80GB: 10/01/1998-i440BX-W977TF-2A69KSMAC-00

[lingula]

I have the Award Bios 4.51 problem with recognizing large drives.

Award BIOS : Award Modular BIOS v4.51PG
Award ID-String : 10/01/1998-i440BX-W977TF-2A69KSMAC-00
Board/BIOS-Version : SP-P2BXA VER:B.4
MoBo : SAN-LI
Chipset : i440BX-W977TF //Intel 440BX

Ok, so i have a San-li mobo, but it says SP-P2BXA Ver:B1 on it (not B.4 as stated above from ctbios - not sure if that makes a difference).

This is the only link to a bios driver that i've found that might correct the problem with the 32GB cap.
http://www2.driverguide.com/uploads/upl ... 16303.html
i checked wim's patch page for a simpler way but found nothing specific for me(http://wims.rainbow-software.org/).

Sorry for the length of this - i'm just trying to figure all this out for the first time . I'd really appreciate any help that you guys have either saying this driver is what i need, or pointing me towards/emailing me the right file. Thanks.
Joe
(joejamal@hotmail.com)

[ajzchips]

Here's version B.7
http://download.hongen.com/pub/drivers/ ... bxa-b7.zip

BIOS version is B.7
Motherboard revision is B1

....just FYI.

[lingula]

Thanks a lot for the link (and the explanation). So this link will upgrade the award bios 4.51 to some newer version that will support the 80GB drive right (just making sure).

[lingula]

I flashed the bios with version B.6 (tried B.7 but got an error saying it wasn't compatible). Anyway, the hard drive still isn't being recognized for its full 80GB . Here is what i get from bios wizard now (not much different).

BIOS Manufacturer : Award Modular BIOS v4.51PG
BIOS ID : 05/11/1999-i440BX-W977TF-2A69KSMAC-00
BIOS Date : 05/11/99
BIOS OEM Signon : P2BXA VER:B.6
BIOS ROM Size : Unknown
Chipset : Intel 440BX/ZX rev 2
Super I/O Chip : Winbond 83977TF found at port 3F0h

Now what? How do i change the BIOS so that the full 80GB is recognized? The bios is still v4.51 which seems to be the limiting factor (to me) - how do i change that to a newer version?

It seems that the BIOS is recognizing the drive (as it did with verB.4) during startup, but when i run the maxtor software, i can only create a 33.8GB partition. Any other suggestions? Just frustrated at this point (i thought i had it!).

[Rainbow]

Patched BIOS sent.

[lingula]

Thanks so much Ondrej - i ended up using the MaxBlast3 (i think it's basically the same as EZDrive) software to get windows to recognize the full 80GB. I know this isn't the ideal solution, but so far it works great!

Do you think i should try using the BIOS patch too, or will that screw something up. If i do use the patch and the BIOS does recognize all 80GB will i have to reformat the drive and lose all my info on their? What are the usual problems with using MaxBlast3/EZDrive? If i used this same drive in newer computer in the future (capable of recognizing all 80GB) would i have any problems with it?

Regardless, i really appreciate your help in trying to fix my problem. In truth i was drunk on saturday night and decided to just use the MaxBlast3 software out of shear frustration. You posted the patch on sunday, and i didn't even check up on that post/e-mail you sent me until just now. Thank you for your efforts!

(i also sent this to you via e-mail).