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SCANDISK on 6GB drive producing Errors at 2.09GB to end.



 
 
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  #11  
Old July 14th 05, 11:09 AM
Jeff Richards
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

You should not need drivers for this disk. If you are talking overlays,
then we're into a whole different ball game. You are quite correct to
surmise that the primary (boot) disk needs to be configured correctly if the
secondary disk needs overlays, and you most definitely cannot move a disk
configured with overlay software when it was the primary drive to the
secondary without quite nasty side effects. Are you quite sure that the
procedure you are using is not installing any overlay software?

Of course, it's possible that the disk will work properly when you install
the overlay software - it's designed to get around exactly the sort of BIOS
program we are theorising about. But in that case the disks must be set up
while in their final configuration, and they cannot be moved between primary
and secondary after being set up.

If LBA and LARGE settings return a 2Gb disk size, even after you have found
the procedure to force the BIOS to automatically detect the disk, then
that's a pretty good indication the BIOS is the problem.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"Jerry" wrote in message
...
Hello Jeff,,,

OK and all this makes sense,,,THANKS!!!!

And, I am comfortable that for W98SE the SCANDISK should work for a 6GB
drive if the BIOS can handle that size. Likewise, since I have no idea
why/where the FAT32 was set I am beginning to suspect that even if the
W98SE
sees the disk as FAT32 and 6GB the BIOS does not, even if the BIOS is
POST
1994.

Now here is something NEW---JUST IN,,,,,,I am being told more about this
system,,,,,,it went down and the CPU was replaced. The disk on C was the
6GB
disk. It was replaced with a brand new "out-of-the-box" 2GB drive (an
older
drive with lots of dust on the box, but works great for this application).
The 6GB was then installed to SECONDARY/MASTER. After W98SE was
re-installed
to the NEW 2GB drive the 6GB drive was FDISKE'd and FORMATTED . Now here
is
the kicker,, the new 2GB drive obviously would not have the FUJITSU
drivers
or any required overlays on that 2GB disk,,,it was brand new out of the
box
and the stuff from the 6GB was not copied to it. AND, the Fujitsu
CDs/documents for this 6GB drive cannot be found(?????)...... So I am now
looking on the Internet where the documents and drivers for this 6GB
Fujitsu
drive can be found,,,if at all.

Since I am not that familiar with drives 2GB, there might be some stuff
on
the Fujitsu CDs that will make the ajustment (drivers plus overlay, etc.
????). This may be the problem and I am trying to find out via the US
Fujitsu
Support web page and contacts.

While I am looking for these answers,,,,,,,

As for the BIOS capability to configure for the larger drives that are
2GB,

it does allow the setting of the IDE SECONDARY/MASTER to:

USER and MODE NORMAL

Then allows the manual settings to the specs specified in the Fujitsu SPEC
SHEET for #CYLS, #HEADS, #SECS.

Also, the BIOS allows the selection of MODE LBA and/or LARGE, but these
selections do not allow any other manual settings and in this case they
are
HARD set to 2GB. I cannot remember if there is a BIOS selection that
allows
the BIOS to AUTOMATICALLY find and set the the #CYLS, #HEADS, and #SECS. I
will give this a look in all the other BIOS displays the next time I get
the
machine. So far, I have just been using the CONFIG display part of BIOS
that
shows only the TIME/DATE settings and the IDE/ATAPI configs for the IDE
devices, and I cannot remember if there is a selection on this display
that
tells the BIOS to do these settings immediatly(automatically) (F1, F2,
F19,,,,etc.).

Since I have no idea where/why the FAT32 was set for this disk, I am
running
all the stuff over again. And, just to maike sure I am interpreting all
the
numbers correctly that are reported by the Fujitsu ERASE and DIAGNOSTIC,
the Microsoft FDISK and FORMAT, these numbers will be watched
closely,,,,,

Also, I will try to understand where/why the FAT32 was set during these
processes.
The W98SE reports FAT32 and 6GB, but like you I am not sure this is the
case when it comes to the BIOS when SCANDISK is trying to write/read 2GB
size.

THANKS again for your time, advise, and help!!!!! ,,, plus further
thoughts!!!

Jerry

"Jeff Richards" wrote:

FAT32 is almost indifferent to heads and sectors and such. If the system
can address the clusters properly, then the file system will keep its
indexes and such in good shape.

However, it's quite possible that your problem is with the configuration.

FDISK doesn't look at the disk beyond the areas needed to write the
partition information, and if the disk access required for that task
seems
OK then FDISK will happily report the whole disk as OK, and anything else
that simply reads the partition info will say the same thing.

FORMAT might or might not attempt to access the whole disk, but it
doesn't
do any real testing.

The hardware diagnostic should test all parts of the system in a form
that
ensures it is OK for use. For instance, it is possible that two
different
head/sector/track combinations actually map to the same physical disk
location. This can fool FDISK and FORMAT and even Windows and the file
system (for a time) but it shouldn't get past a decent diagnostic
program.
OTOH, sometimes hardware diagnostics bypass BIOS and access the disk
directly, so if the problem is in the BIOS it is possible that the
diagnostic won't see it.

That's why I suspect your problem is with the configuration and the way
that
BIOS uses the configuration information. If you can get some standard
hardware diagnostics not matched to the specific hardware (and therefore
forced to use BIOS routines to test the disk) then that may reveal the
problem. These sorts of tests are not good tests of the drive itself, but
they can reveal problem in accessing a particular disk in a particular
configuration.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"Jerry" wrote in message
...
Hello Jeff,,,,

OK,,,,THANKS for that reply and the articles!!!

