82GB: ASUS P5A

[kindred]

Greetings,

I bought a 82.34 GB IBM Hard Disk, seemed like my PC only limit it to 33.8GB.

Would appreciate if anyone can help me with the BIO upgrade.

BIOS Date: 04/16/99
BIOS Type: Award Modular BIOS v4.51PG
BIOS ID: 04/16/99-ALADDIN5-<<P5A>>
BIOS Eval: ASUS P5A ACPI BIOS Revision 1007
Chipset: ALi M1541 rev 4

Thanks in advance.

[soupy]

Even though you didn't read the rules, you have the good taste to own an Asus board. Just read them before you post again.

ftp://ftp.asuscom.de/pub/ASUSCOM/BIOS/S ... ALI_V/P5A/

[kindred]

Soupy,

Thanks for the mod, will try to flash the BIOS.

There are two zip files - 1007a and 1011__05 - where the former is the final and the latter is the beta. So I reckon I have to use the the final copy instead of the beta version?

By the way, so sorry for failing to read the rules, will take note of that in the future

[Denniss]

You need the beta Bios for HDD support up to 128GB
It's working fine - had it on my P5A-B (P5A in Baby-AT form factor)

[kindred]

Denniss,

Thanks for the information.

The beta BIOS has a filename that is named 1011.005. I thought BIOS files should end with .bin?

So if I use the beta version, do I use the file as it is, or do I need to rename the file to 1011.bin in order to flash the BIOS?

Right now, I set the harddisk to 32 GB using Ontrack application, and installed a new OS. When I upgrade the BIOS to recognise beyond 32GB, do I need to re-format the harddisk again? Can the harddisk be recognised as its true capacity and function properly?

Thanks

[Rainbow]

Asus BETA BIOSes end with number (meaning version of BETA release). You don't need to rename it - you can enter name with any extension in Aflash.
With the new BIOS, full size of the HDD will be recognised without the overlay software - you can remove it then (which often requires repartitioning and reformatting).

[kindred]

Rainbow,

Thanks for the tips.

I just hope that the BIOS can recognise the harddisk as full capacity - the reclaimed disk space as unpartitioned, so that I can easily re-partition and re-format that portion (50 GB) without the need to re-install the OS again.

[NickS]

Here is why it could be difficult than you would expect.

The dynamic disc overlay software usually has a boot loader which sits in the Master Boot Record; at the end of the Master Boot Record there is a master partition table. You need to replace the DDO loader with normal boot code (FDISK /MBR). Then you need to hope that the master partition table at the end of the MBR is compatible with the boot code and is not
1. something weird used only by the DDO or
2. a dummy partition table just put there for compatibility.
This is why you may end up re-partitioning and reformatting the disk. Ghost is very handy for backing up and restoring to a larger partition if you have a second machine and a network

In addition, some utilities (e.g. IBM's) contain a program which modifies the drive information to say that the drive is smaller than it really is. The DDO recognises the full size, but when the DDO is removed you must also return the drive size reporting to normal to be able to see the full size.

[kindred]

Nick,

I think I will use the DDO software to report the full capacity after i upgrade my BIOS. I set to 32 GB now using the DDO so that my PC won't hang while starting.

One question, do I use the Award Flash or Asus Flash programme? I am having the Asus BIOS upgrade, I suppose either the Flash programme can be used.

Thanks.

[NickS]

Use either.

[Denniss]

Award flash may not work or claim "no Award Bios" .
Use Asus flashprogram Aflash .

[kindred]

Managed to upgrade my BIOS using the ASUS Flash Programme to P5A ACPI BIOS 1011 beta 05. However, I need to use the DDO to set back the correct disk drive capacity. The reclaimed disk space was seen as un-partitioned space, so I just partitioned and formated it. Overall it was quite a breeze.

Thanks for all the help rendered.

Cheers