Short:

I put in a 250 GB HDD in my old computer (ca. 2001). When I went to set it up in the BIOS, it was listed as a 137xxx MB drive. So I updated my board's BIOS with the most recent version (ca. 2002) and it still thinks my drive is only +/- 132 GB. Incidentally, Windows XP thinks it's around 240 GB, which is what I'd expect.

In the BIOS, I can choose to configure the drive manually and change the number of cylinders/heads/sectors. Should I do this and will it give BIOS a clear idea of the size of the new drive?

Long:

I'm trying to set up a dual-boot with XP and Ubuntu and possibly a partition to try other OS's out on. I used a web tutorial to attempt to set it up (which I used to set up XP and Ubuntu on my laptop-no problems) and when I got through all the partitioning and loading Ubuntu onto the drive, I got GRUB Error 18 on first boot up. Various online sources and some ubuntuforums responders seemed to believe the culprit was the old BIOS not giving the boot record the option to boot into an OS that was in a partition that went past 137 GB on the disk (although it's possible I fouled it up some other way). Anyway, after deleting the extra partitions and attempting to fix the MBR (unsuccessfully), I scrapped the whole thing and started from scratch with a new install of XP. Then, today I updated the BIOS.

Before I attempt again, I'd like to be sure I'm not doomed to failure from the start by something like bad BIOS configurations. Anyone like to take a crack?

Thanks in advance,

Dave

This post has been edited by notesetter: Jul 8 2008, 03:14 PM

Sure. See here.

Bill,

Thanks for the useful link.

First off, when I re-installed XP, I used a slipstreamed XP SP2 disk and immediately updated to SP3 via downloaded image. The first part of the MS support page, which deals with driver versions states that by default, 48-bit LBA is enabled in XP1 by default (and so, I'm assuming, with any subsequent SP updates). Nevertheless, I followed the directions on the page and compared my driver version to the one listed:

"To determine if you have the latest ATAPI driver, verify that you have version 5.1.2600.1135 or later of the Atapi.sys file in your %systemroot%\system32\drivers folder. (Or version 5.1.2600.1152 for Windows XP 64-Bit Edition.) To do this, follow these steps:"

My Atapi.sys version number is 5.1.2600.5512, so I don't think this is the issue in my system. Additionally, when I right-click the C drive in "My Computer," it lists a total capacity of around 232 GB, so I think Windows is recognizing the size of the drive.

Now, when I enter the BIOS, the size of 137xxx MB is still given, but there are a few options for configuring the new hard disk. I'm unsure of any of these, as I'm not technically educated and have never done this sort of thing before.

The first option is titled "Multisector Transfers" and the default value is "16." The other options are "8" and "disable"

The second option is "Transfer Mode," which is set to "Max UDMA" with options to switch to "PIO 0," "Max PIO," "Enhanced DMA" or "Ultra DMA 0."

The final option is called "Translation Mode" and it is set to "Bit Shift" with available options to change to "LBA Assisted," "User" or "Off." Under the "User" parameter, there are addtional options for changing the values for "Cylinders," "Heads" and "Sectors."

Will any of these change the way the BIOS detects the hard disk? The problem seems not to be with XP since the driver version is later than the one listed on the MS support article, but rather with the BIOS. But again, I'm really out of my league here.

Thanks,

Dave

This post has been edited by notesetter: Jul 9 2008, 07:05 AM

Also, I've read about creating a separate /boot partition at the beginning of the hard disk. Is this a viable workaround?

Thanks.

I would guess you need change the LBA Assisted settings. I say guess because I do not remember seeing "LBA" and "assisted" used together. At any rate, LBA and/or 48bit needs to be enabled. If you don't see the option in your Setup Menu, we will need your motherboard make and model.

The worst that will happen is your system will not boot to the hard drive - so you just reboot and go back into the Setup Menu and change the setting back.

Dividing the drive into two or more partitions so none are more than 137Gb is a workaround if your hardware does not support LBA. There are programs that will do this with a populated drive, but I generally recommend starting over and repartition, format, then install again. In either case, back up your data first.

Bill,

I changed the "Translation Mode" option from "Bit Shift" to "LBA Assisted" and got a non-system disk error. So I rebooted to BIOS and changed the setting back and then rebooted to XP. So, that is apparently not a solution.

