600X WinXP-Pro HD C partition limited to ~48 Gig

[Rajaie]

I have a TP 600X 2645-5FU. My hard drive bearings have been screeching, so I decided to get a new HD. I looked on the IBM website to see if there was an HD size limitation, no luck. Called IBM, no luck. The customer support has really tanked. I found this forum and saw in postings that others have installed 60 and 80 gig HD’s. Encouraged, I bought a Hitachi 80 gig 7200 rpm 2.5” HD. I installed it and tried installing Win XP Pro. The HD size was recognized and could be partitioned, but after formatting there was an error that the formatting failed. I tried reducing the partition size and found that resolved the problem. Through trial and error I found the max C partition to be ~48 gig (48 worked, 50 didn’t). I have the latest version bios, ITET55WW.

I’m a bit disappointed this point was not referenced by other’s who touted the large HD ability. I’m sure I can have the remainder partitioned and formatted as a D drive, but I wouldn't have bought an 80 gig HD if I knew of this limitation.

If I’ve made a mistake in my info please clarify.

Thanks.

[JHEM]

I’m a bit disappointed this point was not referenced by other’s who touted the large HD ability. I’m sure I can have the remainder partitioned and formatted as a D drive, but I wouldn't have bought an 80 gig HD if I knew of this limitation.

What limitation?

My son has an Hitachi 100GB 7K100 in his 2645-9FU 600X. It's formatted as a 60GB primary partition and two 20GB secondary partitions.

There was NO limitation on the size of the primary partition when I originally set it up and installed XP.

Your "disappointment" is misdirected. The reason that no one has reported this limitation prior to this is that no one else has seen it.

Operator Error??

Regards,

James

[tfflivemb2]

I have had no problem running a 60gb hd in several of my 600Es, which are essentially an older version of the 600X.

[shined]

As other people say, there is no limitation in TP600 series up to 137GB.

I think what you should do is to make sure the drive is defect free because
the error you encountered may be caused by a damaged sector which
happens to be at 48GB from the beginning of the drive. Download the
drive fitness test from Hitachi web site and test the drive integrity.

If you cannot find any error by DFT, then you are in the position of blaming
your thinkpad.

[tfflivemb2]

Another thought...are you formatting the drive with Fat32 or NTFS?

Also, I had a problem with my wife's desktop when I when to reinstall windows. She has a 200gb WD drive that I partitioned into 2 drives. I backed up the first partition onto the second partition. When I reinstalled windows, something wasn't working right with regard to the ethernet drivers, so I reinstalled again. This time, when I reinstalled, it only registered the drive as a somewhere around 34gb for the ENTIRE drive. I had to use the WD software to prep the drive again, which meant that I lost everything on the second partition. After that, everything was fine.

[Rajaie]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I’m glad to get the feedback.

Here’s a little more detail. As I mentioned XP recognized the size of the HD, some 76+ gig. I was able to partition at will; XP would slightly modify the specified partition size. Here were my attempts as I recall: 80 failed, 20 worked, 60 failed, 40 worked, 50 failed, 45 worked, 48 worked. In all cases I used NTFS and chose the long (not quick) format option. In every case the format proceeded at uniform speed through the denoted 100% format indication bar, no sudden stop. When it failed there would be an error message as follows (format might be a bit different):

Windows XP Professional Setup

Setup was unable to format the partition. The disk maybe damaged.

Make sure the drive is switched on and properly connected to your computer. If the disk is SCSI …

You must select a different partition for Windows XP.
To continue, press ENTER.

I was using XP w/ service pack 1. I’ve used this copy on a 250 gig HD (desktop). There might somehow be a limitation to the 600X 2645-5FU. But given your responses, it sounds more like my HD has a fault.
I’ll try the Hitachi diagnosis test as suggested and report back.

I’m grateful for the responses. Thank you.
It’s great to have found this forum. Thanks to all who make it work.

[Rajaie]

I downloaded the Hitachi DFT (drive fitness test) software and ran the test in advanced mode. It passed with no errors. It seems the drive is fine.
The size limitation nature of the problem seems to point to a machine limitation. I would guess it’s a bios issue, but one never knows.
It would be interesting to see how another 600X 2645-5FU acts.
As mentioned this is a Hitachi Travelstar 7K100 ATA-6 80 gig HD.

If I find anything else I’ll be sure to update the link.
Thanks for all the help.

[JHEM]

The size limitation nature of the problem seems to point to a machine limitation. I would guess it’s a bios issue, but one never knows.