Having read all that and relating it to all the things I use to be
familiar
with in the original stuff that came out in DOS and BIOS it all makes
sense.
The OLD STUFF (16bit sizes, 504MB, the GB limits, FAT16, etc.) and then
the
changes that occured( pro 1994) in BIOS and the "AT ROM BIOS INT13h"
and
the
use of LBA, #cyls, #heads, #sectors, to make 2GB work.

In this case the BIOS for USER and MODE NORMAL, the BIOS allows the
setting
of #cyls, #heads, #sectors to get the 6gb size with the following:

FOR FAT32
#cyls = 13,410
#heads= 15
#sectors= 63

And, for a FAT32 I do not know if these are all acceptable based on any
limits for FAT32(???). These settings were listed on the SPEC SHEET
supplied
by Fujitsu.

And, once FDISK and FORMAT are executed the disk is reported as a FAT32
by
the W98SE operating system using MYCOMPUTER/PROPERTIES fon drive D and
is
recognized as a 6gb drive.

I have no idea how this FAT32 was set (FDISK/FORMAT). I do not remember
any
selection I made for FAT32 or FAT16 while running FDISK or FORMAT.

I am at a loss, because I can find nothing on the INTERNET or at
Microsoft
that indicates a 2GB problem with SCANDISK on a FAT32 size of 6GB. And,
the
delima is that FDISK and FORMAT run to completion with no errors and
report
the 6GB size. And, the Fujitsu DIAGNOSTIC and ERASE for this model
drive
run
to completion and report no errors..... OHH WELLLL
-------------------

I am gonna start all over again and see if there is a place that I am
not
setting the numbers correctly in the BIOS for a "FAT32" and "AT ROM
BIOS
INT13h" (#cyls, #heads, #sectors); or I am not seeing the numbers
correctly
in the reports from the Fujitsu Diagnostics, BIOS, FDISK, and/or
FORMAT
for
total size, number of clusters, and size of clusters.

THANKS for your advise, time, and HELP!!!!! Exceptional!!!!

Jerry


"Jeff Richards" wrote:

AFAIK there is no issue with Scnadisk at 2Gb and there are no service
packs
that I know of that address any such issue. This might be what you are
thinking of:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=243450
ScanDisk Errors on IDE Hard Disks Larger Than 32 GB

or possibly"

Knowledge Base

Problems Accessing FAT16 Drives Larger Than 2 GB
PSS ID Number: 127851
Article Last Modified on 5/6/2003

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 98
Microsoft Windows 95
Microsoft MS-DOS operating system
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.5
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.5
Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51
Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition

This article was previously published under Q127851
SUMMARY
Microsoft Windows NT supports the creation of primary partitions and
logical
drives of up to 4 gigabytes (GB) using the File Allocation Table 16
(FAT16)
file system, but Windows 95/98 and MS-DOS do not support these drives.
The
size limit for logical drives using the FAT16 file system in Windows
95/98
and MS-DOS is 2 GB.

NOTE: Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 and later support drives larger
than
2 GB using the FAT32 file system. For more information about FAT32,
please
see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: 154997
TITLE : Description of the FAT32 File System
Windows NT 4.0 does not support FAT32, but FAT32 support has been
added
in
Windows 2000.
MORE INFORMATION
Microsoft does not recommend using MS-DOS or Windows 95/98 with a 4 GB
FAT16
drive created in Windows NT. If you use Windows NT's dual boot feature
to
boot MS-DOS or Windows 95/98, you may be able to access the drive, but
you
may experience unexpected behavior. In particular, some programs or
utilities may incorrectly report that no free space (0 bytes) exists
on
the
drive.

In addition, you cannot run Windows 95/98 Setup if your computer has a
FAT16
drive created by Windows NT.

For example, during Windows 98 Setup you receive the following error
message
if your system has a FAT16 drive larger than 2 GB:

Setup has detected that your hard drive has a 64K-cluster FAT
partition.
Because ScanDisk does not work on disks with this cluster size, Setup
cannot
continue. To complete Setup, you must repartition your hard drive,
format
the partition with a FAT file system that has a cluster size of 32K or
less,
and then restart Setup.

Other problems accessing FAT16 drives larger than 2 GB in Windows
95/98
may
include the following:

Running the Defrag tool on the drive causes a "Divide by zero" error
message
or the Defrag tool stops responding (hangs).

ScanDisk for MS-DOS stops responding (hangs) or causes an "Out of
memory"
error message.

The Chkdsk tool may report multiple "allocation errors" on the drive.

ScanDisk for Windows typically runs without error on 64k cluster FAT16
drives and shows 64K clusters/allocation units on the Summary dialog.

Both MS-DOS and the retail release of Windows 95 use a 16-bit FAT for
logical drives larger than 15 megabytes (MB). The maximum number of
clusters
for a 16-bit FAT drive is 64K. In addition, the maximum cluster size
for
a
FAT16 drive in MS-DOS, or Windows 95 is 32K. Therefore, the maximum
logical
drive size for FAT16 is calculated as follows:
32K x 64K = 2048 MB = 2 GB

The maximum cluster size for a FAT16 drive in Windows 98 is 32K, or
32,768
bytes. Therefore, the maximum logical drive size for FAT16 is
calculated
as
follows:
32K x 64K = 2048 MB = 2 GB

Windows NT uses a 64K maximum cluster size to allow drives larger than
2
GB
using FAT16. The maximum logical FAT16 drive size in Windows NT is
calculated as follows:
64K x 64K = 4096 MB = 4 GB

NOTE: On a FAT drive, space is allocated by clusters. That is, a file
that
is smaller than the drive's cluster size is still allocated one full
cluster, thus wasting the additional space in the cluster. Similarly,
a
file
that is large enough to fill 3-1/2 clusters is allocated four full
clusters.
Using a smaller cluster size typically results in less wasted space on
the
drive.

