bill4d
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Posts posted by bill4d
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No problem. I guess I'll just try a cable adapter first as it's only $10-$20. If that doesn't work I guess I'll have go to someone that makes dongle emulator software.
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You could also add a PCI card to your PC with that port, unless you have a notebook.
That program is old, I stopped using it 18 years ago but learned the 3D part with it as ACAD 12/13 had such a crap 3D interface.
I definately don't want to add a PCI card just to get this software working. I'd rather go the dongle emulator route first.
I'm just not sure if the USB - Parallel port converter cable will function like I need it to.
The program is actually not old. There is a 2011 version. My version is old, but it is the same basic program as their later released versions.
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I have an old version of 3D Studio MAX v3.1, that I purchased legally, and do have the serial number. The problem is, my new computer obviously does not have a parallel port for the dongle to attach to.
Is it possible to use a parallel to USB cable adapter to make the dongle function properly?
I checked and there is such a cable made.
Thanks for any help.
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I guess I was thinking you were talking about the initialization prompt you sometimes get in Windows disk management. Are you referring to something in the BIOS? If so I'm afraid I don't have any experience dealing with that and someone else will have to answer.
From a quick skim of this Wikipedia article, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table, it appears GPT has some limitations.
As of 2010[update] most current OSs support GPT (see OS support of GPT), the major exception being 32-bit Windows which has no support and 64-bit Windows which requires an EFI BIOS for booting.Yes. I am speaking of the initializing prcess present in Disk Management of Windows. These are new hard drives, installed in the tower and register in disk management, but have not been initialized yet.
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Yes
Okay next question is:
Do I initialize the drives as MBR (Master Boot Record) or GPT (GUID Partition Table) ?
Again, these 2 drives will be in RAID 1 and used for file storage and NOT the OS.
Thanks.
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Initializing and formatting are 2 different things.
If your mobo supports it then, yes, you configure the raid in the BIOS.
Is formatting a new drive required after it has been initialized?
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I have a SSD I am using for my OS. I also have two 1 TB Western Digital drives I want to use for storage of files. I need some guidance on the proper steps to get the drives up and running. They are brand new and already installed in the computer, but not initialized yet. Do they need to be initialized first and then formatted? Is formatting part of the initializing process? Or, are they separate steps? Then, do I just go into the BIOS on boot up and fix the appropriate settings to configure my RAID array?
Thnaks for any help.
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How to install a driver, (using the Add Hardware Wizard)
Start Menu > Run > 'hdwwiz.exe' and follow the on-screen prompts.
The current machine I'm on at work has XP and did find that file.
This file is something that is included in Windows 7, I assume??
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Step 4) Install your RAID drivers into Windows 7
Can you explain what is involved in installing the "RAID drivers into Windows 7"? I'm not sure I understand what you mean or what needs to be installed.
I thought the ability to create a RAID array came from the BIOS screen and you could select which drives make up the array.
Thanks.
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If you find the firmware on the SSD needs updating, do it before you write anything to it - you may also find that you need the drive controller to be set to IDE mode and not AHCI during the firmware update, so disconnecting the other drives at the same time would be smart.
So, should the firmware of the SSD be updated before or after the Windows install? And would this be something Windows possibly does on it's own anyway?
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How do you mean "safely"?I have 2 additional 1.5 TB drives (in RAID 1) just for storage. Can I store all my data here safely during the install of Windows 7 on the solid state drive?You say you are already using the RAID volume for storage, there is no reason to assume the data on it will be affected by an installation of Windows on another volume, and if you are running Windows 7 currently then there must be drivers for your RAID controller to be able to access the data.
To avoid wear on the SSD you should get into the habit of using your storage volume for temporary files, frequently updated data and small files which would not benefit from the low latency or read time.
That depends entirely on whether there are in-box drivers from the manufacturer for your RAID controller.After the Windows 7 install, will the 1.5 TB drives be recognized, or are there some steps that need to be taken?The easiest way to determine this is to see if the volume appears (as a single volume, not 2 separate disks) during the setup phase where you pick the volume on which to install Windows.
