Need P4C800-E BIOS settings to enable 48-bit LBA with Windows 2000
zeke7
Logical Block Addressing in order to run a >137gb hard drive with
Windows 2000 SP4.
The OS is installed on a 200gb WD Caviar IDE drive, and have recently
learned (the hard way) of the 137gb limitation inherent with W2K, even
with SP4.
[For those who don't but need to know, in order to run partitions
greater than 137gb in Windows 2000, a manual "EnableBigLba" regedt32
fix is required IN ADDITION to having SP3 or 4 installed. The fix is
described in MS-KB article 303013.]
Having made this regedt fix, I now want to ensure my BIOS settings are
correct. Have been through the ASUS manual, but find it less than
fully descriptive.
[I'm assuming that the P4C800-E's BIOS is 48-bit compatible, If it's
not, please advise!]
Recently performed a BIOS flash using the latest version posted on the
ASUS website (AMIBIOS 08.00.09, 06/20/05, P4CED106), so the settings
may need adjusting. Can knowledgeable sorts out there review my
current settings (posted below) and advise if I'm on the right track?
I'm particularly interested in whether the 32-bit Data Transfer
setting should be enable or disabled (it defaulted to Disabled after
the BIOS flash; I enabled it, per Shmat's advice on a much earlier
post here).
[Main tab]
Primary IDE Master:
------------------------
[Summary Table:]
Device: Hard Disk
Size: 200GB
LBA/Large Mode: Supported
Block Mode: 16 Sectors
PIO Mode: 4
Async MDA: Multword DMA-2
Ultra DMA: Ultra DMA-5
SMART Monitoring: Supported
-------------------------
Type: Auto
LBA/Large Mode: Auto
Block (Multi-Sector Transfer Mode): Auto
PIO Mode: Auto
DMA Mode: Auto
SMART Mode: Enabled
32-Bit Data Transfer: Enabled
-------------------------
[Main tab]
IDE Configuration:
-------------------------
Onboard IDE Support Mode: Enhanced Mode
Enhanced Mode Support On: [S-ATA]
Configure S-ATA as RAID: No
IDE Detect Time Out (sec): 35
HDD Detect Time: Quick
[Advanced Settings tab]
Onboard Devices:
----------------------------
Promise Controller = Disabled
[I understand this to be a RAID controller; am not using a RAID
configuration]
Many thanks.
Paul
"Note: Model manufactured after 1st January, 2003 will all support 48bit HDD (137 GB HDD)"
Which means, motherboards manufactured after that date, are not added to this web page.
Support is implicit in that case. I expect your motherboard came after that date.
http://support.asus.com.tw/technicaldocuments/technicaldocuments_content.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&NO=501
48 bit LBA is not subject to BIOS setup screens. Either the support is
there, or it isn't. You don't switch it on and off. The protocol is backward
compatible. For motherboards manufactured before that date, a
BIOS upgrade could add the capability.
You can use a tool like HDTune (hdtune.com), as I see on the Info tab
there is a "48-bit address" as a "Supported Feature". So it appears
like HDTune can check the hardware/BIOS support. The drive I just
extracted this info from, is an 80GB one, so it doesn't appear
that a big drive has to be present, to do the check while in
Windows.
How the parameter transfer actually works, is described here.
http://www.t10.org/t13/technical/e00101r6.pdf
Paul
zeke7
>
> 48 bit LBA is not subject to BIOS setup screens. Either the support is
> there, or it isn't. You don't switch it on and off. The protocol is backward
> compatible. For motherboards manufactured before that date, a
> BIOS upgrade could add the capability.
>
> You can use a tool like HDTune (hdtune.com), as I see on the Info tab
> there is a "48-bit address" as a "Supported Feature". So it appears
> like HDTune can check the hardware/BIOS support. The drive I just
> extracted this info from, is an 80GB one, so it doesn't appear
> that a big drive has to be present, to do the check while in
> Windows.
>
> How the parameter transfer actually works, is described here.http://www.t10.org/t13/technical/e00101r6.pdf
>
> Paul
Thanks Paul. My concern is that the MS Knowledgebase article on "48-
Bit LBA Support for ATAPI Disk Drives" is quite explicit that the
motherboard have "a 48-bit LBA compatible BIOS" in order for their
regedt patch to work correctly on partitions >137gb. And an earlier
post here (~2003) had someone going through these same BIOS settings
with a related but not identical problem.
(I misquoted the MS-KB XP version above; the Win2K version is kb/
305098.)
Experienced a number of disasters regarding this issue, and want to
make sure I get things correct this time.
Do you have any advice on the 32-bit data transfer setting? Bios
defaulted to Disabled, my intuition is that it should be Enabled.
I'll check out that HDTune program.
zeke7
I just checked that ASUS compatibility table, and don't see my MB
model listed. Got me a little nervous. Jan. 2003 is borderline: I
bought it roughly 2003, meaning it could have been actually
manufactured earlier than that. Is there typically a manufacture date
embossed on the MB or some such, do you know?
zeke7
I just checked that ASUS compatibility table, and don't see my MB
zeke7
I just checked that ASUS compatibility table, and don't see my MB
Paul
>
> Thanks Paul. My concern is that the MS Knowledgebase article on "48-
> Bit LBA Support for ATAPI Disk Drives" is quite explicit that the
> motherboard have "a 48-bit LBA compatible BIOS" in order for their
> regedt patch to work correctly on partitions >137gb. And an earlier
> post here (~2003) had someone going through these same BIOS settings
> with a related but not identical problem.
>
> (I misquoted the MS-KB XP version above; the Win2K version is kb/
> 305098.)
>
> Experienced a number of disasters regarding this issue, and want to
> make sure I get things correct this time.
>
> Do you have any advice on the 32-bit data transfer setting? Bios
> defaulted to Disabled, my intuition is that it should be Enabled.
>
> I'll check out that HDTune program.
The "32 bit transfer mode" is discussed here. It is used in PIO transfer
mode (a mode you would hope is not normally used). It saves two 16 bit
cable transfers, to be transferred by the processor as one PCI bus 32 bit
transfer. Apparently, there are some conditions under which there is a
lack of compatibility, but I've forgotten the details. That is
probably why the default is disabled.
http://www.storagereview.com/guide2000/ref/hdd/if/ide/modesAcc32Bit.html
In terms of verifying that the thing is ready, you can use HDTune,
or you can use a blank drive larger than 137GB for testing. Use a
disk which does not contain any valuable information. Connect it
to the P4C800-E Deluxe. Create a partition which spans the 137GB
mark. Copy files to it, until the file system is filled to at least
a bit more than the 137GB mark. If the file system survives being filled
to that level, it means you've passed the point where a 28 bit attempt
to write, would have rolled over and killed the part of the disk around
sector zero.
In other words, if you have to test, and are concerned about connecting
a live drive to the system, try testing with an empty disk first. If the
empty disk passes all your test cases, then you can connect the disk
which is filled with files, with more confidence.
Spare drives aren't that expensive, and are cheaper than losing a lot
of data. If in doubt, test first.
Paul
zeke7
Good stuff. Tried HDTune, nifty program. Thanks for the advice, Paul.
Core2Duo
"zeke7" <zeke...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:200609bb-0274-47f9...@r60g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
Not sure if it's relevant, but I'm using 250Gb drives w/ no probs in WinXP
32 bit using that board.
PS I posted a Q? in your recent thread re power down issues.
zeke7
> "zeke7" <zekeba...@gmail.com> wrote in message
Core2Duo: thanks, I believe SP2 corrected things for XP (see
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/303013 for XP1 issues).
And just responded to your reply on my restart post.