The cluster size for a FAT drive is determined when the drive is
formatted
and varies depending on the size of the logical drive. For more
information
about cluster and logical drive sizes in MS-DOS, please see the
following
article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: Q67321 67321
TITLE : FAT Type and Cluster Size Depends on Logical Drive Size

Windows 95 and MS-DOS use the FDISK utility to partition a disk. When
it
accesses a hard disk, FDISK uses the system AT ROM BIOS INT13h
interface,
which has a maximum of 1024 cylinders, 255 heads, and 63 sectors per
track.
FDISK can access any drive within the limits imposed by the AT ROM
BIOS,
which means that FDISK can access drives of up to 8 GB, calculated as
follows:

1024 cylinders x 255 heads x 63 sectors per track x 512 bytes per
sector = 8,422,686,720 bytes, or roughly 8 GB

The original IDE hardware interface is limited to 16 heads, which
reduces
the maximum drive size to 504 MB. Newer IDE (ATAPI) technology,
however,
uses a translation scheme called Logical Block Addressing (LBA) to
exceed
the 504 MB limit as imposed by the system AT ROM BIOS and IDE specifi-
cation. SCSI and ESDI hard drive controllers use similar translation
methods
that are usually built into the controller card's ROM BIOS to exceed
the
504
MB size limit. For more information about the use of large hard disks
with
MS-DOS and Windows 95/98, please see the following article in the
Microsoft
Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: 126855
TITLE : Windows Support for Large IDE Hard Disks

The FDISK utility in MS-DOS and the retail release of Windows 95 can
create
an extended partition larger than 2 GB. FDISK can then create multiple
formatted drives of up to 2 GB in this extended partition that conform
to
the AT ROM BIOS constraints mentioned earlier. FDISK does not,
however,
allow the creation of a primary FAT16 partition or logical FAT16
drives
in
an extended partition that is larger than 2 GB. Note also that, as
mentioned
earlier, logical drives larger than 504 MB cannot be accessed using
MS-DOS
or Windows 95 unless LBA or geometry translation is used.

In Windows NT, you can create 4 GB FAT16 drives, either as a primary
partition or as a logical drive in an extended partition. Because
MS-DOS
and
Windows 95/98 have a maximum logical FAT16 drive size of 2 GB, FAT16
drives
larger than 2 GB created using Windows NT cannot be reliably accessed
using
MS-DOS or Windows 95/98.


Additional query words: 98 msdos
Keywords: kbDiskMemory kbinfo kbinterop kbsetup KB127851
Technology: kbMSDOSSearch kbWin95search kbWin98 kbWin98search kbWinME
kbWinMEsearch kbWinNT350search kbWinNT351search kbWinNT400search
kbWinNTS350
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kbWinNTW350search
kbWinNTW351 kbWinNTW351search kbWinNTW400 kbWinNTW400search
kbWinNTWsearch
kbZNotKeyword3

Send feedback to Microsoft
© 2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.--



  #12  
Old July 19th 05, 10:27 PM
Jerry
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Hello Jeff ,,,,

THANKS for your comments,,,those helped me to re-think and make some other
searches on the Internet as well as my use of the settings in this AWARD
BIOS(1997).

Turns out it appears to be related to my experience using BIOS settings for
this AWARD BIOS(1997).

The following BIOS values were set for this Fujitsu (MPB3064ATU) drive
from the Fujitsu specifications sheet:

CYL HEADS SECTORS MODE
USER 13410 15 63 NORMAL

The BIOS calculation of SIZE was 6488 MB and is correct for this 6GB disk.
Using these settings in BIOS the FDISK and the FORMAT routines would report
a 6GB disk.
And, after FORMATTING the properties of MY COMPUTER shows the disk as 6GB
and is FAT32.
But, the SCANDISK would error for every cluster after cluster 512378 (~2GB).

Based on documents found on the INTERNET related to Hard Disk Drives greater
than 2GB, BIOS's prior to 1994 and after 1994, the change for LBA or LARGE,
and the problem associated with INT13 the following was seleted in this AWARD
BIOS(1997):

Direct setting of the BIOS for MODES LBA or LARGE would
only set to 2111MB (2GB) and no manual entry
of CYL/HEAD/SECTOR values were allowed.

Here is the lack of experience using this AWARD BIOS(1997) and it was
discovered by using the following steps:

1. Using this AWARD BIOS(1997) the settings as mentioned
above for USER CYL/HEADS/SECTORS MODE NORMAL must be
set as sepcified using the Fujitsu Specification Sheet.
2. Once these values are entered using the USER and MODE NORMAL then
the MODE NORMAL must be set to MODE LBA.

Once LBA is selected from the above settings the BIOS now calculates the
correct
documented values for CYL/HEADS/SECTORS for BIOS and INT13 to use for this
6GB drive.

SCANDISK now runs to completion for the full 6GB disk with no errors detected.

I will keep this in mind for other BIOS's if there is another situation like
this.

And, if these two steps are normal procedures for any BIOS related to disk
drives greater then 2GB for W98/95 then I appologize for this lack of
knowledge.

THANKS for your time, advise, and help!!!!!

