Thinkpads Forum

I just got said laptop for $10 -LOL- Figured I'd play with win95 or something on it, but problem is it didn't come with a hard drive

IBM site seems to think that 5.1 GB is the maximum (and while that would be OK for win95) I'm sure it can handle more than that?

I've already updated to the latest BIOS, but I was also wondering if anyone may have made a custom BIOS to get better HDD support?


The other idea I had was to do it like a normal desktop that can't run more than say 8.4GB or 32GB or whatever - would it work for a/this laptop to limit the drive capacity to the maximum or something lower to trick the BIOS and then format to the full capacity?

Or using some kind of overlay program?

Or is, as I suspect, the IBM BIOS is much too proprietary to actually configure anything sensibly?

Welcome to the Forum!

DOS limits the size to 8G as will your BIOS. Linux will correctly recognize and install to any size. You can try a drive overlay. Here's a link to a drive overlay from the original Thinkpads.com site; here. The "DiskManager" download is at the bottom of the page and it works as I've used it.

No one's created a custom BIOS (yet) unless you have the skill for machine languages it probably won't happen for awhile.

The BIOS is a Phoenix part with IBM Overlay..... very retro but not very good for config'ing devices not supported.......

Somehow I made a double post........

Ah well I use this space to good use.

You can try Puppy Linux or [censored] Small Linux and they both will run on small drives. I've used them and others lesser known on P133's and P166MMX's. Wasn't too bad either.

you may be able to use a larger drive up to 60 gigs, but you may have to partition it into 8 gig segments. run the 98 start up disk,
launch fdisk, and try making one big partition. after partitioning, if the machine locks up,
you know its too big. you can also try 8 gig segmrnts. i had a problem with my thinkpad, when i made a partition it only recignized the drive as a 8 gig (it was actually a 120 gig) i had to partition and format it in a desktop,
and then re-install it in the laptop, and use the 98 start up disk, along with the 98 install. now it sees the full capacity of the drive. adrian

Several years ago, I wanted to upgrade the HDD on an iSeries Thinkpad so I could run Windows XP. I bought a 40 GB Fujitsu drive but the BIOS wouldn't recognize the size.

A friend told me about OnTrack, which I purchased and installed. It worked great, allowing me to use a single 40 GB partition. During the boot process, it overlays the BIOS image in memory so that the larger size HDD can be used. Here's the website with more info:

http://www.ontrack.com/fujitsu/

Hope this helps.

Ken

Yeah I was thinking of using an overlay program of some sort, if I can't get it to work with the standard tools.