big disk on 503+

Ahhh, so the VA-503+ can see all the way up to 136 GB with that BIOS.
That is very good to know. As I am sure you know, 137 GB is the most
recent BIOS-limited hard drive barrier. There is no BIOS revision that
will let you get past 137 GB... at least, none that I know of.

I suppose you can always use one of the hard drive utilities from the
hard drive manfacturer's website to get past 137 GB, or buy a new PCI
IDE controller card.

$55 for 160 GB? Wow, that is quite a deal. As it stands, you are
"wasting" only $8.25 worth of hard drive space!

--Alex



Joel Mosher wrote:
 > I took a chance today. I bought a 160GB IDE disk at Frys for $55 after
 > rebate. I didn't know if my 503+ motherboards would see the whole disk.
 > In fact, the 503+ only sees 136GB. I'm using the JE4333 BIOS. It's ok
 > since I can use the disk in another, newer system.
 >
 > Has anyone found a way to get a 503+ to see the space above 136GB?<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: big disk on 503+ 

Another advantage of using another PCI ATA controller card is that you can get
support for ATA modes faster than 33. The FIC VA503+ EIDE controller is slow as
a slug.

 >I have never seen a bios for the 503+ that supports 48-bit LBA so your only
 >alternative is to use a PCI ATA controller card which supports 48-bit LBA.
<font color=purple> >For more information see: <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.48bitlba.com/</font" target="_blank">http://www.48bitlba.com/</font</a>>
 >
 >"Joel Mosher" <kb6rxe RemoveThis @pacbell.net> wrote in message
 >news:sigHd.12893$5R.8172@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...
  >> I took a chance today. I bought a 160GB IDE disk at Frys for $55 after
  >> rebate. I didn't know if my 503+ motherboards would see the whole disk.
  >> In fact, the 503+ only sees 136GB. I'm using the JE4333 BIOS. It's ok
  >> since I can use the disk in another, newer system.
  >>
  >> Has anyone found a way to get a 503+ to see the space above 136GB?
 >


-Bill (remove "botizer" to reply via email)<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: big disk on 503+ 

Joel Mosher wrote:
 > I took a chance today. I bought a 160GB IDE disk at Frys for $55 after
 > rebate. I didn't know if my 503+ motherboards would see the whole disk.
 > In fact, the 503+ only sees 136GB. I'm using the JE4333 BIOS. It's ok
 > since I can use the disk in another, newer system.
 >
 > Has anyone found a way to get a 503+ to see the space above 136GB?



I planned to install FreeBSD on this disk so I put it in my ECS K7S5A
Pro motherboard which saw the entire disk. I installed FreeBSD 4.11RC3.
Everything went well. I put the disk in the 503+ where it worked
flawlessly. I didn't have to use any goofy sofware or controller cards.
I suppose if I had to install Windows things would have been different.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: big disk on 503+ 

Yes that would work because Linux/FreeBSD do not use the bios to determine
disk geometry. From the 136 GB number in your first post I just assumed you
were using XP.

"Joel Mosher" <jam.TakeThisOut@joelmosher.com> wrote in message
news:RokHd.12336$wZ2.3289@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
 > Joel Mosher wrote:
  > > I took a chance today. I bought a 160GB IDE disk at Frys for $55 after
  > > rebate. I didn't know if my 503+ motherboards would see the whole disk.
  > > In fact, the 503+ only sees 136GB. I'm using the JE4333 BIOS. It's ok
  > > since I can use the disk in another, newer system.
  > >
  > > Has anyone found a way to get a 503+ to see the space above 136GB?
 >
 >
 >
 > I planned to install FreeBSD on this disk so I put it in my ECS K7S5A
 > Pro motherboard which saw the entire disk. I installed FreeBSD 4.11RC3.
 > Everything went well. I put the disk in the 503+ where it worked
 > flawlessly. I didn't have to use any goofy sofware or controller cards.
 > I suppose if I had to install Windows things would have been different.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: big disk on 503+ 

Hi Alex:
So,then, if I'm using a FIC PA-2013 (Rev 2.1)MB, Windows98SE, with
a PROMISE Ultra ATA/66 controller card, will I have a problem pairing
it with a WD 120GB 7200RPM Internal EIDE hard drive? I wonder what the
upper limit is for the Promise Ultra ATA66 controller?
Thanks in advance.
Gibby
*****************************************************************
Alex Zorrilla wrote:
 > Ahhh, so the VA-503+ can see all the way up to 136 GB with that BIOS.