Jerry


"Jeff Richards" wrote:

You should not need drivers for this disk. If you are talking overlays,
then we're into a whole different ball game. You are quite correct to
surmise that the primary (boot) disk needs to be configured correctly if the
secondary disk needs overlays, and you most definitely cannot move a disk
configured with overlay software when it was the primary drive to the
secondary without quite nasty side effects. Are you quite sure that the
procedure you are using is not installing any overlay software?

Of course, it's possible that the disk will work properly when you install
the overlay software - it's designed to get around exactly the sort of BIOS
program we are theorising about. But in that case the disks must be set up
while in their final configuration, and they cannot be moved between primary
and secondary after being set up.

If LBA and LARGE settings return a 2Gb disk size, even after you have found
the procedure to force the BIOS to automatically detect the disk, then
that's a pretty good indication the BIOS is the problem.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"Jerry" wrote in message
...
Hello Jeff,,,

OK and all this makes sense,,,THANKS!!!!

And, I am comfortable that for W98SE the SCANDISK should work for a 6GB
drive if the BIOS can handle that size. Likewise, since I have no idea
why/where the FAT32 was set I am beginning to suspect that even if the
W98SE
sees the disk as FAT32 and 6GB the BIOS does not, even if the BIOS is
POST
1994.

Now here is something NEW---JUST IN,,,,,,I am being told more about this
system,,,,,,it went down and the CPU was replaced. The disk on C was the
6GB
disk. It was replaced with a brand new "out-of-the-box" 2GB drive (an
older
drive with lots of dust on the box, but works great for this application).
The 6GB was then installed to SECONDARY/MASTER. After W98SE was
re-installed
to the NEW 2GB drive the 6GB drive was FDISKE'd and FORMATTED . Now here
is
the kicker,, the new 2GB drive obviously would not have the FUJITSU
drivers
or any required overlays on that 2GB disk,,,it was brand new out of the
box
and the stuff from the 6GB was not copied to it. AND, the Fujitsu
CDs/documents for this 6GB drive cannot be found(?????)...... So I am now
looking on the Internet where the documents and drivers for this 6GB
Fujitsu
drive can be found,,,if at all.

Since I am not that familiar with drives 2GB, there might be some stuff
on
the Fujitsu CDs that will make the ajustment (drivers plus overlay, etc.
????). This may be the problem and I am trying to find out via the US
Fujitsu
Support web page and contacts.

While I am looking for these answers,,,,,,,

As for the BIOS capability to configure for the larger drives that are
2GB,

it does allow the setting of the IDE SECONDARY/MASTER to:

USER and MODE NORMAL

Then allows the manual settings to the specs specified in the Fujitsu SPEC
SHEET for #CYLS, #HEADS, #SECS.

Also, the BIOS allows the selection of MODE LBA and/or LARGE, but these
selections do not allow any other manual settings and in this case they
are
HARD set to 2GB. I cannot remember if there is a BIOS selection that
allows
the BIOS to AUTOMATICALLY find and set the the #CYLS, #HEADS, and #SECS. I
will give this a look in all the other BIOS displays the next time I get
the
machine. So far, I have just been using the CONFIG display part of BIOS
that
shows only the TIME/DATE settings and the IDE/ATAPI configs for the IDE
devices, and I cannot remember if there is a selection on this display
that
tells the BIOS to do these settings immediatly(automatically) (F1, F2,
F19,,,,etc.).

Since I have no idea where/why the FAT32 was set for this disk, I am
running
all the stuff over again. And, just to maike sure I am interpreting all
the
numbers correctly that are reported by the Fujitsu ERASE and DIAGNOSTIC,
the Microsoft FDISK and FORMAT, these numbers will be watched
closely,,,,,

Also, I will try to understand where/why the FAT32 was set during these
processes.
The W98SE reports FAT32 and 6GB, but like you I am not sure this is the
case when it comes to the BIOS when SCANDISK is trying to write/read 2GB
size.

THANKS again for your time, advise, and help!!!!! ,,, plus further
thoughts!!!

Jerry

"Jeff Richards" wrote:

FAT32 is almost indifferent to heads and sectors and such. If the system
can address the clusters properly, then the file system will keep its
indexes and such in good shape.

However, it's quite possible that your problem is with the configuration.

FDISK doesn't look at the disk beyond the areas needed to write the
partition information, and if the disk access required for that task
seems
OK then FDISK will happily report the whole disk as OK, and anything else
that simply reads the partition info will say the same thing.

FORMAT might or might not attempt to access the whole disk, but it
doesn't
do any real testing.

The hardware diagnostic should test all parts of the system in a form
that
ensures it is OK for use. For instance, it is possible that two
different
head/sector/track combinations actually map to the same physical disk
location. This can fool FDISK and FORMAT and even Windows and the file
system (for a time) but it shouldn't get past a decent diagnostic
program.
OTOH, sometimes hardware diagnostics bypass BIOS and access the disk
directly, so if the problem is in the BIOS it is possible that the
diagnostic won't see it.

That's why I suspect your problem is with the configuration and the way
that
BIOS uses the configuration information. If you can get some standard
hardware diagnostics not matched to the specific hardware (and therefore
forced to use BIOS routines to test the disk) then that may reveal the
problem. These sorts of tests are not good tests of the drive itself, but
they can reveal problem in accessing a particular disk in a particular
configuration.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"Jerry" wrote in message
...
Hello Jeff,,,,

OK,,,,THANKS for that reply and the articles!!!

Having read all that and relating it to all the things I use to be
familiar
with in the original stuff that came out in DOS and BIOS it all makes
sense.
The OLD STUFF (16bit sizes, 504MB, the GB limits, FAT16, etc.) and then
the
changes that occured( pro 1994) in BIOS and the "AT ROM BIOS INT13h"
and
the
use of LBA, #cyls, #heads, #sectors, to make 2GB work.

