Max HD size in Deskpro SFF P600?

I have an older Deskpro SFF system. Model #ENS/P600/13b/9/64c. It uses
the Intel 810e chipset. BIOS ROM is 686J1 v2.10. I'm wondering what is
the largest hard drive it can use? Currently it has a Seagate 13GB HD. Is
it subject to the 32GB limit? Does anyone know? Thanks much.

Patty

Patty wrote:
I have an older Deskpro SFF system. Model #ENS/P600/13b/9/64c. It
uses the Intel 810e chipset. BIOS ROM is 686J1 v2.10. I'm wondering
what is the largest hard drive it can use? Currently it has a
Seagate 13GB HD. Is it subject to the 32GB limit? Does anyone know?
Thanks much.

Patty

I doubt it I have a Compaq Deskpro EN 6266 and it runs drive larger then
64GB. Although I only have a 6.4gb in it.

--
And to all those opposed...
Hmm...well


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On Mon, 13 Feb 2006 00:57:45 -0000, Nick Le Lievre wrote:

Patty wrote:
I have an older Deskpro SFF system. Model #ENS/P600/13b/9/64c. It
uses the Intel 810e chipset. BIOS ROM is 686J1 v2.10. I'm wondering
what is the largest hard drive it can use? Currently it has a
Seagate 13GB HD. Is it subject to the 32GB limit? Does anyone know?
Thanks much.

Patty

I doubt it I have a Compaq Deskpro EN 6266 and it runs drive larger then
64GB. Although I only have a 6.4gb in it.

I put an 80GB WD (WD800JB)drive in it. It appears to have the limitation.
The BIOS recognized the drive as having 14GB without IDE Drive Translation
turned on and only 10GB with it turned on. I ended up using the WD overlay
for the time being until I can get a hardware solution (controller card),
but for now, it appears to be working. The WD Data Lifeguard Tools gave me
an option to set the drive size to 32GB and the BIOS accepted that and
reported that amount, which is why I believe it has that limitation. I
tried flashing the BIOS to the newest (and last available) version for my
system, 686J1 v3.1, with no joy.

Patty

Thanks for the info, worth filing for future reference. The newer DeskPro SFF
systems with Socket 370 CPUs seem to be better. I've install a 40GB drive in
one without problems. Best to get away from the WD drive overlay when you can.
It only complicates use of future operating systems, does not get on well with
Linux and dual-boot managers, and it complicates data recovery should the hard
drive ever go at least partly south... Ben Myers

On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 09:22:50 -0500, Patty wrote:

On Mon, 13 Feb 2006 00:57:45 -0000, Nick Le Lievre wrote:

Patty wrote:
I have an older Deskpro SFF system. Model #ENS/P600/13b/9/64c. It
uses the Intel 810e chipset. BIOS ROM is 686J1 v2.10. I'm wondering
what is the largest hard drive it can use? Currently it has a
Seagate 13GB HD. Is it subject to the 32GB limit? Does anyone know?
Thanks much.

Patty

I doubt it I have a Compaq Deskpro EN 6266 and it runs drive larger then
64GB. Although I only have a 6.4gb in it.

I put an 80GB WD (WD800JB)drive in it. It appears to have the limitation.
The BIOS recognized the drive as having 14GB without IDE Drive Translation
turned on and only 10GB with it turned on. I ended up using the WD overlay
for the time being until I can get a hardware solution (controller card),
but for now, it appears to be working. The WD Data Lifeguard Tools gave me
an option to set the drive size to 32GB and the BIOS accepted that and
reported that amount, which is why I believe it has that limitation. I
tried flashing the BIOS to the newest (and last available) version for my
system, 686J1 v3.1, with no joy.

Patty

On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 15:17:34 -0500, Ben Myers wrote:

Thanks for the info, worth filing for future reference. The newer DeskPro SFF
systems with Socket 370 CPUs seem to be better. I've install a 40GB drive in
one without problems. Best to get away from the WD drive overlay when you can.
It only complicates use of future operating systems, does not get on well with
Linux and dual-boot managers, and it complicates data recovery should the hard
drive ever go at least partly south... Ben Myers

On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 09:22:50 -0500, Patty wrote:

On Mon, 13 Feb 2006 00:57:45 -0000, Nick Le Lievre wrote:

Patty wrote:
I have an older Deskpro SFF system. Model #ENS/P600/13b/9/64c. It
uses the Intel 810e chipset. BIOS ROM is 686J1 v2.10. I'm wondering
what is the largest hard drive it can use? Currently it has a
Seagate 13GB HD. Is it subject to the 32GB limit? Does anyone know?
Thanks much.

Patty

I doubt it I have a Compaq Deskpro EN 6266 and it runs drive larger then
64GB. Although I only have a 6.4gb in it.

