in the system summary". What changes?
Click to expand...

"14 gigs and some change". I'm not sure where you are but in the U.S.,
"and some change" is slang for "and then some". I.e., the drive shows
to be a bit over 14 gigs (expressed in thousands of megs) in the system
summary.
Make sure the
jumpers are correct. Try switching them from slave to master. What
happens then?
Click to expand...

Already set as the master.
Make sure there is no jumper that limits the number of
cylinders. Try it in another machine. What then?
Click to expand...

Will take a look at it in my other machine.

Thanks.
 
Ok, I get it, 14 and some change.

What is the physical config? Both on the same ribbon? Same ID channel?
No add in cards or anything like that?

IMF
 
Ignore the above. Just because it sees a 60GB, doesn't mean it'll see
an 80GB.

Two choices:

Option 1:
If you're installing Linux, Windows 2000 or Windows XP, the OS doesn't
actually give a stuff what the BIOS sees as it polls the drive directly
so will allow you to use the full capacity. You only have trouble with
Win9x based OSes.


Option 2:
Assuming there is no BIOS update available, you can use something along
the lines of a Promise IDE controller that WILL see the capacity of the
drive.
--
Conor

I'm so grateful to the USA for their contribution to the war on terror.
After all, if they hadn't funded the IRA for 30 years, we wouldn't know
what terror was.
 
Ignore the above. Just because it sees a 60GB, doesn't mean it'll see
an 80GB.
Click to expand...

I would have thought it would mean just that. What do you base your
statement on?

Irwin
 
Howdy!

The 6 gig C: drive died in my IBM PIII so I got an 80 gig drive at the
local Mega mart to use as the new C: drive but on installation, it
shows up as 14 gig and some change in the system summary. I already
have a 60 gig D drive which it recognizes no problem.
Click to expand...

If by "System Summary" you mean FDISK, that's a known bug - it wraps
at the 64Gibibyte ( 64 Gigs in binary ) boundary.

And 80G in sales parlance is about 78G in binary.

So 78 - 64 = 14G shown!

If you use the drive as one partition, or use percentage partitions,
then you should be fine.

And it IS recognizing the 80G, else your computer would lock up
solid when it tried to AUTO detect it.

RwP
 
Howdy!

Irwin said:
I would have thought it would mean just that. What do you base your
statement on?
Click to expand...

Because > 64G adds a bit - and that's where some BIOSes would lock
up.

Not your problem here - I'm surprised that Conor and others forgot
about the FDISK problem with > 64G drives B)

RwP
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Click to expand...
I mean I took the old 6 gig drive out and plugged the 80
gig drive in its place. Haven't attempted to install the O/S
yet since I wanted to resolve the size recognition issue
first or determine if it was somehow unsolveable.
Sure.
Click to expand...
The part in the pre-o/s load setup/configuration screen that
you can access even if there's no h/d in the computer (what
I've always thought of as "bios") that says "System Summary".
Click to expand...

Yes, that's the bios.

On second thoughts, it may be reporting the size over 60G,
in other words, 80G-60G, when you allow for the fact that
you lose some because the bios is likely reporting binary
GBs and the hard drive manufacturer decimal GBs.

I'd try a later bios flash for that motherboard if you can find one.
I'll check again but I don't think there is such an option.
Click to expand...

There is on every bios.
I'll give that a try. I take it I need to do this
on a computer with an O/S already installed?
Click to expand...

No, its runs from a bootable floppy.
Went under "support/downloads" at ibm.com/us
and see no option under PC's but the PC 300 family.
Click to expand...

There's clearly Thinkpads, Aptivas, Ambras etc too.
The site looks different than it did the last time I looked,
which was a while ago. Also looks like someone else is
handling their support - some company called Lenovo.
Click to expand...

Yep. IBM has flogged off the PCs now.
Btw, thought I should add the 60-gig drive it already has and
the newer 80-gig drive are both Western Digital Caviar drives.
Click to expand...