In this case the BIOS for USER and MODE NORMAL, the BIOS allows the
setting
of #cyls, #heads, #sectors to get the 6gb size with the following:

FOR FAT32
#cyls = 13,410
#heads= 15
#sectors= 63

And, for a FAT32 I do not know if these are all acceptable based on any
limits for FAT32(???). These settings were listed on the SPEC SHEET
supplied
by Fujitsu.

And, once FDISK and FORMAT are executed the disk is reported as a FAT32
by
the W98SE operating system using MYCOMPUTER/PROPERTIES fon drive D and
is
recognized as a 6gb drive.

I have no idea how this FAT32 was set (FDISK/FORMAT). I do not remember
any
selection I made for FAT32 or FAT16 while running FDISK or FORMAT.

I am at a loss, because I can find nothing on the INTERNET or at
Microsoft
that indicates a 2GB problem with SCANDISK on a FAT32 size of 6GB. And,
the
delima is that FDISK and FORMAT run to completion with no errors and
report
the 6GB size. And, the Fujitsu DIAGNOSTIC and ERASE for this model
drive
run
to completion and report no errors..... OHH WELLLL
-------------------

I am gonna start all over again and see if there is a place that I am
not
setting the numbers correctly in the BIOS for a "FAT32" and "AT ROM
BIOS
INT13h" (#cyls, #heads, #sectors); or I am not seeing the numbers
correctly
in the reports from the Fujitsu Diagnostics, BIOS, FDISK, and/or
FORMAT
for
total size, number of clusters, and size of clusters.

THANKS for your advise, time, and HELP!!!!! Exceptional!!!!

Jerry


"Jeff Richards" wrote:

AFAIK there is no issue with Scnadisk at 2Gb and there are no service
packs
that I know of that address any such issue. This might be what you are
thinking of:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=243450
ScanDisk Errors on IDE Hard Disks Larger Than 32 GB

or possibly"

Knowledge Base

Problems Accessing FAT16 Drives Larger Than 2 GB
PSS ID Number: 127851
Article Last Modified on 5/6/2003

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 98
Microsoft Windows 95
Microsoft MS-DOS operating system
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.5
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.5
Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51
Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition

This article was previously published under Q127851
SUMMARY
Microsoft Windows NT supports the creation of primary partitions and
logical
drives of up to 4 gigabytes (GB) using the File Allocation Table 16
(FAT16)
file system, but Windows 95/98 and MS-DOS do not support these drives.
The
size limit for logical drives using the FAT16 file system in Windows
95/98
and MS-DOS is 2 GB.

NOTE: Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 and later support drives larger
than
2 GB using the FAT32 file system. For more information about FAT32,
please
see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: 154997
TITLE : Description of the FAT32 File System
Windows NT 4.0 does not support FAT32, but FAT32 support has been
added
in
Windows 2000.
MORE INFORMATION
Microsoft does not recommend using MS-DOS or Windows 95/98 with a 4 GB
FAT16
drive created in Windows NT. If you use Windows NT's dual boot feature
to
boot MS-DOS or Windows 95/98, you may be able to access the drive, but
you
may experience unexpected behavior. In particular, some programs or
utilities may incorrectly report that no free space (0 bytes) exists
on
the
drive.

In addition, you cannot run Windows 95/98 Setup if your computer has a
FAT16
drive created by Windows NT.

For example, during Windows 98 Setup you receive the following error
message
if your system has a FAT16 drive larger than 2 GB:

Setup has detected that your hard drive has a 64K-cluster FAT
partition.
Because ScanDisk does not work on disks with this cluster size, Setup
cannot
continue. To complete Setup, you must repartition your hard drive,
format
the partition with a FAT file system that has a cluster size of 32K or

  #13  
Old July 20th 05, 11:04 AM
Jeff Richards
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Thanks for letting us know that you got it sorted out.

I haven't heard of that particular arrangement before, but I do know that
many older BIOSes have their peculiarities when it comes to dealing with
'large' hard disk drives.

Glad to be of help in getting you started on the right research path.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"Jerry" wrote in message
...
Hello Jeff ,,,,

THANKS for your comments,,,those helped me to re-think and make some other
searches on the Internet as well as my use of the settings in this AWARD
BIOS(1997).

Turns out it appears to be related to my experience using BIOS settings
for
this AWARD BIOS(1997).

The following BIOS values were set for this Fujitsu (MPB3064ATU) drive
from the Fujitsu specifications sheet:

CYL HEADS SECTORS MODE
USER 13410 15 63 NORMAL

The BIOS calculation of SIZE was 6488 MB and is correct for this 6GB disk.
Using these settings in BIOS the FDISK and the FORMAT routines would
report
a 6GB disk.
And, after FORMATTING the properties of MY COMPUTER shows the disk as 6GB
and is FAT32.
But, the SCANDISK would error for every cluster after cluster 512378
(~2GB).

Based on documents found on the INTERNET related to Hard Disk Drives
greater
than 2GB, BIOS's prior to 1994 and after 1994, the change for LBA or
LARGE,
and the problem associated with INT13 the following was seleted in this
AWARD
BIOS(1997):

Direct setting of the BIOS for MODES LBA or LARGE would
only set to 2111MB (2GB) and no manual entry
of CYL/HEAD/SECTOR values were allowed.

