Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.tyan (More info?)

I am running WinXP Pro SP2. I have been all over the internet for hours
trying to determine the max size of the hard drive for this Tyan 1854C
motherboard. But I can not find any information. It is an Award BIOS
4.51PG, 04/17/2000-694X-596B-977-TYAN1854C-00, TYAN S1854
Trinity 400 Rev. 1.07.

Can anybody help me?
--
<Bill>

Brought to you from beautiful Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
N 53° 51.140' W 166° 30.228' (WGS 84)

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.tyan (More info?)

"Bill Bradshaw" wrote:
> I am running WinXP Pro SP2. I have been all over the internet for hours
> trying to determine the max size of the hard drive for this Tyan 1854C
> motherboard. But I can not find any information. It is an Award BIOS
> 4.51PG, 04/17/2000-694X-596B-977-TYAN1854C-00, TYAN S1854
> Trinity 400 Rev. 1.07.
>
> Can anybody help me?
> --
I assume that you intend to put a modern hard drive into your PC. You face two problems. One is
the hard drive size limitation and the other is the hard drive access speed. The hard drive
controller on your classic motherboard uses ATA-33 or slower; today's hard drives use ATA-100 or
ATA-133.

The solution to both problems is a Promise Ultra controller card; it occupies a PCI slot and
provides a place to plug in several hard drives. They're easy to find on eBay. I use one on my
Tyan S1830, a board from the same era.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.tyan (More info?)

This seems to be the answer. The computer is a Pentium III 800 Mhz and
still runs fine for my needs.
--
<Bill>

Brought to you from beautiful Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
N 53° 51.140' W 166° 30.228' (WGS 84)

Larry Scholnick wrote:
> "Bill Bradshaw" wrote:
>> I am running WinXP Pro SP2. I have been all over the internet for
>> hours trying to determine the max size of the hard drive for this
>> Tyan 1854C motherboard. But I can not find any information. It is
>> an Award BIOS
>> 4.51PG, 04/17/2000-694X-596B-977-TYAN1854C-00, TYAN S1854
>> Trinity 400 Rev. 1.07.
>>
>> Can anybody help me?
>> --
> I assume that you intend to put a modern hard drive into your PC.
> You face two problems. One is the hard drive size limitation and the
> other is the hard drive access speed. The hard drive controller on
> your classic motherboard uses ATA-33 or slower; today's hard drives
> use ATA-100 or ATA-133.
>
> The solution to both problems is a Promise Ultra controller card; it
> occupies a PCI slot and provides a place to plug in several hard
> drives. They're easy to find on eBay. I use one on my Tyan S1830, a
> board from the same era.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.tyan (More info?)

Larry Scholnick wrote:
>
> "Bill Bradshaw" wrote:
> > I am running WinXP Pro SP2. I have been all over the internet for hours
> > trying to determine the max size of the hard drive for this Tyan 1854C
> > motherboard. But I can not find any information. It is an Award BIOS
> > 4.51PG, 04/17/2000-694X-596B-977-TYAN1854C-00, TYAN S1854
> > Trinity 400 Rev. 1.07.
> >
> > Can anybody help me?
> > --
> I assume that you intend to put a modern hard drive into your PC. You
> face two problems. One is the hard drive size limitation and the other
> is the hard drive access speed. The hard drive controller on your
> classic motherboard uses ATA-33 or slower; today's hard drives use
> ATA-100 or ATA-133.

The s1854 uses Ultra-DMA 66.
http://www.tyan.com/products/html/trinity400_spec.html

Connecting an ATA-100 or ATA-133 drive should not be a problem with respect
to speed. The hard drive should adjust to the host controllers specs.
However, it may be a good idea to check with the hard drive manufacturer's
web site for specific information as I recall a few years back that IBM had
a utility that needed to be run from a boot floppy to set the hard drive
speed to the host controller's speed.

The ATA-66 controller should be fast enough for single hard drive
applications as the biggest bottleneck is the drive's transfer of data off
the platters to the buffer.

> The solution to both problems is a Promise Ultra controller card; it
> occupies a PCI slot and provides a place to plug in several hard drives.
> They're easy to find on eBay. I use one on my Tyan S1830, a board from
> the same era.

The controller will solve the size issue especially if it offers 48 bit LBA
which will provide support for drives over 128 GB. It would also be great
option in machines with multiple drives.

By the way, here's a link to someone who was selling an s1854 with an 80GB
drive. http://tinyurl.com/49gum

Eric

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.tyan (More info?)

Thanks for answering the question. It looks like the board will handle up
to 128 GBs without a new controller or some kind of software solution.
--
<Bill>

Brought to you from beautiful Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
N 53° 51.140' W 166° 30.228' (WGS 84)

Eric wrote:
> Larry Scholnick wrote:
>>
>> "Bill Bradshaw" wrote:
>>> I am running WinXP Pro SP2. I have been all over the internet for
>>> hours trying to determine the max size of the hard drive for this
>>> Tyan 1854C motherboard. But I can not find any information. It is
>>> an Award BIOS
>>> 4.51PG, 04/17/2000-694X-596B-977-TYAN1854C-00, TYAN S1854
>>> Trinity 400 Rev. 1.07.
>
> The ATA-66 controller should be fast enough for single hard drive
> applications as the biggest bottleneck is the drive's transfer of
> data off the platters to the buffer.
>
>> The solution to both problems is a Promise Ultra controller card; it
>> occupies a PCI slot and provides a place to plug in several hard
>> drives. They're easy to find on eBay. I use one on my Tyan S1830, a
>> board from the same era.
>
> The controller will solve the size issue especially if it offers 48
> bit LBA which will provide support for drives over 128 GB. It would
> also be great option in machines with multiple drives.