Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (
More info?)
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/type.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&SystemID=LAT_PNT_PII_CPI&category=1&os=W98&osl=en&deviceid=261&devlib=1
BIOS updates, a12 is the last, are available. However, due to the 4 year
old
BIOS is the newest, it is unlikely that large modern drives will work.
"Pagan" <adsa@deputysheriff.org> wrote in message
news:11agl8lmf4hqsaf@corp.supernews.com...
> <ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in message
> news:42a83be3.2238192@nntp.charter.net...
>> It's not the motherboard chipset that gets in the way of support of
>> large
>> drives. It's simply a limitation in the way the BIOS was originally
> written,
>> usually well before large capacity drives were manufactured. Some
>> brands
> of
>> desktop computers have long had aftermarket 3rd party BIOS upgrades
>> from
>> companies like MicroFirmware (R.I.P.) with support for drives up to
>> 132GB
> on old
>> old old Pentium motherboards.
>
> That's what I get for posting tired. You are of course correct, it is
> the
> BIOS.
>
> > I would recommend a BIOS upgrade, if available from the Dell web
> > site, on
> the
>> faint hope that it will increase the drive capacity supported by the
>> BIOS.
>>
>> Heat is the villain of computers, especially notebooks, where space
>> for
>> circulation of air is cramped. I would recommend a 4200rpm
>> replacement
> drive.
>> Drives that spin faster are enticing, but they also run hotter and
>> may
> cause
>> overheating of the system or the drive... Ben Myers
>
> I haven't had a problem with that. I've installed a 5400 drive in a
> Fujitsu
> Stylistic 3400 (5 years old), and it runs like a champ, even though
> this
> thing has less free space than most laptops. I imagine newer
> technologies
> are keeping temps down in laptop drives.
>
> Seagate has just announced a perpendicular recording drive that's
> supposed
> to ship this winter. It'll run at 5400, but should be quite fast due
> to the
> data density. How does a 160gig laptop drive sound. heh
>
> Pagan
>
>> On Wed, 8 Jun 2005 21:57:57 -0700, "Pagan" <adsa@deputysheriff.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >"Peter Brown" <peter@brown9322.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
>> >news
uJpe.6028$CF.43365@news-1.opaltelecom.net...
>> >> So it just trial and error? And it doesn't matter about the
> manufacturer
>> >of
>> >> the hdd?
>> >
>> >In very rare instances, it does, but more likely what matters is the
>> >manufacturer of your laptop, and what they were thinking at the
> particular
>> >point in time when they designed it.
>> >
>> >As Ben mentioned, older chipsets often have problems with large
>> >drives.
>> >Newer ones don't. But here's the rub, with laptops, designers often
>> >make
>> >little changes here and there that can muck things up if you aren't
> aware.
>> >For instance, I have a portable computer with no CD drive, and when
>> >I
>> >install a new hard drive in it, I have to Fdisk the drive while it's
>> >installed in the computer. Not a big deal, but then I have to
>> >figure out
>> >how I'm going to install Windows, with no CD drive, no practical way
>> >to
> hook
>> >one up, and the limitation of not being able to install it in
>> >another
>> >computer, then just plunk the drive in the portable, because that
>> >simply
>> >won't work with this model, though it works with the earlier and
>> >later
>> >models.
>> >
>> >I'm guessing a 20 gig drive for you, because I installed one in an
>> >older
>> >system (Pentium 120) and had no problems. It may be possible to put
>> >an
> 80
>> >or 100gig drive in your computer, but I can't be certain without
>> >trying
> it
>> >myself on your system.
>> >
>> >You may have heard about problems with certain manufacturer's hard
>> >drives
>> >not working in certain systems, but that was quite a while ago, back
>> >when
>> >hard drives were anything but standardized, despite the IDE specs.
