newbie needs help with harddrive

minmay lynn · Sep 12, 2003

I got gateway AMB 1000Mhz with 60gig + 120 gig slave drive and I noticed my
computer is not reading 60 gig properly so it only says I got 40 gig of hard
drive. I am not sure if it's bio's problem but from what I know I got the
latest bios for my AmericaMegatrend motherboard. is there some way to check
my system or am I stuck with my current setting? please let me know.

I am sure I am not giving out enough information but I am new to Win XP, so
if you could please show me how to check my puter settings as well.

thanks a bunch

Bishoop · Sep 12, 2003

minmay lynn · Sep 13, 2003

ok, before I do that I got more question

how does bios work? it seems that it realize my 120 GB slave drive but
wont' read 60BG master for some reason. if my bio is old, which was the
case few month ago, shouldn't it not read 120 GB slave drive as well?

thanks again

idunno · Sep 13, 2003

Go to the following link and "make sure" you have the latest BIOS update.

http://www.ami.com/support/bios.cfm

Umm that could be dangerous advice. If your computer is made by
gateway, you should check with Gateway for a BIOS update for your
specific model. Just because it has an AMI BIOS doesn't necessarily
means it is an AMI motherboard. A non-gateway issued BIOS will be
unsupported. If you flash an incompatible BIOS you will render your
system non-functional and may also void any warranty. Certainly
before flashing the BIOS you should first use the flash utility to
save it to a file. Also if you are SURE you have the latest BIOS
already, this won't help at all.

Is your motherboard on this page?
http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/getFile.asp?id=19164
If so the latest release is 2/17/2003 and an update _may_ be
warranted.

I find it hard to believe that the 120 GIG drive is fully recognized
while the 60 gig drive can't be recognized due to a BIOS limitation.
I know of no 40 gig BIOS barrier. We need to examine this a little
further.

Before taking such a radical step as BIOS flash you should rule out a
few basic things. You didn't explain what has been changed in the
computer or exactly why you are sure the 60 isn't recognized properly.
So indulge me with the following suggestions:

First open the management console and click on "Disk Management." Are
all the drives partitioned to use the full available capacity? Are
they recognized as having the correct capacity but have some empty
space?

If the disk is truly not recognized correctly and it is not a
partition issue, take another look at you BIOS settings and jumper
settings. Was the master disk recognized correctly before the 120 GIG
was added? Were any of these disks moved from a different computer or
add-on controller? While you're inside the box take down the make and
model of the drives. If you believe this is an uncorrectable BIOS
limitation you can go to the manufacturer of one of the drives and
download utility software that will install a dynamic drive overlay
which will overcome the BIOS limitation. Something to keep in mind
though – the very unlikely worst-case scenario is buying a new $20
disk controller which takes advantage of both the total capacities and
the drives best transfer rates.

Please back up all of your data before making any big changes.

idunno · Sep 13, 2003

minmay lynn said:
ok, before I do that I got more question

how does bios work? it seems that it realize my 120 GB slave drive but
wont' read 60BG master for some reason. if my bio is old, which was the
case few month ago, shouldn't it not read 120 GB slave drive as well?

thanks again

Right. If the BIOS cannot handle the 60 gig drive it shouldn't be
able to handle the 120 gig drive. Also, I do not believe there is a
BIOS limtation that would make the drive look like a 40 gig drive.
Read my other post and update us on your troubleshooting progress.
Something about this is wrong or missing...

minmay lynn · Sep 14, 2003

two questions.

one: where and how to find Disk Management on XP pro?

second: I always get confused by my jumper setting on my H-drives. because
they always show you 2 kinds of settings with two jumpers and three jumpers.
which one should I go with?

I know i have 60 gig in my hard drive because I check the hard drive's print
and it said 60 gig. I know harddrives do not actually have 60 gig to use as
in case with my 120 GB drive, because I can only use 110 of it. I got new
60 gig when gateway had to change my H-drive when it broke down, original
config was 40, but since they no longer have those in stock they went ahead
and gave me 60 drive. maybe they can set my H-drives to only read 40 gig
worth of info because of that?

thanks again

idunno · Sep 14, 2003

minmay lynn said:
two questions.

one: where and how to find Disk Management on XP pro?

second: I always get confused by my jumper setting on my H-drives. because
they always show you 2 kinds of settings with two jumpers and three jumpers.
which one should I go with?

