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My 1999 BIOS can't detect an "ATA" 60GB drive? Or is it DOA ?

S

ssoni223

Member
I run 30GB "AT" 7200 rpm Maxtor hard drives.

I just bought Maxtor ATA 60GB drive, and my BIOS doesn't detect it.
I tried both master and slave...
The seller claims he tested the drives.

Is it possible that my 1999 BIOS can't detect an "ATA" 60GB drive?
Or is the drive DOA ?
 
I've never heard of a limit in between 30 and 60 gig drives. 8.4 and 137 are the closest limits I know of on old boards. I would definitely flash my bios to the newest available and test the drive on another computer though.
 
Originally posted by: obeseotron
I've never heard of a limit in between 30 and 60 gig drives. 8.4 and 137 are the closest limits I know of on old boards. I would definitely flash my bios to the newest available and test the drive on another computer though.
Click to expand...
There was a 32GB limit, FYI.
 
It's highly unlikely that your bios simply won't recognize a 60GB drive when the 30GB 7200 rpm drive is working just fine. It would be far more likely (if it's a bios issue) that the drive would be recognized with an incorrect size or dma setting, but for it not to be recognized at all sounds very strange. Highly unlikely.... sounds more like an issue with the drive itself, or the IDE cable (maybe connected backwards?).
 
I agree with tagej. Do you have your BIOS settings for that IDE channel and device set to "AUTO"? If you have it set to "NONE" then of course it won't show up during boot.

There were BIOS limitations (due to bugs) in AWARD BIOSes around that timeframe, issues with both 32GB and 60-something GB HDs. (And of course the 128GB limit from lack of 48-bit LBA support.)

In both cases that I am aware of, though, the BIOS will still display the drive model/mfg during bootup (if set to "AUTO"), but then the BIOS will either proceed to detect the drive with the wrong size, or will hang during boot.

For it to just silently ignore it completely... something's wrong there.

I would recommend downloading the mfg's diagnostic DOS boot-disk for that drive brand, and run it. Those bypass the BIOS and try to talk to the drive directly via the IDE ports, and that will tell you if the drive is working and communicates properly with the host (computer).

Download "PowMax" (not MaxBlast) from Maxtor's web site.
 
Thats an old Socket 7 Motherboard isn't it??

Definatly see if you can find an updated BIOS version, as a lot of older boards don't recognize drives over 32GB.

That sounds like its your problem.

If you go here http://www.epox.nl/english/support/bios/socket7.htm you can find a newer BIOS for your mobo. That would be the first step. If you don't know how to flash your BIOS, you can find instructions on the website.

Good Luck
 
He is unsure which bios version to use. There are 1MB and 2MB versions apparently and he doesn't know which his board is. That is from his other thread.

He could get a cheap PCI IDE card and hook the drive to that and see what happens.
 
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