Here is the lack of experience using this AWARD BIOS(1997) and it was
discovered by using the following steps:

1. Using this AWARD BIOS(1997) the settings as mentioned
above for USER CYL/HEADS/SECTORS MODE NORMAL must be
set as sepcified using the Fujitsu Specification Sheet.
2. Once these values are entered using the USER and MODE NORMAL then
the MODE NORMAL must be set to MODE LBA.

Once LBA is selected from the above settings the BIOS now calculates the
correct
documented values for CYL/HEADS/SECTORS for BIOS and INT13 to use for this
6GB drive.

SCANDISK now runs to completion for the full 6GB disk with no errors
detected.

I will keep this in mind for other BIOS's if there is another situation
like
this.

And, if these two steps are normal procedures for any BIOS related to disk
drives greater then 2GB for W98/95 then I appologize for this lack of
knowledge.

THANKS for your time, advise, and help!!!!!

Jerry


"Jeff Richards" wrote:

You should not need drivers for this disk. If you are talking overlays,
then we're into a whole different ball game. You are quite correct to
surmise that the primary (boot) disk needs to be configured correctly if
the
secondary disk needs overlays, and you most definitely cannot move a disk
configured with overlay software when it was the primary drive to the
secondary without quite nasty side effects. Are you quite sure that the
procedure you are using is not installing any overlay software?

Of course, it's possible that the disk will work properly when you
install
the overlay software - it's designed to get around exactly the sort of
BIOS
program we are theorising about. But in that case the disks must be set
up
while in their final configuration, and they cannot be moved between
primary
and secondary after being set up.

If LBA and LARGE settings return a 2Gb disk size, even after you have
found
the procedure to force the BIOS to automatically detect the disk, then
that's a pretty good indication the BIOS is the problem.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"Jerry" wrote in message
...
Hello Jeff,,,

OK and all this makes sense,,,THANKS!!!!

And, I am comfortable that for W98SE the SCANDISK should work for a 6GB
drive if the BIOS can handle that size. Likewise, since I have no idea
why/where the FAT32 was set I am beginning to suspect that even if the
W98SE
sees the disk as FAT32 and 6GB the BIOS does not, even if the BIOS is
POST
1994.

Now here is something NEW---JUST IN,,,,,,I am being told more about
this
system,,,,,,it went down and the CPU was replaced. The disk on C was
the
6GB
disk. It was replaced with a brand new "out-of-the-box" 2GB drive (an
older
drive with lots of dust on the box, but works great for this
application).
The 6GB was then installed to SECONDARY/MASTER. After W98SE was
re-installed
to the NEW 2GB drive the 6GB drive was FDISKE'd and FORMATTED . Now
here
is
the kicker,, the new 2GB drive obviously would not have the FUJITSU
drivers
or any required overlays on that 2GB disk,,,it was brand new out of the
box
and the stuff from the 6GB was not copied to it. AND, the Fujitsu
CDs/documents for this 6GB drive cannot be found(?????)...... So I am
now
looking on the Internet where the documents and drivers for this 6GB
Fujitsu
drive can be found,,,if at all.

Since I am not that familiar with drives 2GB, there might be some
stuff
on
the Fujitsu CDs that will make the ajustment (drivers plus overlay,
etc.
????). This may be the problem and I am trying to find out via the US
Fujitsu
Support web page and contacts.

While I am looking for these answers,,,,,,,

As for the BIOS capability to configure for the larger drives that are
2GB,
it does allow the setting of the IDE SECONDARY/MASTER to:

USER and MODE NORMAL

Then allows the manual settings to the specs specified in the Fujitsu
SPEC
SHEET for #CYLS, #HEADS, #SECS.

Also, the BIOS allows the selection of MODE LBA and/or LARGE, but these
selections do not allow any other manual settings and in this case they
are
HARD set to 2GB. I cannot remember if there is a BIOS selection that
allows
the BIOS to AUTOMATICALLY find and set the the #CYLS, #HEADS, and
#SECS. I
will give this a look in all the other BIOS displays the next time I
get
the
machine. So far, I have just been using the CONFIG display part of BIOS
that
shows only the TIME/DATE settings and the IDE/ATAPI configs for the
IDE
devices, and I cannot remember if there is a selection on this display
that
tells the BIOS to do these settings immediatly(automatically) (F1, F2,
F19,,,,etc.).

Since I have no idea where/why the FAT32 was set for this disk, I am
running
all the stuff over again. And, just to maike sure I am interpreting
all
the
numbers correctly that are reported by the Fujitsu ERASE and
DIAGNOSTIC,
the Microsoft FDISK and FORMAT, these numbers will be watched
closely,,,,,

Also, I will try to understand where/why the FAT32 was set during these
processes.
The W98SE reports FAT32 and 6GB, but like you I am not sure this is
the
case when it comes to the BIOS when SCANDISK is trying to write/read
2GB
size.

THANKS again for your time, advise, and help!!!!! ,,, plus
further
thoughts!!!

Jerry

"Jeff Richards" wrote:

FAT32 is almost indifferent to heads and sectors and such. If the
system
can address the clusters properly, then the file system will keep its
indexes and such in good shape.

However, it's quite possible that your problem is with the
configuration.

FDISK doesn't look at the disk beyond the areas needed to write the
partition information, and if the disk access required for that task
seems
OK then FDISK will happily report the whole disk as OK, and anything
else
that simply reads the partition info will say the same thing.

FORMAT might or might not attempt to access the whole disk, but it
doesn't
do any real testing.

