137 gig Limit/ External Hardrive Question

[cdav1100]

I have an old computer that has the 137 gig limit on hardrives, As there was no updating the bios of the motherboard, it was necessary to install a controller card for the larger drives installed internally. Well I'm running out of space again and thought about getting a USB 2.0 external. (I added USB 2.0 ports)

So my question is, will the full drive size be seen, if I were to purchase a nice new 500 gig external? Is there circuitry within the external enclosure that handles addressing the larger drive, and do all enclosures have this?

Thanks for any advice you may be able to offer.

 

[g-paw]

As far as I know, the external enclosure is just a data and power cable with whatever is necessary to connect it to the computer, i.e., USB, firewire, and or eSATA. I may be wrong but I thought the hdd limitation was a function of Windows 98 and earlier.

 

[cdav1100]

Thanks for your reply g-paw. In the case of my computer, it is the motherboard chipset that is causing the limitation. If it had one of a whole list of Intel chipsets, I could upgrade the motherboard bios to add the support for large drives. I was able to upgrade the OS to Win XP SP2, but still do not have the large hardrive ability.

When I read about these external hardrives on newegg, they always say that it supports Win 98SE, Win XP, etc. never saying exactly that they mean "as long as the motherboard supports large hardrives". Even if you follow the link to the manufactures webpage, you will not find anything spelling that out either.

I am inclined to think that what you have stated is true, still I wonder if perhaps some enclosures recognize this limitation and add support out at the enclosure.

If I could just find a link that spelled it out for me, then I would know for sure that I'm going to have to break down and do a motherboard/RAM/CPU/Case PWRsupply upgrade, meaning take the usable parts and put them into a new box.

Any further comments please?

 

[lp]

I have a Gigibyte motherboard with 127 gb limit on the m\b sata150 controller.

l purchased a 400 gb e/sata300 and a NextStar 3 esata external enclosure and it recognizes the full drive.

It's been running fine since l installed it.

lp

 

[g-paw]

If you find any links on this, please post. I know that cases will give a limit on the size of the hdd they can handle but I don't know if this is absolute limite or just a tested limit. Also, given you're connecting through USB, firewire, or eSATA if that means you have the same mobo limitations, which I would think comes from the mobo controller, when you're bypassing the controller. At least I think these are interesting questions.