If it appears there as 1 disk then once Windows is installed it will be available too - if not, then you'll need to have the chipset/disk controller drivers ready to install after installing Windows (or see if they come down automatically via Windows Update).
This is definitely something to check in the forums for the SSD manufacturer (OCZ, Kingston, Intel, Crucial, etc.) - there are often tools to help clean & prepare SSDs, as well as check alignment and there may be firmware updates to apply to the disk itself before putting any data on it at all.How should I prepare the SSD prior to doing the Windows 7 install? Other than backing up the data, do I just put in the DVD and let the disk go through the formatting process of the drive?When Windows 7 is installed on an SSD it auotmatically detects this to disable Superfetch & disk defragmenting so you don't need to do it manually as was necessary before.
I am not currently using Windows 7, I plan to do a clean install of it on my SSD. I was just checking to see if it was acceptable to have drives for storage reconnected to the MB after the install of a new OS.
Can you explain a little more detail on what files I should get in the habit of writing to the storage drives? Temporary internet files...... what other types of files?
And, can I just go into these area and reassign where the temp files are written to?
I will look into the acceptaed way to prepare the SSD. Thanks for your input.
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I am going to do a clean install of windows 7 on my SSD.
I have a few questions about how I should go about it.
I have 2 additional 1.5 TB drives (in RAID 1) just for storage. Can I store all my data here safely during the install of Windows 7 on the solid state drive? After the Windows 7 install, will the 1.5 TB drives be recognized, or are there some steps that need to be taken?
How should I prepare the SSD prior to doing the Windows 7 install? Other than backing up the data, do I just put in the DVD and let the disk go through the formatting process of the drive?
Thanks for any help.
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After going through the whole mess with my Seagate 7200.11 drives, I want to get the most reliable drives I can.
Does anyone have any thoughts on the WD Enterpise line of drives such as the WD RE4?
They are about twice the cost of the consumer drives such as the Caviar Green and Black drives.
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I need to buy two 1 TB hard drives. I'm replacing some Seagate drives that I was refunded for.
Does anyone have any advice on the best quality, most reliable brand and model of drive they would recommend?
So far I was considering the Wesetrn Digital Caviar Black 1TB.
Thanks for any feedback.
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So does anyone know if a command from this post: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?s=&...st&p=828621
can be used to erase the hard drive?
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Ah yes, the old "bulk-eraser" trick? If you are fortunate enough, you can find a very powerful magnet inside a subwoofer! Other uses for such powerful magnets are to create magnetic field antennae for tv or radio.
Oh, ah subwoofer should have at least 6 ohm written on it. Make sure the speaker can at least pick up a screwdriver, or if you stick it on your fridge you find it slightly difficult to take it off.
But yes, no garauntee that will work to fully erase the data. I know commercial bulk-eraser does not even have a 100% success rate either, but if you go with a service like was mentioned before, they may have some sort of gaurantee.
Thanks for the ideas.
I've actually got some experience with neodymium magnets. I use a filter magnet on the oil filters of my truck. The company that sells them actually has a pinch warning on the packaging. These magnets are extremely difficult to remove by hand from an oil filter. Maybe I'll try those magnets.
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Is there a way to erase the drive while I am connected to it through the terminal window?
Does anyone know if this can be done?
I just need to erase the drive before returning it for a warranty replacement.
I'd have to look at the codes again to see if there is a way. Do you have the same BSY problem? If so, why not go through the tutorial and then reformat the hard drive using the conventional way. Or do you have a different problem?
Check out post #64 from Gradius2 on p. 4. He has listed all the codes in terminal.
Yes, the drive has the BSY problem. I did successfully un-brick once and access the all the data to back it up. Since then, after completing all the steps from the tutorial the drive will still be BSY when placed back in the computer. I am able to successfully complete the fix tutorial everytime though. I receive all the proper confirmation responses from the drive while in the termial window (I'm using Putty).
I'll check the post # you mentioned though to see if there's anything helpful there.
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@bill4d:As Jaclaz is also writing between the lines:
If the drive is bricked as soon as you hook it into you computer, than it was not sucessfully unbricked before.
We us the term unbricked for drives that are accessible by the computer again.
