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Win 98 SE and 40 GB USB drive : only 6 GB visible ..



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 19th 06, 11:05 AM posted to microsoft.public.win98.disks.general
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Default Win 98 SE and 40 GB USB drive : only 6 GB visible ..

Hello all,

I've recently put a 40 GB drive in an external enclosure with an USB
connection, but have problems with using the drive.

When I try to partition the drive (using the standard W98se FDISK) it comes
back as a a drive of only 6 GB (which probably has to do with the 32
GB-limit). Applying a number of patches related to drive-size problems does
not seem to have any effect (although I could just not have applied the
right patch(es) ...)

I've allso tried a version of "efdisk", but it showed my drive as having
Zero cylinders (and would therefore not accept any partition-size input (I
think) ...).

Any insights and/or pointers to what I should do (before I go and tinker
around in the MBR with an Hex-editor and see what I get) ?

Regards,
Rudy Wieser



  #2  
Old March 19th 06, 05:18 PM posted to microsoft.public.win98.disks.general
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Default Win 98 SE and 40 GB USB drive : only 6 GB visible ..

Not sure it will help, but you should at least try BootIt NG. Download the
program from www.bootitng.com. Use the download to create a bootable floppy
installation disk. Boot to the installer disk, then Cancel the installation.
That will drop you into "Maintenance Mode" whence you want to choose
"Partition Work".

Make sure all "Legacy USB" is enabled in BIOS, first. So long as you do not
actually install BING, there is no need to worry about Registration.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User

"R.Wieser" wrote in message
...
Hello all,

I've recently put a 40 GB drive in an external enclosure with an USB
connection, but have problems with using the drive.

When I try to partition the drive (using the standard W98se FDISK) it

comes
back as a a drive of only 6 GB (which probably has to do with the 32
GB-limit). Applying a number of patches related to drive-size problems

does
not seem to have any effect (although I could just not have applied the
right patch(es) ...)

I've allso tried a version of "efdisk", but it showed my drive as having
Zero cylinders (and would therefore not accept any partition-size input (I
think) ...).

Any insights and/or pointers to what I should do (before I go and tinker
around in the MBR with an Hex-editor and see what I get) ?

Regards,
Rudy Wieser





  #3  
Old March 19th 06, 09:29 PM posted to microsoft.public.win98.disks.general
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Posts: n/a
Default Win 98 SE and 40 GB USB drive : only 6 GB visible ..

Gary S. Terhune schreef in berichtnieuws
...

Hello Gary,

Not sure it will help, but you should at least try BootIt NG.


Alas, "Partition Work" only saw my IDE-connected drives (2 HD, 1 CD), not
the drive connected by USB.

But thanks for the suggestion anyway :-)

Regards,
Rudy Wieser



  #4  
Old March 19th 06, 05:31 PM posted to microsoft.public.win98.disks.general
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Posts: n/a
Default Win 98 SE and 40 GB USB drive : only 6 GB visible ..

If it is a 32-GB limit issue (as the numbers suggest), that is a BIOS issue, and no
amount of software patches will matter. The only ways around a BIOS limitation of
32GB is to update the BIOS, or use a Dynamic Disk Overlay (DDO) which has caveats of
its own, or install a Promise (or similar) hard disk controller PCI card and use
that instead of an external USB connection.

What is the date, version and brand of the BIOS? (visible on the boot screens)
BIOS updates should only be gotten from the motherboard manufacturer to ensure they
are correct for your motherboard/BIOS.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"R.Wieser" wrote in message
...
Hello all,

I've recently put a 40 GB drive in an external enclosure with an USB
connection, but have problems with using the drive.

When I try to partition the drive (using the standard W98se FDISK) it comes
back as a a drive of only 6 GB (which probably has to do with the 32
GB-limit). Applying a number of patches related to drive-size problems does
not seem to have any effect (although I could just not have applied the
right patch(es) ...)

I've allso tried a version of "efdisk", but it showed my drive as having
Zero cylinders (and would therefore not accept any partition-size input (I
think) ...).

Any insights and/or pointers to what I should do (before I go and tinker
around in the MBR with an Hex-editor and see what I get) ?

Regards,
Rudy Wieser




  #5  
Old March 19th 06, 06:03 PM posted to microsoft.public.win98.disks.general
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Win 98 SE and 40 GB USB drive : only 6 GB visible ..


"R.Wieser" wrote in message
...
Hello all,

I've recently put a 40 GB drive in an external enclosure with an USB
connection, but have problems with using the drive.

When I try to partition the drive (using the standard W98se FDISK) it
comes
back as a a drive of only 6 GB (which probably has to do with the 32
GB-limit). Applying a number of patches related to drive-size problems
does
not seem to have any effect (although I could just not have applied the
right patch(es) ...)

I've allso tried a version of "efdisk", but it showed my drive as having
Zero cylinders (and would therefore not accept any partition-size input (I
think) ...).

Any insights and/or pointers to what I should do (before I go and tinker
around in the MBR with an Hex-editor and see what I get) ?



Yes it looks like a BIOS limitation...
and since the drive is *external* the PCI controller or drive overlay option
won't do you much good.

If you have another machine with a newer bios you can partition and format
it there.
Once you plug it into the original machine, win98 should see the whole drive
OK


  #6  
Old March 19th 06, 07:22 PM posted to microsoft.public.win98.disks.general
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Default Win 98 SE and 40 GB USB drive : only 6 GB visible ..

