Errors with a Hard Drive greater than 137GB.....48 Bit BIOS?

[Hitchiker]

I bought a new 250GB Seagate HD and installed it as a slave to my older 80GB HD. However, whenever i load it to about half full (around 125-150 GB) the disk gets errors and my computer basically won't let me access any files and then deletes them on a reboot and leaving the message that my hard drive is unformatted and would i like to format it now. I am running Windows 2000, Service Pack 4 with 2.23 Mhz processor and 512MB ram.
I did read something about needing a 48-bit LBA-compatible Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) but i don't know how to tell what rating my BIOS is.Could this be the problem (i hesitate to assume this because the articles i've read suggest that the computer will only read the hard drive as the maximum GB allowed but mine reads 232 GB at all times. Any suggestions?

 

[cowboytech]

for the bio's and much more try this; SiSoftware Sandra

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download92.html

did you format it, FAT or NTFS?

 

[Hitchiker]

i already have the sandra tool but when i go into bios i don't see anything talking about bits or LBA compatable. i've formatted it four times to NTFS. here is the link from microsoft that i think may address my problem.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;305098

However, the difference is that my computer recognizes the full capacity of the 250 GB hard drive, conflicting with what they say on the page. Is it this or is it something else?

 

[cowboytech]

In sandra, in BIOs look at listing under Version, then lookup info about Version.
It really seems more like a write delay issue of some sort, because it see's and works with all the drive, you may have to check, now I'm trying to remember, something about a shutdown delay so the machine can finish writing what it has in cache, so that the machine gets it to the disk before it shuts down.

 

[ProHandyman]

It may have to do with the shutdown delay... but you may want to try using a standard configuration. Try using the hard drives both as "masters" on both controllers(channels), and your opticals as "slaves". Make sure your HDDs are at the end of the cable, not middle. Your always better of using master/slave settings then cable select.

The old tale of don't mix HDDs and optical drives on the same channel, as this "dummied down" the speed to the lowest common denominator, does not hold with modern chipsets/BIOSes. So no need of worry here.

Your optical drive letters may change slightly, but you can change their drive letters if you need to.

You may also have a problem with an inadequate power supply, or over-clocking to far. I have also seen bad, or poorly made IDE cables cause this kind of behavior... try using a new/different IDE cable.

 

[Hitchiker]

Okay my bios version is PT84520A.86A.0009.P04.0205291548 (according to Sandra). I'm not sure what to do with this information. I googled it and didn't get anything of use. Also, my IDE cable will not reach from my cd drives to my hard drives unless i tear it all apart and rearange everything. is this absolutely necessary? also...my secondary hard drive (250 GB) is set to cable, not slave, would this have anything to do with it?

 

[ProHandyman]

Okay my bios version is PT84520A.86A.0009.P04.0205291548 (according to Sandra). I'm not sure what to do with this information. I googled it and didn't get anything of use. Also, my IDE cable will not reach from my cd drives to my hard drives unless i tear it all apart and rearange everything. is this absolutely necessary? also...my secondary hard drive (250 GB) is set to cable, not slave, would this have anything to do with it?

OK, you DO have configuration problems! When using two HDDs on the same cable... either you use mstr/slve with the master at last position; OR both drives cable select, and master at the end! Can't have it mixed settings!

I understand you problem with the M/S thing with cable lengths... only way to get around that, would be by using 51/4->31/2" addapters. Under these circumstances, you have done what is right. Just make sure your HDDs are on the PRIMARY controller/channel.

 

[pscowboy]

Absolutely! Especially if the first drive is Master.

Of course it depends on what cable type you are using. For some, it's a positional thing.

Best way to avoid trouble is to set the primary drive as Master with an end plug; and the second drive as Slave on the middle connection.

 

[cowboytech]

Mostly what the other gentlemen are saying is try a replacement of your primary drive communication IDE cable. Since you have no problem with your cd/dvd drives, they suggest using it in lieu of a different cable (and any possible channel interference would also be changed) and then you would have a different primary secondary layout configured.

Possibly a little secret; some motherboard manufactures save about a nickel and setting cable select, cable select on the same cable won't work (unless you get special cable) and yes always with cable select your end is the master and the middle is the slave!
I actually had a customer bring in a machine and he had the middle of the cable plugged into the motherboard.

 

[Batspoon]

I bought a new 250GB Seagate HD and installed it as a slave to my older 80GB HD. However, whenever i load it to about half full (around 125-150 GB) the disk gets errors and my computer basically won't let me access any files and then deletes them on a reboot and leaving the message that my hard drive is unformatted and would i like to format it now. I am running Windows 2000, Service Pack 4 with 2.23 Mhz processor and 512MB ram.
I did read something about needing a 48-bit LBA-compatible Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) but i don't know how to tell what rating my BIOS is.Could this be the problem (i hesitate to assume this because the articles i've read suggest that the computer will only read the hard drive as the maximum GB allowed but mine reads 232 GB at all times. Any suggestions?

Read this from Microsoft: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305098/en-us

They state: "Although support for 48-bit LBA is included in Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 (SP3) and later, it is still necessary to create the registry change that is described in the "Resolution" section of this article".

[code:1:ffbc58c2f8]HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>SYSTEM>CurrentControlSet>Services>atapi>Parameters
Value name: EnableBigLba
Data type: REG_DWORD
Value data: 0x1[/code:1:ffbc58c2f8]

Hope this helps.

 

[Hitchiker]

I am so frustrated right now. I switched the jumper to the appropriate master/slave settings and everything was working fine until tonight...it did it again! the exact error i get is when i try to click a folder in my secondary hard drive it responds with "[the path of the file] is not accessable. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable." I just switched the ide cables between my rom drives and my hard drives but i'm not convinced it will do the trick. This time it erased at exactly 134GB. Even though the files are not accessable it still reads as if the full 134GB were there. However, as it has in the past, as soon as i restart my computer, all of the files will be deleted, leaving only the empty folders behind. AUUUUGGGGHHHHHH. I'm also going to try the registry editor as batspoon recommends but the problem microsoft describes doesn't sound like my problem.

 

[ProHandyman]

What manufacturer and model mother board do you have? that would help us with the BIOS, or other possible problems.

There may be a number of things going on here, hardware and software. By chance, have you run the manufacturer's diagnostic software for your hard drive, to rule out HDD errors? Erroring memory can also corrupt drive files... but normaly all active drives... you could try running memtest +.

 

[Hitchiker]

actually sorry, my last post was inaccurate...when i restarted my computer it did something different this time. it ran a program in DOS that said "One of your disks needs to be checked for consistency." then it spat out a ton of letter too fast for me to read. When it finally booted up i checked it and they appear to exhist until i try and open them in which case i get various corruption errors depending on the software i use.

 

[Hitchiker]

okay so my HD is still getting data corruption so i checked my HD using Seagate's dignostic tool. It reported only 137GB of space so i'm assuming i have to edit my registry. I edited it but there is a lot of fine print on microsoft's page (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;305098) concerning partitions and whether my BIOS is 48 bit lba compatable BIOS. Still not sure if i have that or not.

So far, the seagate HD tool still says i have a 137GB hard drive rather than a 250. Do i need to reformat and/or partition in any certain way?

PS my mainboard is an intel, model #D845EBG2.

 

[Hitchiker]

well my hard drive has been fine for about 3 weeks now since i edited the registry according to windows' directions (the link is posted further up in this forum). For anyone who is having my same problem, i think this is the fix...even though the symptoms aren't exactly as microsoft describes. thanks for all your guys' help!