 > That is very good to know. As I am sure you know, 137 GB is the most

 > recent BIOS-limited hard drive barrier. There is no BIOS revision
that
 > will let you get past 137 GB... at least, none that I know of.
 >
 > I suppose you can always use one of the hard drive utilities from the

 > hard drive manfacturer's website to get past 137 GB, or buy a new PCI

 > IDE controller card.
 >
 > $55 for 160 GB? Wow, that is quite a deal. As it stands, you are
 > "wasting" only $8.25 worth of hard drive space!
 >
 > --Alex
 >
 >
 >
 > Joel Mosher wrote:
  > > I took a chance today. I bought a 160GB IDE disk at Frys for $55
after
  > > rebate. I didn't know if my 503+ motherboards would see the whole
disk.
  > > In fact, the 503+ only sees 136GB. I'm using the JE4333 BIOS. It's
ok
  > > since I can use the disk in another, newer system.
  > >
  > > Has anyone found a way to get a 503+ to see the space above 136GB?<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: big disk on 503+ 

Update: I just read on the Promose ATA Ultra66 box that it supports
drives up to 128GB.
Gibby
 >> Stay informed about: big disk on 503+ 

Gibby:
The only problem you'll experience is if you want to use the 120GB drive
as your boot drive, when you're installing 98SE. The 98SE install CD won't
see the hard drive through the Ultra66 PCI controller card. You might have
to install to a smaller hard drive (on the 2013's IDE controller), install
the Ultra66, get 98SE to recognize it, then attach the 120GB hard drive. I
haven't bought a WD hard drive in quite some time, so I don't know what kind
of installation software they come with, but hopefully it would allow you to
copy the contents of the small drive to a new drive, then remove the small
drive and boot the system off the 120GB drive.
Robert
"Gibby" <MrBaltimore RemoveThis @yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1107815164.872907.103380@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
 > Hi Alex:
 > So,then, if I'm using a FIC PA-2013 (Rev 2.1)MB, Windows98SE, with
 > a PROMISE Ultra ATA/66 controller card, will I have a problem pairing
 > it with a WD 120GB 7200RPM Internal EIDE hard drive? I wonder what the
 > upper limit is for the Promise Ultra ATA66 controller?
 > Thanks in advance.
 > Gibby
 > *****************************************************************
 > Alex Zorrilla wrote:
  > > Ahhh, so the VA-503+ can see all the way up to 136 GB with that BIOS.
 >
  > > That is very good to know. As I am sure you know, 137 GB is the most
 >
  > > recent BIOS-limited hard drive barrier. There is no BIOS revision
 > that
  > > will let you get past 137 GB... at least, none that I know of.
  > >
  > > I suppose you can always use one of the hard drive utilities from the
 >
  > > hard drive manfacturer's website to get past 137 GB, or buy a new PCI
 >
  > > IDE controller card.
  > >
  > > $55 for 160 GB? Wow, that is quite a deal. As it stands, you are
  > > "wasting" only $8.25 worth of hard drive space!
  > >
  > > --Alex
  > >
  > >
  > >
  > > Joel Mosher wrote:
   > > > I took a chance today. I bought a 160GB IDE disk at Frys for $55
 > after
   > > > rebate. I didn't know if my 503+ motherboards would see the whole
 > disk.
   > > > In fact, the 503+ only sees 136GB. I'm using the JE4333 BIOS. It's
 > ok
   > > > since I can use the disk in another, newer system.
   > > >
   > > > Has anyone found a way to get a 503+ to see the space above 136GB?
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: big disk on 503+ 

