Maximum HDD size with DFI P2XBL

[Woody419]

I friend wants me to upgrade her DFI P2XBL Rev B1, Pentium II MMX 400. She has no money for a proper upgrade right now, so it has to be a new hdd and Windows 98. A new WD 40GB hangs the boot, the BIOS will not auto detect either. Would anyone know if a BIOS upgrade will enable a hdd this big to work with a 440BX chipset? The DFI site says the new BIOS fixes the 37 GB IBM bug. Don't know about anything bigger.

Any other hints and tips would be welcome. I can install a AMD/VIA system in my sleep, but these old PII's are new to me.

Thanks,
Wayne

 

[AndyHui]

Hard drive sizes are a function of the BIOS and have nothing to do with the chipset.

A BIOS upgrade will fix the problem. As you say from the BIOS description, if it will work with a 37GB hard drive, then chances are, they have implemented up to the 28-bit LBA limit, ie a maximum of 128GB.

 

[Iron Woode]

You can just use overlay software to make the drive work correctly.

 

[Woody419]

Originally posted by: Iron Woode
You can just use overlay software to make the drive work correctly.

Sorry, not a correct answer with this BIOS version.
A hard drive larger than this BIOS can recognize is not seen at all, just like the hdd is not there at all. Nada, nothing to put a drive overlay on. Luckily I found an update in the beta bios section that enables drives over 40GB. It now works like a charm.

A technical question for Andy. The BIOS update states:
"Support ATA 100 HDD string in PCI table."
The motherboard uses the Intel 440BX chipset, which is I thought is limited to ATA 33. I didn't think a BIOS update could change it to a ATA 100, only a new chipset could enable the ATA 100. I will have to put SiSoft Sandra on this box and see what it says. The PIO mode does not show on the boot screen either, darn.