Laptop Won't Recognize more than 8.4GB HDD

[JorgeA]

jaclaz,

Before we get into the innards of the PC, check out the report (attached) that Jan Steunebrink's EXTBIOS.EXE utility generated. (I just rediscovered it sitting in a USB stick.) Maybe it will save us some work.

From the looks of it, it appears that this drive maybe does support LBA.

FWIW, the BIOS Setup does give a choice to use autodetect or to set the drive values manually.

What do you think?

--JorgeA

BIOSRPT.TXT

Edited June 20, 2010 by JorgeA

[Multibooter]

Hi Jorge,

My old laptops Dell Inspiron 7500 have the same Phoenix BIOS 4.0 Release 6.0 as your laptop. The BIOS is revision A14 of 28-Nov-2000. It works fine with an internal 120GB HDD, provided the HDD is properly partitioned, but not with an internal 160GB HDD. The BIOS message displays/recognizes only 64GB (!!!), but the 120GB HDD works fine anyway, although Norton Disk Doctor frequently reports an incorrect disk space error on a large FAT32 data-only partition, which NDD fixes Ok. A HDD up to 60GB should work fine without this minor problem.

The Phoenix BIOS 4.0 Release 6.0 is very peculiar in its handling of HDDs >64GB. I probably get this incorrect disk space error under Win98 because the FAT32 partition for WinXP (visible under Win98) goes beyond 64GB; I have an NTFS partition, invisible to Win98, after the visible partitions. PartitionMagic v8.01 by PowerQuest has worked fine for me.

The Phoenix BIOS 4.0 Release 6 in my Inspiron 7500 laptops cannot boot from USB. The other gripe I have with my old laptops is that the hinges keep breaking, plastic just becomes brittle after 10 years.

I am not sure how useful your old (2000) BIOS utility by Jan Steunebrink would be for drives >60GB. BTW, your BIOS must be an older revision since it is dated 15-June-1998

Edited June 20, 2010 by Multibooter

[dencorso]

Well, this being the case, I'd flash the BIOS before anything...

[JorgeA]

The adapter would go between the data cable and the drive. And sure, you'd need a power cable or an Y power-cable duplicator, unless, which is very possible, you have one idle power cable from those comming from the power supply.

dencorso,

Oh, I see. I was thinking the adapter would be a cabley sort of thing, but it's not. It's the same device that Georg suggested in the Spybot thread to manually scan a hard disk on a different computer.

So let me make sure I know everything I need to have if we decide to go this route. I'd need the adapter, plus a data cable and possibly a power cable (depending on how generous Dell was inside the tower case) to connect the notebook HDD.

And then, if I read Mijzelf correctly, we could use the version of FDISK from the PC that does recognize drives >8GB.

Let me know if I'm missing (or misunderstanding) something.

--JorgeA

[dencorso]

Well, there is a simple adapter that connects to the disk on one side and to both the data and power cables on the other. Another option is a kit that contains a standalone power source and a SATA/3.5IDE/2.5IDE three-way connector to USB... with the latter you may connect the HDD to the tower without openeing the tower... and it may prove useful again in the future, as it works with any HDD and also with CD/DVD burners and/or players... Think of it as a universal USB to other interfaces, without an enclosure. I'm too sleepy right now to find you photos of them, but I'm sure jaclaz has links to them somewhere, since I remember he posted about such adapters way back when.

Sure you can use FDISK, but were I you, I'd use the Ranish Partiton Manager, v. 2.40 or 2.43 beta (my own favorite). It's more powerful and very reliable, unless your HDD were SATA (with which it has some quircks).

[JorgeA]

Hi Jorge,

My old laptops Dell Inspiron 7500 have the same Phoenix BIOS 4.0 Release 6.0 as your laptop. The BIOS is revision A14 of 28-Nov-2000. It works fine with an internal 120GB HDD, provided the HDD is properly partitioned, but not with an internal 160GB HDD. The BIOS message displays/recognizes only 64GB (!!!), but the 120GB HDD works fine anyway, although Norton Disk Doctor frequently reports an incorrect disk space error on a large FAT32 data-only partition, which NDD fixes Ok. A HDD up to 60GB should work fine without this minor problem.