The hardware diagnostic should test all parts of the system in a form
that
ensures it is OK for use. For instance, it is possible that two
different
head/sector/track combinations actually map to the same physical disk
location. This can fool FDISK and FORMAT and even Windows and the file
system (for a time) but it shouldn't get past a decent diagnostic
program.
OTOH, sometimes hardware diagnostics bypass BIOS and access the disk
directly, so if the problem is in the BIOS it is possible that the
diagnostic won't see it.

That's why I suspect your problem is with the configuration and the
way
that
BIOS uses the configuration information. If you can get some standard
hardware diagnostics not matched to the specific hardware (and
therefore
forced to use BIOS routines to test the disk) then that may reveal the
problem. These sorts of tests are not good tests of the drive itself,
but
they can reveal problem in accessing a particular disk in a particular
configuration.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"Jerry" wrote in message
...
Hello Jeff,,,,

OK,,,,THANKS for that reply and the articles!!!

Having read all that and relating it to all the things I use to be
familiar
with in the original stuff that came out in DOS and BIOS it all
makes
sense.
The OLD STUFF (16bit sizes, 504MB, the GB limits, FAT16, etc.) and
then
the
changes that occured( pro 1994) in BIOS and the "AT ROM BIOS INT13h"
and
the
use of LBA, #cyls, #heads, #sectors, to make 2GB work.

In this case the BIOS for USER and MODE NORMAL, the BIOS allows the
setting
of #cyls, #heads, #sectors to get the 6gb size with the following:

FOR FAT32
#cyls = 13,410
#heads= 15
#sectors= 63

And, for a FAT32 I do not know if these are all acceptable based on
any
limits for FAT32(???). These settings were listed on the SPEC SHEET
supplied
by Fujitsu.

And, once FDISK and FORMAT are executed the disk is reported as a
FAT32
by
the W98SE operating system using MYCOMPUTER/PROPERTIES fon drive D
and
is
recognized as a 6gb drive.

I have no idea how this FAT32 was set (FDISK/FORMAT). I do not
remember
any
selection I made for FAT32 or FAT16 while running FDISK or FORMAT.

I am at a loss, because I can find nothing on the INTERNET or at
Microsoft
that indicates a 2GB problem with SCANDISK on a FAT32 size of 6GB.
And,
the
delima is that FDISK and FORMAT run to completion with no errors and
report
the 6GB size. And, the Fujitsu DIAGNOSTIC and ERASE for this model
drive
run
to completion and report no errors..... OHH WELLLL
-------------------

I am gonna start all over again and see if there is a place that I
am
not
setting the numbers correctly in the BIOS for a "FAT32" and "AT ROM
BIOS
INT13h" (#cyls, #heads, #sectors); or I am not seeing the numbers
correctly
in the reports from the Fujitsu Diagnostics, BIOS, FDISK, and/or
FORMAT
for
total size, number of clusters, and size of clusters.

THANKS for your advise, time, and HELP!!!!! Exceptional!!!!

Jerry


"Jeff Richards" wrote:

AFAIK there is no issue with Scnadisk at 2Gb and there are no
service
packs
that I know of that address any such issue. This might be what you
are
thinking of:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=243450
ScanDisk Errors on IDE Hard Disks Larger Than 32 GB

or possibly"

Knowledge Base

Problems Accessing FAT16 Drives Larger Than 2 GB
PSS ID Number: 127851
Article Last Modified on 5/6/2003

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 98
Microsoft Windows 95
Microsoft MS-DOS operating system
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.5
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.5
Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51
Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition

This article was previously published under Q127851
SUMMARY
Microsoft Windows NT supports the creation of primary partitions
and
logical
drives of up to 4 gigabytes (GB) using the File Allocation Table 16
(FAT16)
file system, but Windows 95/98 and MS-DOS do not support these
drives.
The
size limit for logical drives using the FAT16 file system in
Windows
95/98
and MS-DOS is 2 GB.

NOTE: Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 and later support drives
larger
than
2 GB using the FAT32 file system. For more information about FAT32,
please
see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: 154997
TITLE : Description of the FAT32 File System
Windows NT 4.0 does not support FAT32, but FAT32 support has been
added
in
Windows 2000.
MORE INFORMATION
Microsoft does not recommend using MS-DOS or Windows 95/98 with a 4
GB
FAT16
drive created in Windows NT. If you use Windows NT's dual boot
feature
to
boot MS-DOS or Windows 95/98, you may be able to access the drive,
but
you
may experience unexpected behavior. In particular, some programs or
utilities may incorrectly report that no free space (0 bytes)
exists
on
the
drive.

In addition, you cannot run Windows 95/98 Setup if your computer
has a
FAT16
drive created by Windows NT.

For example, during Windows 98 Setup you receive the following
error
message
if your system has a FAT16 drive larger than 2 GB:

Setup has detected that your hard drive has a 64K-cluster FAT
partition.
Because ScanDisk does not work on disks with this cluster size,
Setup
cannot
continue. To complete Setup, you must repartition your hard drive,
format
the partition with a FAT file system that has a cluster size of 32K
or



  #14  
Old July 20th 05, 04:34 PM
Jerry
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Hello Jeff,,,,,

OK and thanks again for your time, advise, and help!!!!

FYI,,,,,,I have been messing around with several different BIOS's (PHOENIX,
AMI, AWARD, etc.) and some provide an AUTO detection via a statement at the
bottom of the BIOS screen (F4 to auto detect). And, some allow the manual
setting of the CYL/HEAD/SECTOR----all post 1994.

So it appears indeed ",,,, that many older BIOSes have their peculiarities
when the MODE is set,,,,". !!!!!!

As far as this issue is related it is a done deal!!!! And, THANKS again!!!!

