Hiya again!
This is an Intel manufactured board, the boxed retail version. It is collecting dust in an unused system at my workplace with no hdd in it.
I remember it has a 64Gb bios limitation.
I thought of reviving it as a simple office machine, but for that I will have to buy a hdd. That is fine, as long as I get to use it as a secondary comp. However, a 60Gb drive would be a waste, when I can get an 80Gb for 6$ more, or a 120Gb for 12$ more. Not to mention a 160Gb, but i guess the 128Gb barrier would be tough to fix.
Note that this board uses a Phoenix bios. Is it possible to hack that at all?
The main page for this board is here:
http://support.intel.com/support/mother ... p/SE440BX/
And the latest bios, P12, which the board uses, should appear here:
http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts ... bmit=Go%21
I will boot it from a floppy and post the exact bios string if necessary.
Thanks, Ben69
120Gb: Intel® SE440BX Motherboard: 4S4EB0X1.86A.0032.P12
The SE440BX, and also the AL440LX, accept up to 120GB drives with the latest BIOS image available for download from the Intel website. This is what I was told between email inquiries between me an Intel.
I sucessfully installed an 80GB drive into one board, and a 40GB drive into another board, which were both recognised fine. I cannot remember for sure which drive I installed into which board, except to say that the BIOS of the AL440LX board would not detect the full HDD size before the BIOS upgrade. (I think I installed the 80GB into the AL440LX, but as I said I cannot remember for sure).
So you should be fine installing up to 120GB on the Intel board, using the latest Intel BIOS update for this board.
I sucessfully installed an 80GB drive into one board, and a 40GB drive into another board, which were both recognised fine. I cannot remember for sure which drive I installed into which board, except to say that the BIOS of the AL440LX board would not detect the full HDD size before the BIOS upgrade. (I think I installed the 80GB into the AL440LX, but as I said I cannot remember for sure).
So you should be fine installing up to 120GB on the Intel board, using the latest Intel BIOS update for this board.
Thank you for the information.
I remember trying a 80Gb drive before. Size in the bios was displayed as 65535 mbytes, but I could boot from it. Windows XP would install, but would lock up on the first hard disk access after loading, usually when clicking the start menu, sometimes before that. I could never get to the control panel, not even in safe mode. When I installed the same system on a scsi drive+adaptec 2940uw combination, it worked fine. So I thought it was a bios bug.
I will try again, and post the results.
I am using bios version P12. Is there a newer version available?
I remember trying a 80Gb drive before. Size in the bios was displayed as 65535 mbytes, but I could boot from it. Windows XP would install, but would lock up on the first hard disk access after loading, usually when clicking the start menu, sometimes before that. I could never get to the control panel, not even in safe mode. When I installed the same system on a scsi drive+adaptec 2940uw combination, it worked fine. So I thought it was a bios bug.
I will try again, and post the results.
I am using bios version P12. Is there a newer version available?
Also check if the drive has a 64GB limiting jumper (if such jumpers exist!).
If your 80GB drive detects as an 80GB drive on another system, it *should* detect as an 80GB drive on the SE440BX.
OTOH, although I cannot remember whether I installed a 40GB or 80GB HDD on the SE440BX, but I defintely did use a WDC 80GB, 8MB cache drive on the SE440BX temporarily. Having said that however, I might not have checked the reported size in the BIOS since I was running W2K which allowed me to use the full size of the drive regardless of BIOS limitations (which I do not particularly like doing) and therefore cannot report for sure on what the BIOS picked up; only on what Intel have told me.
If your 80GB drive detects as an 80GB drive on another system, it *should* detect as an 80GB drive on the SE440BX.
OTOH, although I cannot remember whether I installed a 40GB or 80GB HDD on the SE440BX, but I defintely did use a WDC 80GB, 8MB cache drive on the SE440BX temporarily. Having said that however, I might not have checked the reported size in the BIOS since I was running W2K which allowed me to use the full size of the drive regardless of BIOS limitations (which I do not particularly like doing) and therefore cannot report for sure on what the BIOS picked up; only on what Intel have told me.
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edwin
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anything after P04 up to 128GB so it should work.
Latest bios is indeed P12 for the SE440BX.
anything after P04 up to 128GB so it should work.
Latest bios is indeed P12 for the SE440BX.
edwin/evasive
Do not assume anything
System error, strike any user to continue...
Do not assume anything
System error, strike any user to continue...
I agree with Edwin. It should work.
I am certain that it works. I was just trying to recall a specific memory of seeing at least a 40GB or 80GB drive listed in the SE440BX BIOS when I had such a drive present, which I cannot specifically recall. But I am certain the 80GB was set correctly in the BIOS at one stage and I am certain that I saw it listed correctly in the BIOS although I cannot remember seeing it there.
As Edwin and I both say, it should work. No good reason why it shouldn't.
One avenue worth checking is:
There will be a line on the BIOS POST screen that includes the version number of the BIOS, which should say P12 in there somewhere if BIOS P12 is present. If it is not listing P12, I would upgrade it to P12.
I am certain that it works. I was just trying to recall a specific memory of seeing at least a 40GB or 80GB drive listed in the SE440BX BIOS when I had such a drive present, which I cannot specifically recall. But I am certain the 80GB was set correctly in the BIOS at one stage and I am certain that I saw it listed correctly in the BIOS although I cannot remember seeing it there.
As Edwin and I both say, it should work. No good reason why it shouldn't.
One avenue worth checking is:
There will be a line on the BIOS POST screen that includes the version number of the BIOS, which should say P12 in there somewhere if BIOS P12 is present. If it is not listing P12, I would upgrade it to P12.
Another thought.
Has the HDD detected as 80GB on another board before?
If not, is there a 60GB limiting jumper set?
Your sure you are not seeing the RAM size as 65535?
Have you actually tried detecting any drives since trying to or thinking about reviving this machine?
Or are you just going on what you remember from last time you used the board?
If you have access to a spare, never used HDD of say 80GB, be best to hook that in and see what happens. Western Digital drives I have used have not had capacity limiting jumpers set when purchased new. One reason I suggest this because a friend of mine was working on a problem once where some corrupt state of the hard disks in similar laptops caused the BIOS to detect their size incorrectly.
Has the HDD detected as 80GB on another board before?
If not, is there a 60GB limiting jumper set?
Your sure you are not seeing the RAM size as 65535?
Have you actually tried detecting any drives since trying to or thinking about reviving this machine?
Or are you just going on what you remember from last time you used the board?
If you have access to a spare, never used HDD of say 80GB, be best to hook that in and see what happens. Western Digital drives I have used have not had capacity limiting jumpers set when purchased new. One reason I suggest this because a friend of mine was working on a problem once where some corrupt state of the hard disks in similar laptops caused the BIOS to detect their size incorrectly.
Just noting that I have found records that I have installed an 80GB HDD in the SE440BX (and a 40GB in the AL440LX). Both systems have formatted drive space up to the full capacity of the drives in the NTFS format under W2K.
I would have to check the BIOSs to see that the BIOSs are showing the full size also, although I am quite confident that they are as I would have checked this when I updated the BIOSs and installed the drives.
I would have to check the BIOSs to see that the BIOSs are showing the full size also, although I am quite confident that they are as I would have checked this when I updated the BIOSs and installed the drives.