The Phoenix BIOS 4.0 Release 6.0 is very peculiar in its handling of HDDs >64GB. I probably get this incorrect disk space error under Win98 because the FAT32 partition for WinXP (visible under Win98) goes beyond 64GB; I have an NTFS partition, invisible to Win98, after the visible partitions. PartitionMagic v8.01 by PowerQuest has worked fine for me.

Hi Multibooter,

That really is a weird problem. Fortunately (or unfortunately), the HDD that my notebook BIOS is burping at is only 15GB, so it's far from facing the 64GB issue, but maybe this means that Steunebrink's utility is still useful in this case?

This notebook has exactly the same problem with the hinges that you mention! The hinges have deep cracks in them, but the screen does still stay upright. In some ways this little Daewoo notebook is like the Russian Mir space station, beat up and held together with wires and duct tape but still somehow chugging along.

Can't find a revision number for this machine's BIOS, either in the POST screen or in System Information. My Win98FE tower, though, also has a PhoenixBIOS 4.0 Release 6.0, and according to the POST screen it's revision A07. Norton SystemWorks reports the date as 03/15/99. That computer has always handled its 13GB hard disk without a hitch.

I do remember looking into Partition Magic 8.01 at some point, but I forget why I didn't go that way. Maybe I just didn't know enough about the technical issues to just go ahead and try it (prudence being the better part of valor). I do remember thinking that I should first ask about it on this forum. Thanks.

--JorgeA

[rloew]

Mijzelf,

Changing the subject a little -- What do you think about drive overlay software as an alternative (assuming that I can find one that’ll work with this drive)?

I sell a version of my BOOTMAN Drive Overlay that would provide the support you require.

And it looks like the CMOS battery is soldered into place, so that approach appears to be out, too.

You can reset the CMOS without removing the battery by corrupting it's checksum.

rloew,

Thanks very much for the offer. Where can I get more information on BOOTMAN? I will definitely consider it if the other approaches being discussed here don't work.

Also, how does one go about corrupting the CMOS checksum?

--JorgeA

The BOOTMAN Overlay is described on my Website. There is a Demo, but it is only for the 137GB Limit.

You would need the 8GB Version.

You can corrupt the CMOS and cause it to be reloaded by altering the checksum.

The following should do it:

1. Boot to DOS.

2. Run Debug

3. Enter the following lines:

A

MOV AL,2E

OUT 70,AL

OUT 71,AL

INT 1

G

Q

You must enter the blank line between the INT 1 line and the G Line.

4. Reboot

If this does not work, repeat the procedure but substitute 2F for the 2E in the second line.

[jaclaz]

Hmmm, the report from the utility seems clear enough that must be one of those "strange" BIOS.

Post the info about the model and BIOS string, let's see if we can find an update.

jaclaz

[JorgeA]

Hmmm, the report from the utility seems clear enough that must be one of those "strange" BIOS.

Post the info about the model and BIOS string, let's see if we can find an update.

jaclaz

jaclaz,

I went on the BIOS update website that you suggested, and they couldn't find any updates for my BIOS! I'm attaching a copy of the page with the BIOS information. Note that they couldn't find an ID string for it, either.

Are we out of luck on that score (the BIOS ID string)? I found the following information. Check out what it says about the Phoenix BIOS.

But we're in better shape with regard to the hard disk drive. I'm also attaching the report generated by the DEKSI Hard Disk Manager, redacted only for privacy (we ARE on the Internet, after all!). Just remembered I had done this. Incorporating the report to the text here, though, would make this post very long.

That source seems to be pretty definite as to whether this HDD does LBA; look under ATA Features. (Never mind the "Power On Time," it always shows the same enormous value even if I've just turned on the computer.)

Let's say that we determine that this drive doesn't do LBA. Where do we stand, then -- do I still have both of the partitioning choices discussed by rloew (drive overlay software) and by Mijzelf and dencorso (attach the HDD to another computer and partition it there)?

Thank you for doing all this digging.