I know i have 60 gig in my hard drive because I check the hard drive's print
and it said 60 gig. I know harddrives do not actually have 60 gig to use as
in case with my 120 GB drive, because I can only use 110 of it. I got new
60 gig when gateway had to change my H-drive when it broke down, original
config was 40, but since they no longer have those in stock they went ahead
and gave me 60 drive. maybe they can set my H-drives to only read 40 gig
worth of info because of that?

thanks again

Start -> (All) Programs -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management

Then click on "Disk Management" in the left pane of the window

on the right side there will be a top pane which will list all logical
volumes and information about them. Below that there is another pane
which displays a graphical representation of a disks attached to the
system. You should get the information you need there. If there is
un-partitioned space, you can add a partition or format a drive by
right-clicking on the empty space.

I have no idea what a H-drive is. If you are confused about jumper
settings you need to consult the documentation that came with the
computer or the hard drive. If you tell me the exact model number and
make, maybe I can help.

Most IDE disks have the ability to set 4 settings by jumper: Master,
Slave, Cable Select, Limit Drive Capacity. "Limit Drive Capacity" is
used when the drive is larger than the BIOS can handle. This setting
makes the drive appear as smaller - but it wouldn't be 40 gig (AFAIK)
and usually isn't necessary.

The useable formatted capacity of a drive is less than the advertised
drive size, but the formatted capacities you reported seem lower than
I would expect. Of course it may be all right, it all depends on the
make and model you use - some drives format a lot closer to the
expected capacity than others.

idunno · Sep 14, 2003

minmay lynn said:
original
config was 40, but since they no longer have those in stock they went ahead
and gave me 60 drive. maybe they can set my H-drives to only read 40 gig
worth of info because of that?

Is this 60 gig drive a replacement issued by Gateway for the drive
that came with the system? If a technician "reloaded" the OS and
software you originally bought with the system, that may be the
problem. In this situation the computer recognizes the disks fine
(the jumpers and BIOS are fine). The problem is that the system image
or recovery disk the technician used to reload the OS and bundled
programs created a 40-gig partition to use instead of a 60 gig
(because the original drive replacement part is supposed to be 40
gigs).

If this is the case you have two options to get the full space of the
drive.
1. create a new 20 gig partition using the disk manager
2. use a utility like PowerQuest's Partiton Magic to resize the
partition to use the full space of the disk.

(I don't think you want to erase the disk, reformat the drive, and
re-install everything)

This is much less painfull than we first thought.

minmay lynn · Sep 15, 2003

here are few info that might help you figure out what's wrong with my hard
drive:

IBM destkstar
model IC35L060AVER070
capacity: 61.54.

i check the disk management and there was no empty space there that need to
be partitioned.

when I got my computer back from gateway, I changed my OS with windows xp
pro. so I don't think there is software problem unless there is more than I
know going on with old windows ME system disk.

what I didn't understand about the jumper setting is there are different
sets for different head sizes, like there are 1 set for 16 heads. and
another one for 16 head and THERE was setting for 32 GB clip....

idunno · Sep 15, 2003

Take another look at the jumper pins on the drive. There should be
two jumpers added. They should both be vertical and on the left most
and rightmost pins. This designates "Master." There should not be
any horizontal jumpers.

There was a 32 gig barrier, i think mostly with Award BIOS around
1999. There is also a problem with win 95 surrounding >32 gig. If
the drive is jumpered to show 32 gigs, The formatted capacity of
32247MB might make sense. Like I said, though, I know of no 40 gig
BIOS limit or drive setting.

Hitachi has taken over IBM's drive division so you would find support
for your drive with them. Follow the links below for your drive:

Deskstar 60GXP
http://www.hgst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/products/Deskstar_60GXP

Installation Guide
http://www.hgst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/techdocs/4DD4DCCA11DE5EB186256D6A0061C8A8

idunno · Sep 17, 2003

Did you fix it or give up?

newbie needs help with harddrive

minmay lynn

Bishoop

minmay lynn

idunno

idunno

minmay lynn

idunno

idunno

minmay lynn

idunno

idunno