Robert: Thanks for the response. My biggest problem now is whether my
existing interface (a Promise Ultra ATA/66 controller card) will handle
the WD 120 gig hard drive. Western Digital Company says that the HD
interface specification is DMA/ATA-100 (Ultra)for the 120GB HD.
However, the Promise packaging for Ultra ATA/66 says it will support
drive capacities up to 128GB. So, I'm not sure.
Any opinions welcomed/appreciated.
Gibby
*************************************************************
Robert Akins wrote:
 > Gibby:
 > The only problem you'll experience is if you want to use the 120GB
drive
 > as your boot drive, when you're installing 98SE. The 98SE install CD
won't
 > see the hard drive through the Ultra66 PCI controller card. You
might have
 > to install to a smaller hard drive (on the 2013's IDE controller),
install
 > the Ultra66, get 98SE to recognize it, then attach the 120GB hard
drive. I
 > haven't bought a WD hard drive in quite some time, so I don't know
what kind
 > of installation software they come with, but hopefully it would allow
you to
 > copy the contents of the small drive to a new drive, then remove the
small
 > drive and boot the system off the 120GB drive.
 > Robert
 > "Gibby" <MrBaltimore.RemoveThis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
 > news:1107815164.872907.103380@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
  > > Hi Alex:
  > > So,then, if I'm using a FIC PA-2013 (Rev 2.1)MB, Windows98SE,
with
  > > a PROMISE Ultra ATA/66 controller card, will I have a problem
pairing
  > > it with a WD 120GB 7200RPM Internal EIDE hard drive? I wonder what
the
  > > upper limit is for the Promise Ultra ATA66 controller?
  > > Thanks in advance.
  > > Gibby
  > > *****************************************************************
  > > Alex Zorrilla wrote:
   > > > Ahhh, so the VA-503+ can see all the way up to 136 GB with that
BIOS.
  > >
   > > > That is very good to know. As I am sure you know, 137 GB is the
most
  > >
   > > > recent BIOS-limited hard drive barrier. There is no BIOS
revision
  > > that
   > > > will let you get past 137 GB... at least, none that I know of.
   > > >
   > > > I suppose you can always use one of the hard drive utilities from
the
  > >
   > > > hard drive manfacturer's website to get past 137 GB, or buy a new
PCI
  > >
   > > > IDE controller card.
   > > >
   > > > $55 for 160 GB? Wow, that is quite a deal. As it stands, you
are
   > > > "wasting" only $8.25 worth of hard drive space!
   > > >
   > > > --Alex
   > > >
   > > >
   > > >
   > > > Joel Mosher wrote:
   > > > > I took a chance today. I bought a 160GB IDE disk at Frys for
$55
  > > after
   > > > > rebate. I didn't know if my 503+ motherboards would see the
whole
  > > disk.
   > > > > In fact, the 503+ only sees 136GB. I'm using the JE4333 BIOS.
It's
  > > ok
   > > > > since I can use the disk in another, newer system.
   > > > >
   > > > > Has anyone found a way to get a 503+ to see the space above
136GB?
  > ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: big disk on 503+ 

