I've just been trying to install a new 20 Gb drive in my PC, slaved to my existing 8 Gb master(partitioned into a 2 Gb primary/active, and a 6 Gb extended), and replacing my original 6 Gb slave.
Problem is, Fdisk will only see the new drive as having a total size of 8 Gb. I suspect PartitionMagic might do the trick, however - anyone have any experience with this?
Funny thing, really, it's just occurred to me I've never installed larger than a 8 Gb drive anywhere, so in all my so-called IT career I've never encountered this before! 8)
Some other points:
1. For years I've poo-pooed PartitionMagic in favour of Fdisk, especially in front of my Mum who swears by PM. I'm going to have to borrow her PM disks to fix this. It's a good thing mothers aren't allowed to gloat.
2. If the drive is fucked, so be it - I nicked it from work (it was new, before you ask) anyway.
Posted by Tahna Los (Member # 33) on :
I could never nick a hard drive from work. Too much guilt. The only thing I could nick was a CD-ROM, which they had plenty of anyway.
It could be that your BIOS needs to be flashed. Earlier BIOS could only recognize a hard drive up to 8 GB. What is this computer anyways? If it's a PII or newer there shouldn't be any reason why it should not be recognized.
You could try to get the new BIOS from the manufacturer's website, but I have a feeling that it is a cheap board so you might have to replace it.
Another possibility is that there could be a "ghost" partition, an extended partition that isn't there but it is. In that case, you need to perform a low-level format. Go to the Hard drive's website and get one.
And if you ask, I went through the same thing as you, 20 GB hard drive, couldn't partition over 8 GB. Because the mobo was crap, I ended up tossing it into the trash (after I cannibalized it) and getting the ultra cool PC that I have now that I'm dying to replace.
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
This PC is six years old! And it's falling apart. Bloody Star Trek, making you think all you need to do to fix stuff is reroute power from the doohickey to the thingamajig (I tried that, the modem stopped working). 8)
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
No no no, you've got that all wrong! You don't reroute power from a doohickey to a thingamajig without reinforcing the structural plating around the watchamacallit!
And you call yourself an IT person? Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
Well, I have to. Everyone else calls me an acountant, and curse Liam for the day he sprung that Friends joke on me.
I also tried using an inverse polaron beam, but then the batteries ran out before I had it properly configured. At least my flashlight now has a nice purple filter on it, since I thought polarons were probably purple. 8)
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
So are funked up dinosaurs....
As a last resort you can always beat it with a hammer a few times.... I have never had one work after 'working' on it this way, but since it didn't work before hand, it didn't matter....
I felt better afterward also...
Posted by Daryus Aden (Member # 12) on :
Lee, its the bios. Its too old to recognise a HDD that big. A flash upgrade of the bios may do the trick.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
I agree. I had the same problem when I installed an 80 gig HD a month ago.
The next problem you have is trying to figure out what motherboard you actually have. This will be followed by lots of attempts to navigate web-sites written by people who's command of the English language is worse than Ritten's.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :
I can second that. As much as I enjoy working with Asus motherboards (especially after working with the Dell and Compaq stuff from my co-op term), their website is probably one of the most evil places on the Internet for navigation and English.
As for your problem, you really should look at: Cost of Hard Drive Space Its also an interesting site for the nostalgic among us. (I remember in the good old days, we had a 150MB HD. Hey stupid kids, get off my lawn! *waves a cane*)
In any case, it has plenty of information on the various HD size barriers. You're probably looking at the 8.4GB barrier, listed under 1999 December Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
I've just decided to give up for now then wait until I can inherit my Mum's PC, which she got in early 99. . . But thinks it has a HD larger than 8 Gb. We'll see. I'm just not sure whether a flash upgrade exists for a MB this old which will actually do the trick - and there's the problem of ID'ing the motherboard make & model in the first place, as Liam says.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
If the MB is also sold in the US you can pull the FCC ID numbers off of it and take them to here, at the FCC ID# search, ....
I have used this to ID several unknown MBs and bits and pieces I've acquired....
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
It's a Gateway, so it's possible. I'll wait until the next time I have my contacts out (I can't see fine print on circuit boards when they're in) and see what numbers I can spot. . .
Posted by Tahna Los (Member # 33) on :
Even if Partition Magic can actually partition the drive beyond BIOS settings, it will not make BIOS recognize the drive itself. What would happen then is that the BIOS would see that no master is present.
Six years old? JUNK IT!!!!!
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
You can get a very nice Gateway for $400...
Posted by LOA (Member # 49) on :
Well, if you want a Gateway......
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
Not anymore I don't. I just look at it as, I paid a lot of money for this PC, it's lasted me 6 years during which time I've had much better things to spend my money on. I'm fed up with it now, I'm going to get me one of those cool black Dells with a flatscreen. After we sell the house. Although we also want a SUV and a plasma screen TV, so, decisions, decisions. . . 8)
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
Meh, flatscreens are overrated. q
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
It's a space issue more than anything.
Posted by Daryus Aden (Member # 12) on :
Go the plasma TV. Preferably with a thundering surround sound kit Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Yup. TV more important. Makes brain go.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Liam, that explains a lot, thank you....
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
Oh, and by the way (apropos of nothing) I'm also in the process of changing my ISP. To one that offers 50 Mb of space so I can finally upgrade my website.
So, those of you who know my email address, that's not gonna be it for much longer. People I like will get an email with the new details. If you have my address, and think you deserve to know, send me a message. But be prepared for disappointment, I may not like you after all. 8)
(my website will also change, but for that you'll just have to keep an eye on my sig - if I publicised it here, that'd be spam, wouldn't it?)
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