R.Wieser schreef in berichtnieuws
...
Hello all,


I notice I've not been clear on something : I can accept that 32 GB limit,
but would like to be able to at least use my drive upto that limit, instead
of just 6 GB ....

Ofcourse, a solution that will enable me to use the full capacity of the
drive is still welcome :-)

Regards,
Rudy Wieser



  #7  
Old March 19th 06, 10:18 PM posted to microsoft.public.win98.disks.general
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Posts: n/a
Default Win 98 SE and 40 GB USB drive : only 6 GB visible ..

Does your computer have an AWARD bios? If so, visit www.rom.by and download
their BIOS patcher program. It will correct a number of older AWARD BIOS
issues. One important issue it can correct is to allow up to 128GB drives
to be installed.

It is not a drive overlay. It patches the bios code, which requires
reflashing of your BIOS. It can be a bit risky, but I've never experienced
any problem with its use.

--Jay

"R.Wieser" wrote in message
...
R.Wieser schreef in berichtnieuws
...
Hello all,


I notice I've not been clear on something : I can accept that 32 GB limit,
but would like to be able to at least use my drive upto that limit,

instead
of just 6 GB ....

Ofcourse, a solution that will enable me to use the full capacity of the
drive is still welcome :-)

Regards,
Rudy Wieser





  #8  
Old March 20th 06, 11:58 PM posted to microsoft.public.win98.disks.general
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Win 98 SE and 40 GB USB drive : only 6 GB visible ..

R.Wieser schreef in berichtnieuws
...

Hello all,

First off, thank you all for your suggestions. After some more looking &
trying I noticed that the OS saw my whole drive (all 39 GByte), and even
asked if I would like to format it.

Alas, that did not mean that FDISK decided to cooperate .. :-(

So, I wrote a small program that created a primary & extended partition on
the drive. After that I was able to use FDISK to create logical drives in
the extended partition. Than I formatted all logical drives (3 x 10 GByte,
1 x 8-ish GByte). So far, so good.

Now I've got a new problem : When I plug the drive in while Windows is
running all seems to be going well. But when I boot the computer while the
drive is attached Windows detects some drivers that are not 32-bit, and
switches back to compatibility-modus for *all* drives. At least, it
*tries* to, as it seems to be stuck after that warning-screen (it can be
that I just did not wait long enough ofcourse ...).

My question : Why does Windows create problems while booting, but not when I
plug the drive in while it's allready running. Second : which settings
and/or drivers could be the cause of this, and how do I check if they
actually are.

Additional info : the USB-chip & drivers seems to come from a company called
"Cypress". A quick look on their site did not reveal anything helpfull.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser



  #9  
Old March 21st 06, 03:58 AM posted to microsoft.public.win98.disks.general
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Posts: n/a
Default Win 98 SE and 40 GB USB drive : only 6 GB visible ..


Troubleshooting MS-DOS Compatibility Mode on Hard Disks
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=130179

Large IDE Hard Disk May Run In Compatibility Mode
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=175629

MS-DOS Compatibility Mode Problems with PCI-IDE Controllers
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=151911

Troubleshooting Floppy Disk Drive Problems in Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=131690

FAT32 Using Compatibility Mode with OnTrack Disk Manager
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=152701

Mh32bit.386 Device Driver Causes MS-DOS Compatibility Mode
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=137405

Performance/MS-DOS Compatibility Mode Issues with VIA Busmaster
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=242607

--
Regards


Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo



"R.Wieser" wrote in message
...
R.Wieser schreef in berichtnieuws
...

Hello all,

First off, thank you all for your suggestions. After some more looking &
trying I noticed that the OS saw my whole drive (all 39 GByte), and even
asked if I would like to format it.

Alas, that did not mean that FDISK decided to cooperate .. :-(

So, I wrote a small program that created a primary & extended partition on
the drive. After that I was able to use FDISK to create logical drives
in
the extended partition. Than I formatted all logical drives (3 x 10
GByte,
1 x 8-ish GByte). So far, so good.

Now I've got a new problem : When I plug the drive in while Windows is
running all seems to be going well. But when I boot the computer while
the
drive is attached Windows detects some drivers that are not 32-bit, and
switches back to compatibility-modus for *all* drives. At least, it
*tries* to, as it seems to be stuck after that warning-screen (it can be
that I just did not wait long enough ofcourse ...).

My question : Why does Windows create problems while booting, but not when
I
plug the drive in while it's allready running. Second : which settings
and/or drivers could be the cause of this, and how do I check if they
actually are.

Additional info : the USB-chip & drivers seems to come from a company
called
"Cypress". A quick look on their site did not reveal anything helpfull.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser





  #10  
Old March 21st 06, 01:29 PM posted to microsoft.public.win98.disks.general
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Win 98 SE and 40 GB USB drive : only 6 GB visible ..

Ron Badour schreef in berichtnieuws
...

Hello Ron,

MS-DOS Compatibility Mode Problems with PCI-IDE Controllers
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=151911

It looks like that this one adresses my issue. Alas, it only adresses how
to turn-back the (semi) permanent change (seting compatibility-mode)that
Windows makes, but does not resolve the cause. :-?

Not quite optimal, but it's better than nothing and gives me the chance to
get, after a reboot, reg-edit, and subsequent re-boot, my system back in a
usable state :-)

Thanks for the pointer(s).

Regards,
Rudy Wieser



 




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