Jerry




"Jeff Richards" wrote:

Thanks for letting us know that you got it sorted out.

I haven't heard of that particular arrangement before, but I do know that
many older BIOSes have their peculiarities when it comes to dealing with
'large' hard disk drives.

Glad to be of help in getting you started on the right research path.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)


  #15  
Old July 21st 05, 06:34 PM
Jerry
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Hello,,,,,

IGNORE THE PREVIOUS POST BY JERRY dated 7/11/2005 at 1:52PM PST.

And for any future research this post can be ignored,,,,,the original post
and that thread started on 7/8/2005 provided all the discussion necessary to
resolve the issue and inclides a final description on the issue resolution.
While the discussions did not specifically answer the issue the situation was
resolved based on the provided advise!!!!

Jerry


"Jerry" wrote:

Hello,,,,,

OOOPPPSSS,,,,I see that I did not ask any questions,,,,,Sorry!!! :| :|

So, at the end of the following original post are the questions:

"Jerry" wrote:

Hello W98 File/Disk Management Newsgroup,,,,

And, THANKS for your advise, time, and help!!!!


Using the following environment:

o Motherboard is: SPACEWALKER SHUTTLE HOT-637
o Windows 98 Second Edition is installed (no upgrades, i.e no Service
Paks at
this time)
o Award Modular BIOS V4.51PG Award Plug & Play BIOS
Extension v1.0A
Copyright 1997
o A Fujitsu Hard Disk (MPB3064ATU) rated at 6.48GB on drive D:
(Secondary/Master) ~ D:\ Drive

Bios set for the D: drive to the following:

USER 13,410 Cylinders 15 Heads 63 Sectors MODE: NORMAL


o The Fujitsu supplied ERASE and DIAGNOSTIC were executed as required in
a pure DOS environment and both ran to completion without error.
The D: disk is now clean with binary 0's written to the disk!

o Fdisk from DOS ran to completion in the creation of one primary
partition with
no errors and all 6.48GB was recognized.
o Format from DOS ran to completion with no errors for all 6GB.
o After a boot the BIOS shows 6.48GB and W98SE recognizes the D: drive
as 6.03GB and FAT32,,,,so far so good!!!

When the pure DOS execution of "SCANDISK D: /checkonly /surface" the MAP of
the drive did not show any red colored B's ("some bad sectors"), and all
seems to be good.

However, when the SCANDISK reached the 512,378 CLUSTER (about the 2.09GB
point) SCANDISK hung!! It seemed to be stuck on this CLUSTER with no further
changes in the display to show any progress of SCANDISK after several hours
of run time.

The SCANDISK was executed using the following four methods:

1. from Pure DOS (SCANDISK.EXE),
2. a W98SE Recovery boot diskette (SCANDISK.EXE),
3. W98SE SAFE mode using SCANDSKW.EXE, and
4. W98SE normal boot (SCANDSKW.EXE).

All of these SCANDISK started producing errors at the 2.09GB point and the
SCANDISK producing a LOG file showed the errors for all CLUSTERS remaining on
the disk(???) !!!!.

The SCANDISK found on the C:\ drive are the following:

COMMAND\SCANDISK.EXE 141KB 4/23/99
WINDOWS\SCANDSKW.EXE 5KB 4/23/99 Version 4.70.1998

The SCANDISK used from the W98SE Recovery Diskette is the following:

Eramdrive)\ SCANDISK.EXE 143,818 5/6/98

After searching on the www.support.microsoft.com for any similar description
the following items were found:

o The IDE upgrade (Article ID = 273017).
o The upgrade for esdi_506.pdr (Article ID=243450)

The description of these did not precisly describe the above SCANDISK
situation but these were installed anyway.

These did not fix the situation.

THANKS for your time, advise, and help!!!

Jerry


The Questions:

o For the dates, size, and versions of the SCAN DISKs listed above,
are these the ones that should (or will) work for 2GB disk drives?

o Or, is there a Service Pak that may correct for this situation?

If so, where can it be found?

Jerry

  #16  
Old July 21st 05, 07:00 PM
Jerry
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Hello,,,,

While the original post and discussions on this TRHEAD did not specifically
answer the issue,,,,,these discussions and advise from JEFF were the KEY to
this issues' solution!!!!
As far as future research using this THREAD the rating should be at a (3) or
EXCELLANT!!!

And, the spccific BIOS in this case is:

AWARD MODULAR BIOS V4.51PG
AWARD SOFTWARE, INC.
AWARD PLUG & PLAY BIOS EXTENSION V1.0A
COPYRIGHT 1997
12/05/97-i440LX-ITE8679-2A69JH2BC-00

This issue is resolved and is a DONE DEAL!!!!

Jerry


"Jerry" wrote:

Hello Jeff,,,,,

OK and thanks again for your time, advise, and help!!!!

FYI,,,,,,I have been messing around with several different BIOS's (PHOENIX,
AMI, AWARD, etc.) and some provide an AUTO detection via a statement at the
bottom of the BIOS screen (F4 to auto detect). And, some allow the manual
setting of the CYL/HEAD/SECTOR----all post 1994.

So it appears indeed ",,,, that many older BIOSes have their peculiarities
when the MODE is set,,,,". !!!!!!

As far as this issue is related it is a done deal!!!! And, THANKS again!!!!

Jerry




"Jeff Richards" wrote:

Thanks for letting us know that you got it sorted out.

I haven't heard of that particular arrangement before, but I do know that
many older BIOSes have their peculiarities when it comes to dealing with
'large' hard disk drives.

Glad to be of help in getting you started on the right research path.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)


 




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