--JorgeA

BiosAgentPlus_com - BIOS Selection.htm

Disk report 2010 06 16.txt

[JorgeA]

Well, there is a simple adapter that connects to the disk on one side and to both the data and power cables on the other. Another option is a kit that contains a standalone power source and a SATA/3.5IDE/2.5IDE three-way connector to USB... with the latter you may connect the HDD to the tower without openeing the tower... and it may prove useful again in the future, as it works with any HDD and also with CD/DVD burners and/or players... Think of it as a universal USB to other interfaces, without an enclosure. I'm too sleepy right now to find you photos of them, but I'm sure jaclaz has links to them somewhere, since I remember he posted about such adapters way back when.

Sure you can use FDISK, but were I you, I'd use the Ranish Partiton Manager, v. 2.40 or 2.43 beta (my own favorite). It's more powerful and very reliable, unless your HDD were SATA (with which it has some quircks).

dencorso,

Such an adapter would be fantastic! I no longer shudder to think of going inside a PC's case, but a solution that avoids having to do that is welcome for sure.

What item names (kind of item, not necessarily brand names) would I search under for (1) the internal adapter connecting the disk and the cables, and (2) the kit with the 3-way USB connector?

Thanks for the recommendation on the Ranish Partition Manager. It's always a plus in a product's favor when an expert endorses it!

It sounds like there are two plausible ways to address (so to speak) the issue of this HDD: using drive overlay software, and partitioning it off another PC. It'll be interesting to see where the discussion leads us.

--JorgeA

[jaclaz]

@JorgeA

the drive has nothing to do with LBA limit, heck: would they build a drive that cannot access itself?

Problem is in BIOS.

Can you post the EXACT model of your laptop? Or did I miss it?

You are looking for any el-cheapo USB adapter, examples:

http://www.newertech.com/products/usb2_adaptv2.php

They can be found for a handful of bucks nearly everywhere, google for "IDE/SATA to USB 2.0 Cable Adapter", more:

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=n82e16812156102

Real el-cheapo:

http://cgi.ebay.it/USB-2-0-IDE-SATA-2-5-3-5-Adapter-Convertor-Cable-/140375878174

but you may want to buy one that includes a power supply, such as:

http://cgi.ebay.it/CAVO-ADATTATORE-USB-2-0-A-IDE-SATA-2-5-3-5-CONVERTITORE-/170499858459?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Cavi_Prolunghe_Convertitori&hash=item27b295601b

http://cgi.ebay.it/CAVO-ADATTATORE-USB-A-IDE-SATA-USB-TO-IDE-SATA-2-5-3-5-/250650059254?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Hard_Disk_per_PC_e_Server&hash=item3a5be861f6

jaclaz

[JorgeA]

rloew,

Thanks very much for the instructions, and for the info on BOOTMAN. I went on your website, and you have a variety of neat tools. PATCHMEM sounds particularly exciting, but the proper thing to do is to contact you privately.

Before I try the Debug instructions, I have a question. You may have read on this thread that the CMOS battery is failing, and loses its charge (and the BIOS settings along with it) if I leave the computer unplugged for more than a couple of minutes. Then I have to go in and manually re-enter the values I had chosen. (It keeps defaulting back to disabled floppy booting.) Would that count as a reset, or should I still go ahead and perform the Debug procedure that you described?

One more question. If we determine that LBA is not supported on this computer, should I perform this Debug procedure to reset the BIOS, anyway?

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

jaclaz,

Thanks a bunch for the links to this adapter. VERY cool. B)

You know, the model of this laptop never did come up in this thread. It's a Daewoo CN530.

Did you check out the report from the Hard Disk Manager? It may have all the info that we need on the drive.

--JorgeA

[jaclaz]

You know, the model of this laptop never did come up in this thread. It's a Daewoo CN530.

Anything else?

Post EXACT model number and whatever info you find of stickies on it AND the BIOS strings:

I have found through The Wayback Machine a korean site with some BIOS updates but the models (at least what I found are all "CB" or "CT") maybe you have another number somewhere or that stoopid laptop has been sold with another number/name?

jaclaz

[JorgeA]

jaclaz,

That's amazing -- to find such a site. I've tried using the Wayback Machine a few times over the years, with mixed success.

Two different stickers on the bottom of the notebook say that it's a CN530. They look legit, as far as I can tell. FWIW, "CN530" is a real model number for a Daewoo notebook.

Is there anything else I can get for you to help things along? Maybe it's time to open the case and take a look inside. Let me know.

--JorgeA