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Old 09-25-2003, 05:37 PM   #16
JimKyle
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Quote:
Originally posted by koolkat
BIOS ID: 62-1005-001199-00101111-071595-IRONGATE-GA7IX002
The "071595" in that ID string is the BIOS release date: July 15, 1995. That was definitely before the 8.3-GB limit was taken out.

You may be able to flash your BIOS to a newer version, but doing so can be risky. If anything goes wrong during the process your computer could be reduced to an expensive paperweight. Nevertheless I've done it to one of my older systems, successfully.

If you want to research this approach, do a Google search for the maker and model number of your motherboard, and add "BIOS update" to the end of the search string. That should take you to at least one site that may include the necessary program and binary file, together with instructions on how to do it.

Not all BIOS chips can be flashed; older ones, especially, may be permanently programmed. However the one that I did a flash update on was an AMI from 1995 so there's a chance this can solve your problem if you want to take the risk. Incidentally if your motherboard's BIOS chip can't be flashed, the maker's site will tell you so (or simply won't mention your model number). If the site includes flash data for your mobo's model number then the chip is flashable.
 
Old 09-25-2003, 05:41 PM   #17
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thank you all
 
Old 09-26-2003, 12:06 AM   #18
Jeff Foster
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"I haven't downloaded SuSE yet. So when I download itSuSE will auyomatically fix this?"

Not necessarily. If the problem is with your BIOS settings, then the answer is no. It is possible however, that the drive wasn't partitioned properly when it was installed. The SuSe install program has a partitioner which might be able to see the entire device and then ask what you want to do with it. It can't hurt to try it because you can still exit the install at that point without making any changes to your system. If Suse tells you its only 8 gig then it's most likely is a BIOS problem.
 
Old 09-26-2003, 04:27 AM   #19
koolkat
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Well if it's stuck at 8 GB can I dua; boot Win98SE and Linux?
 
Old 09-26-2003, 04:41 AM   #20
thegreatgatsby
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win98 only recognises max 8gb size. this isn't fixable with the bios.
 
Old 09-26-2003, 05:09 AM   #21
koolkat
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^ So your saying Win98 itself only recognises 8 GB or just my Win98?
 
Old 09-26-2003, 06:55 AM   #22
UltimaGuy
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It is just with the win98. If you install linux, it will recognise the whole 40GB, but you have to install the boot patition within the 8 GB limit. This is because linux uses its own drivers and doen not rely on the bios, once it has booted up.
 
Old 09-26-2003, 07:06 AM   #23
JimKyle
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Quote:
Originally posted by thegreatgatsby
win98 only recognises max 8gb size. this isn't fixable with the bios.
Not true. I'm currently running three boxes with Win98SE and one with original Win98, all of them with drives larger than 8 GB and all the drives are recognized as full capacity. One of them is 60 GB!

The 8-GB limitation is in the BIOS, not in the operating system. Windows 3.1 did have a built-in limit but that went away with the introduction of the FAT32 file system. The only inherent limit in current Windows versions is that a single file cannot exceed 4 GB (because of addressing limitations caused by the 32-bit word). Even that limit can be bypassed by programming tricks.

To get to the larger sized disks it's necessary to configure the BIOS to use LBA addressing. This changes the effective disk geometry to stay within the 1024-cylinder limit imposed by the controller conventions. Western Digital used to have a number of white papers on their web site that explored these issues in depth...
 
Old 09-27-2003, 11:44 AM   #24
koolkat
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thanks
 
  


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