Nowhere in the disk configuration dialog do I see an option to set anything to "48-bit" (I hope I'm not missing something really obvious).



Do you mean in order to obtain an update for my system BIOS? Remember that I just updated my system BIOS (at least I think I did) to the most "recent" version (ca. 2002) through Compaq's website. Actually, this brings up another question: The website kept referring to this as an upgrade to the "System ROM." Is that the same as the BIOS? Honestly, I don't see any change as far as the appearance of the BIOS since the upgrade. I might expect different menu options (or a different look completely, like the look of my Compaq Laptop's BIOS, which is only year younger than my Desktop and has never been upgraded). At any rate, the BIOS now lists a "System Rom" version of 1.11 whereas before, it displayed a version number of "1.04." Might there be a more recent update to be obtained from the motherboard manufacturer (as opposed to Compaq)? Where is this information likely to be located? I've already poked around and found a few numbers, but I'm uncertain which number pertains to what.



Does this mean that if I make a 100Gb partition for XP and a 100Gb partition for Ubuntu, then the BIOS won't foul up the GRUB bootloader? In other words, can I make as many partitions as I like as long as none of them are more than 137Gb and they can all be bootable to a different OS? I can live with XP and Ubuntu each residing on a partition smaller than 137Gb, so this may be a viable workaround for me.



Since I just reformatted and reloaded XP onto the new drive, I'll probably scan and defrag the disk, then use Ubuntu's partitioning utility in the setup phase to size/format my partitions. After that, I'll use the Gnome PARTition EDitor (G-Parted) to edit partitions if I need to. Since loading XP onto the machine, I've done little with it except configure Windows and load software. I've used under 8Gb so far, so scanning and defragging would probably take care of the "populated vs. newly installed" issues with partitioning the disk (I hope).

Slightly related: I've reinstalled the old 40Gb hdd as a slave to the new one. I'm thinking about using it to try out other OS's on. Are there any issues related to this? For example, If I try to install a separate OS on this disk, will I have a choice of which drive to boot at startup or am I likely to run into GRUB errors?

Sorry for the long post. I'm assuming very little these days, since it seems to get me into trouble.

Thanks again,

Dave

No, I mean so we can research your particular model so we know what we are talking about in order to better advise you. For example, so we can research to see if your computer's motherboard supports LBA or not.
The BIOS should not mess with the bootloader anyway, the BIOS just points to the bootloader, if the bootloader is on the first boot device as configured in the BIOS. If the boot process fails at that point after the BIOS has lead the boot process to the GRUB, you have an improperly configured GRUB. I am not an expert at dual-boot systems, but I recommend checking out this GRUB Tutorial.
Well, the total of the partitions cannot exceed to total for the whole drive, of course. And yes, they can all be bootable. But I don't advise creating lots of partitions - small partitions become too small too fast.Well, they need to be on separate partitions anyway. And the term "System ROM" is archaic, but does refer to the BIOS. It is not a correct term today because the BIOS can be upgraded, therefore it is really a PROM, or programmable ROM, and more correctly, it is an EPROM - erasable, programmable PROM, or specifically, an EEPROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM. Early motherboards did use ROMs and to upgrade the BIOS you had to physically remove the old IC (integrated circuit, or "chip") and solder (later plug) in the new ROM chip.

BTW, you should not upgrade the BIOS unless you need to. That is, only if the new one addresses a problem you are having, or the new one addresses a security issue, or your current one is corrupt. This applies to all drivers by the way, not just the BIOS. The exception may be current high-end graphics cards that may have updates that are simple small performance tweaks.

Thanks, Bill.

I'll take some time to absorb the GRUB article.

In the meantime, there are several labels on the motherboard and I'm not sure which pertains to what. There is one marked "S/N," which I assume is a serial number and another marked "ISN," which I have no idea about. Both contain rather long alpha-numeric codes. Then there are two smaller, unmarked labels with shorter codes on them and one in the middle of the board that simply reads "801." I'll try emailing Compaq support to inquire about LBA support for my computer model.

Thanks again,

Dave

Since this is a factory made computer, just the complete model of the computer should be enough to find the manual on the HP site - of course, if you have the manual, or download the latest version, most explain the BIOS Setup Menu in pretty good detail.

Keep us posted.