>> >At
> one
>> >point I had to update the firmware in my Connor drive just to use
>> >another
>> >drive from Connor. This of course was back in 1994 or so, when I
>> >had to
>> >connect directly to their BBS to download the update because the
>> >Internet
>> >and WWW weren't quite ready for prime time. This was in a desktop,
>> >by
> the
>> >way.
>> >
>> >Anyway, those days are over. No hard drive manufacturer wants to
>> >screw
>> >themselves out of, say, the entire Toshiba supply line, so they make
>> >darn
>> >sure to follow the standards to the letter. Trial and error is
>> >probably
>> >your best bet. Dell isn't likely to care about your laptop,
>> >although you
>> >might want to check their web site and see if they offer upgrades to
>> >that
>> >particular model. (Don't bother calling, as the guy your talking to
>> >will
> be
>> >in India and have no clue, but will probably sell you one anyway so
>> >he
> can
>> >look good to the higher ups) If not, then trial and error it is.
>> >
>> >When you install the drive, simply power up the computer and see
>> >what the
>> >BIOS tells you. If it shows the rough capacity of the drive (you
>> >know it
>> >won't be exact, I hope) then you are in luck, install your OS and
>> >have a
>> >beer. If it doesn't, and shows instead something like 8 or 32 gig,
>> >or
> some
>> >off the wall number that's not even close to the drive's capacity,
>> >then
>> >immediately return the drive and find a smaller one.
>> >
>> >One more thing, there is plenty of variety in regards to hard drive
>> >performance, even for laptops. You can go with a slow 4200rpm drive
>> >to
> save
>> >battery life, a screaming 7200rpm drive for a speedy system, or a
>> >5400rpm
>> >drive so you can glide somewhere in the middle. I personally favor
>> >the
> 5400
>> >drives with 16mb of cache. I find them even faster than the 7200
>> >drives
>> >(which have 8mb) and they do just fine with battery life. On the
>> >other
>> >hand, if you just want to watch movies on a plane or something, a
>> >4200
> would
>> >probably suit you better.
>> >
>> >Again, all these are standard, so you have some choices, with your
>> >only
>> >possible limitation being capacity.
>> >
>> >Also, it is sometimes possible to get the higher capacities, even
>> >with
> older
>> >systems, by using drive translation software, which used to be
>> >freely
>> >available, but now most manufacturers charge for it, if you can even
>> >get
> it.
>> >You have to use whatever the drive manufacturer supplies. For
>> >instance,
> you
>> >can't use IBM software to get your Western Digital drive working. I
>> >personally don't like this method, as it adds another chunk of
>> >Things
> That
>> >Can Go Wrong. If you need more capacity, I suggest a PCMCIA card
> external
>> >hard drive. Not easy to find these days, but much better than funky
>> >BIOS
>> >tweaks.
>> >
>> >Pagan
>> >
>> >> "Pagan" <adsa@deputysheriff.org> wrote in message
>> >> news:11acou8lcgglkec@corp.supernews.com...
>> >> > "Peter Brown" <peter@brown9322.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
>> >> > news:Hxnpe.6007$CF.43326@news-1.opaltelecom.net...
>> >> > > I've got a dell latitude CPi D266XT with a 4Gb HDD. I want to
>> >> > > get a
>> >> bigger
>> >> > > HDD off ebay but which one? When I bought more RAM I had to
>> >> > > check
>> >which
>> >> > were
>> >> > > applicable, but how do I do this for HDD. Check against the
>> >motherboard?
>> >> > > I've seen HDD from Toshiba etc.Can I buy any of these?
>> >> >
>> >> > Most likely you can fit a 20gig, possibly more, in there, and
>> >> > have it
>> >all
>> >> > recognized by the BIOS.
>> >> >
>> >> > If you want to be sure, buy the hard drive from a local shop
>> >> > that
> will
>> >> allow
>> >> > you to return it. If you find one that works, you can either
>> >> > return
> it
>> >> and
>> >> > buy one off Ebay, or just keep it and enjoy having a warranty.
>> >> >
>> >> > Pagan
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>>
>
>
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