BIOS upgrade for LBA Support?

[Ayman Altounji]

I want to install a 30GB drive in my Prosignia 200 (PII/300). My Bios doesn't seem to support LBA or disks larger than 8.4GB. I am running Bios version P05 04/19/2000.

Is there a BIOS upgrade that will allow me to use large disks without using a "Disk Manager" tool?

Thanks,

Dan

[Ayman Altounji]

I have a similar problem. I also have a ProSignia 200 Server and am trying to install a 45GB I DE Drive. I have checked the Compaq site and the 4/19/2000 flash upgrade seems to be the most current. I have physically installed the drive in the machine, but it does not recognize it. I too am asking if there are any other upgrades that will allow the drive to be seen?

Thanks

Ruth

[Ayman Altounji]

This is the answer I received from Compaq on this same issue. As I mentioned, I am trying to install a 45 GB HD.

"Well - the controller's the issue, not the firmware. It's not an "Ultra-ATA"
controller, just a standard EIDE controller... That means you are probably
getting about 8GB and no more out of that drive - right? The only ways I
know of to fix this would be a SCSI drive (which you don't want) or trying
to use a 3rd-party Ultra-ATA controller (PCI card). We don't really have any
recommendations on that one, but many such cards would probably work fine.
The system is PCI 2.1 compliant..."

Dan, I Hope this helps you also.

Ruth

[Ayman Altounji]

Thanks ruth for your help .... but bottom line is the largest drive supported in the Server is 3.8gb EIDE . That is for a Prosignia 200/166 w/EIDE controller .

Prosignia 200 PII 266 or 300 mhz ,with SCSI Controller will support up to 9.1 gb .

[Ayman Altounji]

Actually that's not true. You have to install an Ultra ATA 100 controller (pretty reasonable, but don't get a SIIG, bad news for Compaq. Maxtor installs great w/current drivers). Now the new controller is going to take priority, so you will have to move NT to that drive. Be sure to partition the drive with around a 5GB partition, otherwise NT, will not be able to install and/or will not be able to see the rest of the drive. If your system is like mine, I have have a fast SCSI now, that will fall to secondary boot position. I wanted that to be priority so I didn't have to reinstall NT. Best laid plans of mice and men (or women in my case). Hope this all helps. By the way I have a Prosignia II - 300mgz. My original drive is a 4.5GB SCSI.

Ruth