I put an 80GB WD (WD800JB)drive in it. It appears to have the limitation.
The BIOS recognized the drive as having 14GB without IDE Drive Translation
turned on and only 10GB with it turned on. I ended up using the WD overlay
for the time being until I can get a hardware solution (controller card),
but for now, it appears to be working. The WD Data Lifeguard Tools gave me
an option to set the drive size to 32GB and the BIOS accepted that and
reported that amount, which is why I believe it has that limitation. I
tried flashing the BIOS to the newest (and last available) version for my
system, 686J1 v3.1, with no joy.

Patty

I didn't test for the 64GB limit, only the 32 so there is a possibility
that a 40 to 60GB hard drive might be recognized. I do know that anything
80GB and larger for sure will not be recognized correctly by the BIOS. One
of these systems had a 160GB hard drive in it, that someone had tried to
make work, and the BIOS only recognized it as 8GB. I tried that hard drive
with the Maxtor overlay and it reported the correct amount and installed
Windows XP, however I began getting errors on reboot (system files missing,
etc.) Ran Maxtor's drive error check and it reported that the drive was
faulty. Turns out I checked it a couple months after the warranty ended.
I should have played with that system first. *sigh*

Patty

AFAIK, the people who design and write BIOS software for name brand mfrs and
others never did a BIOS with a 64GB limit, only 32GB (some P3s) and 132GB (late
P3s and some P4s).

Maxtor drives do not have a wonderful reputation for reliability... Ben Myers

On Sat, 18 Mar 2006 12:03:40 -0500, Patty wrote:

On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 15:17:34 -0500, Ben Myers wrote:

Thanks for the info, worth filing for future reference. The newer DeskPro SFF
systems with Socket 370 CPUs seem to be better. I've install a 40GB drive in
one without problems. Best to get away from the WD drive overlay when you can.
It only complicates use of future operating systems, does not get on well with
Linux and dual-boot managers, and it complicates data recovery should the hard
drive ever go at least partly south... Ben Myers

On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 09:22:50 -0500, Patty wrote:

On Mon, 13 Feb 2006 00:57:45 -0000, Nick Le Lievre wrote:

Patty wrote:
I have an older Deskpro SFF system. Model #ENS/P600/13b/9/64c. It
uses the Intel 810e chipset. BIOS ROM is 686J1 v2.10. I'm wondering
what is the largest hard drive it can use? Currently it has a
Seagate 13GB HD. Is it subject to the 32GB limit? Does anyone know?
Thanks much.

Patty

I doubt it I have a Compaq Deskpro EN 6266 and it runs drive larger then
64GB. Although I only have a 6.4gb in it.

I put an 80GB WD (WD800JB)drive in it. It appears to have the limitation.
The BIOS recognized the drive as having 14GB without IDE Drive Translation
turned on and only 10GB with it turned on. I ended up using the WD overlay
for the time being until I can get a hardware solution (controller card),
but for now, it appears to be working. The WD Data Lifeguard Tools gave me
an option to set the drive size to 32GB and the BIOS accepted that and
reported that amount, which is why I believe it has that limitation. I
tried flashing the BIOS to the newest (and last available) version for my
system, 686J1 v3.1, with no joy.

Patty

I didn't test for the 64GB limit, only the 32 so there is a possibility
that a 40 to 60GB hard drive might be recognized. I do know that anything
80GB and larger for sure will not be recognized correctly by the BIOS. One
of these systems had a 160GB hard drive in it, that someone had tried to
make work, and the BIOS only recognized it as 8GB. I tried that hard drive
with the Maxtor overlay and it reported the correct amount and installed
Windows XP, however I began getting errors on reboot (system files missing,
etc.) Ran Maxtor's drive error check and it reported that the drive was
faulty. Turns out I checked it a couple months after the warranty ended.
I should have played with that system first. *sigh*

Patty

Support of hard drive sizes by a motherboard BIOS is different from support for
hard drive and partition sizes by an operating system. Motherboard BIOS support
for a drive size is a prerequisite for OS support. If the motherboard cannot
see the drive, then the operating system won't either, at least Window$.

Linux is a different animal. If the motherboard supports an old-time type 1
drive, Linux is smart enough to read out the drive geometry directly from the
drive and to use the full capacity without any "help" from the motherboard BIOS.

Yes, Seagate bought out Maxtor. The speculation and hope in the industry is
that Seagate bought for market share and manufacturing capacity, not for
engineering know-how... Ben Myers


On Mon, 20 Mar 2006 09:55:53 -0500, Patty wrote:

On Sat, 18 Mar 2006 13:41:04 -0500, Ben Myers wrote:

AFAIK, the people who design and write BIOS software for name brand mfrs and
others never did a BIOS with a 64GB limit, only 32GB (some P3s) and 132GB (late
P3s and some P4s).

I wasn't sure if there were any 64GB limit, I had read that it might be a
possiblity. I think more than likely the 686J1 BIOS was limited to 32GB.
I thought that the 132GB limit was more related to OS than BIOS and the SP2
update removed the 132GB partition limit for XP.

Maxtor drives do not have a wonderful reputation for reliability... Ben Myers

I think that Maxtor drives were better years ago, I wouldn't buy one now.
Btw, Seagate bought out Maxtor recently.

Patty