There's absolutely no difference between your 5FU and my 9FU other than your's shipped with a CD/DVD drive and W98SE as the OS, and mine shipped with a CD drive and W2K as the OS.

Start from scratch again, FDISK and FORMAT the entire HD. Then FDISK again to setup your secondary partitions. There's no necessity to run FORMAT again on the added partitions separately.

Report back.

Regards,

James

[Rajaie]

I’m using a Win-XP Pro bootable CD. It allows for creating and deleting partitions. It also allows for installing Win-XP on a created partition. If I’m to use FDISK and FORMAT, I’ll need to go to a command prompt. Is that what you’re suggesting? How do you want me to get a command prompt and how do I install Win-XP afterwards? Win-XP performs a format as part of the installation process.

Thanks,
Rajaie

[pianowizard]

I’m using a Win-XP Pro bootable CD. It allows for creating and deleting partitions. It also allows for installing Win-XP on a created partition. If I’m to use FDISK and FORMAT, I’ll need to go to a command prompt. Is that what you’re suggesting? How do you want me to get a command prompt and how do I install Win-XP afterwards? Win-XP performs a format as part of the installation process.

Formatting with the WinXP CD has always worked fine for me, though in your situation it's worth trying the FDISK + FORMAT method JHEM suggested. One way to do it is boot from a Windows 98SE floppy disc. Just make sure it has the updated FDISK and FORMAT files to overcome the 64GB barrier.

[Rajaie]

I decided to go ahead and work with the 48 gig installed partition. After installing the OS etc, I ran the IBM ThinkPad configuration utility. The last menu item at the top is “System Information”. Under that is “View System Summery”. I ran this and got a text file. Below is a worthwhile portion of it. It shows the firmware versions. It also shows the C drive as 49 gig?? I partitioned it as 48 gig?? Could this 49 gig be the limiting factor? As noted previously I was able to partition and install on a 48 gig partition, but other attempted installs on 50 gig, 60 gig, 76 gig partitions failed. Attempted installs smaller than 48 gig worked. Win XP says the C drive is 46.8 gig total size.

Thanks.


** SYSTEM SUMMARY **
OS information: Microsoft Windows XP
OS version: 5.10.2600 Service Pack 2
Processor: x86 Family 6 Model 8 Stepping 1
Memory: 589,168 kb
BIOS version: 99-11-30 - ITET55WW
Machine type-Model: 26455FU

** BIOS INFORMATION **
BIOS version: 99-11-30 - ITET55WW
Machine type-Model: 26455FU
System unit serial number: XXXXXXX (marked out)
System board serial number: J1BX3939057
Slave controller version: 99-10-08 - IHHT10WW

** DRIVE INFORMATION **
Logical drive: C:\
Drive type: Fixed drive
Drive size: 49,155,088 kb
Drive free space: 37,047,896 kb

[serverbook]

i always use fat32/32gb max ,it is faster than nfts(same volume size)+the shorter stroke with ea fat 32 partition means seeks times are faster,fragmentation is less ,hdd runs cooler ,faster,less spindle movement,smoother etc.
you would be amazed what you can fit in 30gb volume +the other 30 and the other 30 etc ,besides i don't like waiting for scandisc on a 100gb partition ,thats why the d and e volumes are formatted raw(gives me the option to fast format them at will later on).

[pkiff]

I decided to go ahead and work with the 48 gig installed partition....It also shows the C drive as 49 gig?? I partitioned it as 48 gig?? Could this 49 gig be the limiting factor?....Win XP says the C drive is 46.8 gig total size.

No. What you are seeing is the difference between different hard drive size units and different ways of displaying those units. 1000000KB does not equal 1000MB and neither equals 1GB in most situations because there are actually 1024 bytes in a KB. Manufacturers will therefore sometimes use kB to mean 1000bytes and sometimes use KB to mean 1024bytes, depending on the context, and this makes it annoying for everyone to figure out what exact size anyone actually means. Your drive looks to me like it is displaying exactly what it should display after partitioning it as 48GB.

I would reiterate James's recommendation:

Start from scratch again, FDISK and FORMAT the entire HD. Then FDISK again to setup your secondary partitions. There's no necessity to run FORMAT again on the added partitions separately.

and Pianowizards' recommendation:

in your situation it's worth trying the FDISK + FORMAT method JHEM suggested.

I would add that you should do this while the drive is actually installed in your 600X and not do it from a different laptop.

The limitations you are experiencing are not due to inherent hardware malfunctions or limits of the 600X.

Phil.