The WD 120GB ATA/UDMA100 drive will operate on the Ultra66 controller. The
drive and the controller will have a conversation, and the drive will find
out that the controller only accepts data at UDMA66, and will fall back to
that speed. Just as if you connected a UDMA66 drive to the 2013's onboard
IDE UDMA33 controller. It wouldn't hurt to look on Promise's website, if
there are any known incompatible drives they should have a mention
somewhere.
Robert
"Gibby" <MrBaltimore.RemoveThis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1107959604.689587.218490@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
 > Robert: Thanks for the response. My biggest problem now is whether my
 > existing interface (a Promise Ultra ATA/66 controller card) will handle
 > the WD 120 gig hard drive. Western Digital Company says that the HD
 > interface specification is DMA/ATA-100 (Ultra)for the 120GB HD.
 > However, the Promise packaging for Ultra ATA/66 says it will support
 > drive capacities up to 128GB. So, I'm not sure.
 > Any opinions welcomed/appreciated.
 > Gibby
 > *************************************************************
 > Robert Akins wrote:
  > > Gibby:
  > > The only problem you'll experience is if you want to use the 120GB
 > drive
  > > as your boot drive, when you're installing 98SE. The 98SE install CD
 > won't
  > > see the hard drive through the Ultra66 PCI controller card. You
 > might have
  > > to install to a smaller hard drive (on the 2013's IDE controller),
 > install
  > > the Ultra66, get 98SE to recognize it, then attach the 120GB hard
 > drive. I
  > > haven't bought a WD hard drive in quite some time, so I don't know
 > what kind
  > > of installation software they come with, but hopefully it would allow
 > you to
  > > copy the contents of the small drive to a new drive, then remove the
 > small
  > > drive and boot the system off the 120GB drive.
  > > Robert
  > > "Gibby" <MrBaltimore.RemoveThis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
  > > news:1107815164.872907.103380@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
   > > > Hi Alex:
   > > > So,then, if I'm using a FIC PA-2013 (Rev 2.1)MB, Windows98SE,
 > with
   > > > a PROMISE Ultra ATA/66 controller card, will I have a problem
 > pairing
   > > > it with a WD 120GB 7200RPM Internal EIDE hard drive? I wonder what
 > the
   > > > upper limit is for the Promise Ultra ATA66 controller?
   > > > Thanks in advance.
   > > > Gibby
   > > > *****************************************************************
   > > > Alex Zorrilla wrote:
   > > > > Ahhh, so the VA-503+ can see all the way up to 136 GB with that
 > BIOS.
   > > >
   > > > > That is very good to know. As I am sure you know, 137 GB is the
 > most
   > > >
   > > > > recent BIOS-limited hard drive barrier. There is no BIOS
 > revision
   > > > that
   > > > > will let you get past 137 GB... at least, none that I know of.
   > > > >
   > > > > I suppose you can always use one of the hard drive utilities from
 > the
   > > >
   > > > > hard drive manfacturer's website to get past 137 GB, or buy a new
 > PCI
   > > >
   > > > > IDE controller card.
   > > > >
   > > > > $55 for 160 GB? Wow, that is quite a deal. As it stands, you
 > are
   > > > > "wasting" only $8.25 worth of hard drive space!
   > > > >
   > > > > --Alex
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > > Joel Mosher wrote:
   > > > > > I took a chance today. I bought a 160GB IDE disk at Frys for
 > $55
   > > > after
   > > > > > rebate. I didn't know if my 503+ motherboards would see the
 > whole
   > > > disk.
   > > > > > In fact, the 503+ only sees 136GB. I'm using the JE4333 BIOS.
 > It's
   > > > ok
   > > > > > since I can use the disk in another, newer system.
   > > > > >
   > > > > > Has anyone found a way to get a 503+ to see the space above
 > 136GB?
   > > >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: big disk on 503+ 

Hi Robert;
I set it up yesterday, without any problems. Tried to follow your
installation recommendations. Western Digital supplies a CD that serves
to format the 120GB HD to the max.
Also, they make it easy to transfer the files from one HD to the
other.
Take care,
Gibby
*********************************************************
 >> Stay informed about: big disk on 503+ 

Very good, glad it worked out.
Robert
"Gibby" <MrBaltimore.DeleteThis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1108132803.523211.112990@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
 > Hi Robert;
 > I set it up yesterday, without any problems. Tried to follow your
 > installation recommendations. Western Digital supplies a CD that serves
 > to format the 120GB HD to the max.
 > Also, they make it easy to transfer the files from one HD to the
 > other.
 > Take care,
 > Gibby
 > *********************************************************
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: big disk on 503+