120 GB: 02/10/1999-SiS-5600-2A6ILV3EC-00

[Steph-tux]

Hello ;

I've got a Vtech (PCPartner) motherboard, model number : 35-8819-02.

I already updated the bios from the manufacturer website, but this bios doesn't recognise drives bigger than 32 GB. I would like to use a 120 GB drive, but the PC hangs on with this drive. When using the 32 GB limit cap, the hard drive is recognised, but I can't access the second part of the drive.
I thought linux did not use the bios to access the drive. I have an other PC with linux ; I had the same kind of problem, and for a 80 GB drive, I used the 32 GB limit cap and I obtained 32 GB + 48 GB.

Any idea ?

How could I change datas in my bios ? (witch software, and what have to be modified ?)
Of course, if somebody can do the job for me, it would be perfect, but anyway, I would like to understand a bit more bios, and I will probably have the same problem with an other motherboard.

Here is the link of my motherboard bios : http://www.pcpartner.com/support/bios/sisbios.htm
(Motherboard model : SIM819D ; file SI0301GG.BIN for Super I/O chip LGS).

Main informations from BIOS Wizard 2.10 are :

Enhanced Disk Drive Specification : BIOS doesn't support this feature

BIOS Manufacturer : Award Modular BIOS v4.51PG
BIOS ID : 02/10/1999-SiS-5600-2A6ILV3EC-00
BIOS Date : 02/10/99
BIOS OEM Signon : BIOS-G-2M (90301)
BIOS ROM Size : 256K
Chipset : SiS600 rev 17 (??? should be SiS 5600 !!!)
Super I/O Chip : LGS Prime 3C found at port 398h


Thanks for help.

[ajzchips]

It's nice to help out people who do their homework, like you

At http://wims.rainbow-software.org/ajz/ you'll find a patched BIOS (for 128GB HDD support) using Rainbow's utility.

Try it out and give us some feedback.

[Steph-tux]

It's just perfect !

I installed this patch, and the PC recognized my 120 GB drive !

Thank's a lot !!

But I would like to understand what you changed, and how you did it...

[ajzchips]

IIRC, there's a post somewhere in this forum which explains how to do this step-by-step. Perhaps a post by Biosman, but I'm not too sure.

The BIOS has been made official now, thanks.