As long as is it not accessible by the computer it is as much as a brick.
Whether you can communicate per seral interface or not has nothing to do with unbricked or not.
Regards
Chilli
Is there a way to erase the drive while I am connected to it through the terminal window?
Does anyone know if this can be done?
I just need to erase the drive before returning it for a warranty replacement.
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Still not sure you understand my situation. I currently have the drive successfully un-bricked. The Putty terminal window is still open. Is there command I can enter into Putty that will perform some sort of formatting or erasing of the data on the drive?
Yes, I do understand your situation allright
, but I don't know if such a command exists, or, if it exists, it's exact syntax. Have you checked the (partial) list of commands available?
Here:
http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showto...28092&st=78
http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showto...8092&st=460
http://files.hddguru.com/download/Datashee...0RS-232%20Port/
jaclaz
Yes, but I don't see any commands that look like what I need. I'll try to shut down the drive and reinstall it, but this just ususally bricks the drive again immediately, not allowing me to acces it to erase.
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I see, for some unknown reasons you are performing a BSY non-fix.
You can try MHDD with the "disableBIOS" option, but cannot say if it works on your "strangely fixed" drive:
http://hddguru.com/content/en/software/2005.10.02-MHDD/
http://hddguru.com/content/en/software/200..._manual.en.html
jaclaz
Still not sure you understand my situation. I currently have the drive successfully un-bricked. The Putty terminal window is still open. Is there command I can enter into Putty that will perform some sort of formatting or erasing of the data on the drive?
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I have a bricked Seagate drive that I have already successfully recovered the data from. The problem is, the drive can not be accessed any more. How can I destroy the data on the drive prior to sending it in for a warranty replacement?
Thanks for any help.
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can I enter a dos command to format the drive?
No, I was suggesting you, after you have debricked the drive, to re-assemble it properly, remove the TTL connection, connect it normally to a PC and use a "normal" program to erase it.
The advised ones are not actually "normal" as they use an internal function of all ATA (and SATA) drives.
What you asked was about ERASing data, the provided method is the one that is at the same time "low-level" enough and "high-level" enough.
Erasing is NOT formatting.
jaclaz
The problem is that the drive will brick upon hooking it back up to the computer and rebooting. So I need a method to erase the drive while I have it in an UN-bricked state. The drive is only is only in an UN-bricked state immediately after performing the BSY fix.
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After performing the BSY fix, can I format the hard drive while in the same terminal window session?
I just need to erase my drive before sending it back for a warranty replacement.
Thanks for any help.
You'd better use Secure erase ATA commands (HDDErase/HDParm).
Here:
http://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/ATA_Secure_Erase
http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/SecureErase.shtml
Also inside UBCD:
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/
jaclaz
I'm not sure I understand your answer.
After this step is performed:
When the prompt comes back up, turn off power to the hard drive, wait a few seconds, then turn it back on. Wait about 20 seconds, then finally do partition regeneration:
F3 T>m0,2,2,0,0,0,0,22 (enter)
After 15-30 seconds, you should see something like:
Max Wr Retries = 00, Max Rd Retries = 00, Max ECC T-Level = 14, Max Certify Rewrite Retries = 00C8
User Partition Format 10% complete, Zone 00, Pass 00, LBA 00004339, ErrCode 00000080, Elapsed Time 0 mins 05 secs
User Partition Format Successful - Elapsed Time 0 mins 05 secs
can I enter a dos command to format the drive?
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After performing the BSY fix, can I format the hard drive while in the same terminal window session?
I just need to erase my drive before sending it back for a warranty replacement.
Thanks for any help.
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, but I don't know if such a command exists, or, if it exists, it's exact syntax. 
Help setting up RAID
in Windows 7
Posted
I guess it would be software RAID. After initializing the disk and formatting them, Windows 7 then asked if I wanted to configure them as RAID. So I never even went into the BIOS after the initializing and formatting was done to the new drives. They appear to be functioning fine though.
I'm not sure how I could verify that each drive is in fact writing data identical to the other drive.
The drives are two, Western Digital 1 TB RE-4 drives.