OK.
 
Rod Speed wrote:
Click to expand...
Btw, should I need to "wipe" a brand-new drive?
Click to expand...

Not normally, but it may be a return and someone else has
done something wrong with the drive, installed a bios overlay
etc or just used geometry details that amount to a 14G drive.

Not that likely now its clear that the 14G size report is from the bios tho.

Looks more likely the bios is having a brain fart.
 
The 6 gig C: drive died in my IBM PIII so I got an 80 gig drive at the
local Mega mart to use as the new C: drive but on installation, it
shows up as 14 gig and some change in the system summary. I already
have a 60 gig D drive which it recognizes no problem.

A couple of years ago I updated the bios, the bios is showing as
7/19/01. Shouldn't it recognize a drive of this size? FWIW, it shows to
be type 6862PW5.

Any suggestions? I went to ibm.com but they seem to have gotten rid of
what used to be great resources for their older PC's. Maybe I'm looking
in the wrong place?
Click to expand...

Got to the Lenovo site
http://www.lenovo.com/us/en/
and search on the number 6862. There's still a download page for it but I
didn't see anything that addressed your hard drive issue.
 
Rod Speed said:
(e-mail address removed) wrote



Yes, that's the bios.

On second thoughts, it may be reporting the size over 60G,
in other words, 80G-60G, when you allow for the fact that
you lose some because the bios is likely reporting binary
GBs and the hard drive manufacturer decimal GBs.

I'd try a later bios flash for that motherboard if you can find one.
Click to expand...

I'd try
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=JBAR-3TYSNA
 
The 6 gig C: drive died in my IBM PIII so I got an 80 gig drive at the
local Mega mart to use as the new C: drive but on installation, it
shows up as 14 gig and some change in the system summary. I already
have a 60 gig D drive which it recognizes no problem.

A couple of years ago I updated the bios, the bios is showing as
7/19/01. Shouldn't it recognize a drive of this size? FWIW, it shows to
be type 6862PW5.

Any suggestions? I went to ibm.com but they seem to have gotten rid of
what used to be great resources for their older PC's. Maybe I'm looking
in the wrong place?

Thanks for all shared knowledge and Happy New Year.
Click to expand...

IBM sold off their PC division to Lenovo and
erased what was probably the world's largest
repository of PC tech stuff.

The repository was copied here before it was erased:
http://greyghost.dyndns.org/pccbbs/

--
-- Marten Kemp
(Fix name and ISP to reply)
-=-=-
.... Madness takes its toll, please have exact change.
* TagZilla 0.059 * http://tagzilla.mozdev.org
 
Ralph Wade Phillips said:
Not your problem here - I'm surprised that Conor and others forgot
about the FDISK problem with > 64G drives B)
Click to expand...

I didn't at all because it's been a non issue since the update to FDISK
some 4 years ago.


--
Conor

I'm so grateful to the USA for their contribution to the war on terror.
After all, if they hadn't funded the IRA for 30 years, we wouldn't know
what terror was.
 
Howdy!

Rod Speed said:
That 14G report is by the bios, not fdisk.
Click to expand...

Which I had not seen his message about when I posted.

Still, I bet it's the same error. I've seen all kinds of BIOS
sizes, including negative ones, that still booted and worked great.

But eh.

RwP
 
Howdy!

Conor said:
I didn't at all because it's been a non issue since the update to FDISK
some 4 years ago.
Click to expand...

It's a non-issue in what way? If the OP was running with an
original 98SE, then he'd still have the bad FDISK. And even though it never
was a PERFORMANCE bug (i.e., as long as you used percentages or the whole
drive, it never bothered anything), it's still a COSMETIC bug.

Rod pointed out that it was in the BIOS screen the OP was having the
size error- something that came out in a message that didn't make it to this
newsreader,so it (the FDISK error) is still a non-issue for the OP, true.
But it's worth mentioning to anyone who has this error, IMO ...

RwP
 
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