Re: Need P4C800-E BIOS settings to enable 48-bit LBA with Windows 2000

On Dec 9, 7:11 pm, zeke7 <zekeba...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Dec 9, 6:55 pm, Paul <nos...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:



zeke7 wrote:
Would like advice on the correct BIOS settings for enabling 48-bit
Logical Block Addressing in order to run a >137gb hard drive with
Windows 2000 SP4.

The OS is installed on a 200gb WD Caviar IDE drive, and have recently
learned (the hard way) of the 137gb limitation inherent with W2K, even
with SP4.

[For those who don't but need to know, in order to run partitions
greater than 137gb in Windows 2000, a manual "EnableBigLba" regedt32
fix is required IN ADDITION to having SP3 or 4 installed. The fix is
described in MS-KB article 303013.]

Having made this regedt fix, I now want to ensure my BIOS settings are
correct. Have been through the ASUS manual, but find it less than
fully descriptive.

[I'm assuming that the P4C800-E's BIOS is 48-bit compatible, If it's
not, please advise!]

Recently performed a BIOS flash using the latest version posted on the
ASUS website (AMIBIOS 08.00.09, 06/20/05, P4CED106), so the settings
may need adjusting. Can knowledgeable sorts out there review my
current settings (posted below) and advise if I'm on the right track?

I'm particularly interested in whether the 32-bit Data Transfer
setting should be enable or disabled (it defaulted to Disabled after
the BIOS flash; I enabled it, per Shmat's advice on a much earlier
post here).

[Main tab]
Primary IDE Master:
------------------------
[Summary Table:]
Device: Hard Disk
Size: 200GB
LBA/Large Mode: Supported
Block Mode: 16 Sectors
PIO Mode: 4
Async MDA: Multword DMA-2
Ultra DMA: Ultra DMA-5
SMART Monitoring: Supported
-------------------------
Type: Auto
LBA/Large Mode: Auto
Block (Multi-Sector Transfer Mode): Auto
PIO Mode: Auto
DMA Mode: Auto
SMART Mode: Enabled
32-Bit Data Transfer: Enabled

-------------------------
[Main tab]
IDE Configuration:
-------------------------
Onboard IDE Support Mode: Enhanced Mode
Enhanced Mode Support On: [S-ATA]
Configure S-ATA as RAID: No
IDE Detect Time Out (sec): 35
HDD Detect Time: Quick

[Advanced Settings tab]
Onboard Devices:
----------------------------
Promise Controller = Disabled
[I understand this to be a RAID controller; am not using a RAID
configuration]

Many thanks.

"Note: Model manufactured after 1st January, 2003 will all support 48bit HDD (137 GB HDD)"
Which means, motherboards manufactured after that date, are not added to this web page.
Support is implicit in that case. I expect your motherboard came after that date.

http://support.asus.com.tw/technicaldocuments/technicaldocuments_cont...

48 bit LBA is not subject to BIOS setup screens. Either the support is
there, or it isn't. You don't switch it on and off. The protocol is backward
compatible. For motherboards manufactured before that date, a
BIOS upgrade could add the capability.

You can use a tool like HDTune (hdtune.com), as I see on the Info tab
there is a "48-bit address" as a "Supported Feature". So it appears
like HDTune can check the hardware/BIOS support. The drive I just
extracted this info from, is an 80GB one, so it doesn't appear
that a big drive has to be present, to do the check while in
Windows.

How the parameter transfer actually works, is described here.http://www.t10.org/t13/technical/e00101r6.pdf

Paul

Thanks Paul. My concern is that the MS Knowledgebase article on "48-
Bit LBA Support for ATAPI Disk Drives" is quite explicit that the
motherboard have "a 48-bit LBA compatible BIOS" in order for their
regedt patch to work correctly on partitions >137gb. And an earlier
post here (~2003) had someone going through these same BIOS settings
with a related but not identical problem.

(I misquoted the MS-KB XP version above; the Win2K version is kb/
305098.)

Experienced a number of disasters regarding this issue, and want to
make sure I get things correct this time.

Do you have any advice on the 32-bit data transfer setting? Bios
defaulted to Disabled, my intuition is that it should be Enabled.

I'll check out that HDTune program.

I just checked that ASUS compatibility table, and don't see my MB
model listed. Got me a little nervous. Jan. 2003 is borderline: I
bought it roughly 2003, meaning it could have been actually
manufactured earlier than that. Is there typically a manufacture date
embossed on the MB or some such, do you know?
.

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