Need help with a major (Hard Drive) problem

[smw6230]

I'm pretty sure I know the cause but I don't know how to rectify it.

My issue is this upon installment in my A31 (latest bios) my 250gb HDD (WD2500beve) only shows up as 127gb. In looking at it closer my HD has 3 partitions: The main 127gb partition, followed by the service partition, followed by a 104.89gb unallocated partition. What I did was use a partition manager (Easeus) to merge the first 127gb main partition with the third 104.89 unallocated partition thus giving me the full 230gb (first) main partition. Thus I'm left with a HD that has a 230gb main partition followed by the service partition.

I checked it with chkdsk and several other utilities and everything seemed to have went fine.

Here's the problem once I load all my files and programs I'm at about 125gb, if I put anything else on the drive and cross the 127gb threshold what seemingly happens is that the drive loops back to the beginning and overwrites the MBR and when I boot the computer I just get a flashing cursor on boot.

This has happened twice to me and believe me it is no fun to go through 7 hours of updates just to get my drive back.

So can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong.

I use the recover disks to install XP Pro onto the 250gb HD yet, as I mention, it only see's 137gb.

I suspect my problem is that when I use Easeus to move the unallocated 3rd partition it destroys the MBR. One result of the move is that F11 doesn't work. I use the MBR repair disk to get that prompt back but it really doesn't work as when I try to use it I get a NTLDR missing error.

So I guess what I need is to rebuild the MBR after I move the unallocated 3rd partition. Does that sound about right?

I have to be doing something wrong but I can't figure out what it is. Can anyone help.

[Harryc]

I don't recall seeing anyone run across this issue on an A31 before. Was a DDO program ever used to prepare this disk? Is it brand new, and if not what was on it before? What version of XP does the recovery discs install? It is SP1 or better? You're hitting an old limit that was fixed with XP SP1 and a modern BIOS (48bit addressing fixed this with LBA enabled in BIOS) Try zeroing out the drive with activekilldisk and then reinstall. If this doesn't work, try slipstreaming XP SP2 or later onto an XP install DVD. That later suggestion would be difficult to do with the Recovery CD's, but easy with an OEM or retail copy of XP.
http://www.killdisk.com/
http://www.winsupersite.com/article/pro ... 2-sp2.aspx

[smw6230]

I don't recall seeing anyone run across this issue on an A31 before. Was a DDO program ever used to prepare this disk? Is it brand new, and if not what was on it before? What version of XP does the recovery discs install? It is SP1 or better? You're hitting an old limit that was fixed with XP SP1 and a modern BIOS (48bit addressing fixed this with LBA enabled in BIOS) Try zeroing out the drive with activekilldisk and then reinstall. If this doesn't work, try slipstreaming XP SP2 or later onto an XP install DVD. That later suggestion would be difficult to do with the Recovery CD's, but easy with an OEM or retail copy of XP.
http://www.killdisk.com/
http://www.winsupersite.com/article/pro ... 2-sp2.aspx

Some answers:

1) I have no idea what a DDO program is? The drive was brand new and the only prep I did was to initilized and formatted it with the product recovery CDs. Top date the OS has been the only thing installed on the drive.

2) The XP recovery disks are 5.6 (A31)

3) It installs SP1 as my first major update is SP2. I've checked and even after Sp2 has been installed the drive still reads 127gb.

4) How do I , or do I need to, enable anything in the bios in order for the thinkpad to see the drive correctly?

[Harryc]

1.) Short for Disk Drive Overlay, DDO is a TSR that loads onto sector two of the hard drive and is used for computers that do not support LBA mode. DDO allows the computer to support and see larger than 520 MB. If you don't know what it is and the drive is new, don't worry about it.
2.) OK
3.) SP1 or better is what you need, so the issue is elsewhere.
4.) Not that I am aware of.

I'd be interested in seeing what would happen if you tried to install an OEM or retail version of XP SP1 or better after you zero out the drive.

[smw6230]

1.) Short for Disk Drive Overlay, DDO is a TSR that loads onto sector two of the hard drive and is used for computers that do not support LBA mode. DDO allows the computer to support and see larger than 520 MB. If you don't know what it is and the drive is new, don't worry about it.
2.) OK
3.) SP1 or better is what you need, so the issue is elsewhere.
4.) Not that I am aware of.

I'd be interested in seeing what would happen if you tried to install an OEM or retail version of XP SP1 or better after you zero out the drive.

Western Digital Scorpio Blue WD2500BEVE

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136159

I'll try activekilldisk then install from the recovery CDs and see where that leaves me.

One more question just to check I just did F1 on startup and I have bios version 1.13 (1GET41WW). Should I attempt to update/upgrade that? Also do I need to update/upgrade the Embedded Controller Program. I don't think I've done that yet so perhaps......

[Harryc]

Just another thought ... if you get stuck where you run out of ideas, you could format the drive into to 2 x 125GB NTFS (not FAT32) partitions after you run the recovery CD's and it would work. You could simply move your data to the D: partition if you run out of room. Speaking of which, is the partition that you get now after running the recovery CD's FAT32 or NTFS?

[smw6230]

Just another thought ... if you get stuck where you run out of ideas, you could format the drive into to 2 x 125GB NTFS (not FAT32) partitions after you run the recovery CD's and it would work. You could simply move your data to the D: partition if you run out of room. Speaking of which, is the partition that you get now after running the recovery CD's FAT32 or NTFS?

NTFS

[smw6230]

Incredibly frustrating, ActiveKillDisk only see's 128gb. Anyway I zeroed it out but I suspect since its only seeing 128 if I attempted to format it with the recovery disks I'll be right where I have been with a disk that is capped at 127gb.

I know other people have used this drive on their thinkpad with success. I'd love to know what they did because I can't get this A31 to see the entire HD.

Could it be possible that I have to run the Intel Application Accelerator on my HD before I run the recovery disks? If so can anyone point me to where I might find the proper download package for the A31.

[AMATX]

If you have a more modern laptop(or desktop for that matter), try setting up the hard drive using that. Then insert the drive into the A31 and see if it works correctly. Been quite a while, but I used to use A31p (anyone want a pile of A31p laptops?) and I'm vaguely thinking I had issues setting up larger drives if they were directly inside the laptop. I may have also just tried hooking up the new drive via USB on the A31p and formatting it that way. Don't really remember, but sumpin's in the back of my mind about this.

I could be all wet on this one, or maybe right for once...

[smw6230]

Ok, let me ask this another way because I used activediskill to zero out the drive, then did a fresh recovery install (SP1) and finally I used the Intel application and currently my 250gb hard drive only reads 126gb when I look at the disk properties. So on a new Mobo are there any mandatory updates that I need to download, I already have the latest bios & embed controller, in order to get the HD capacity to read correctly?

I just can't figure this out and there is no way that I'm going to put my work documents on this laptop again until I can resolve the LBA issue.

Hell, I'm highly tempted to just sell the computer and get a newer one that doesn't have an LBA issue.

[smw6230]

If you have a more modern laptop(or desktop for that matter), try setting up the hard drive using that. Then insert the drive into the A31 and see if it works correctly. Been quite a while, but I used to use A31p (anyone want a pile of A31p laptops?) and I'm vaguely thinking I had issues setting up larger drives if they were directly inside the laptop. I may have also just tried hooking up the new drive via USB on the A31p and formatting it that way. Don't really remember, but sumpin's in the back of my mind about this.

I could be all wet on this one, or maybe right for once...

Thanks but I'm not sure how I'd do that. You're saying format the HD in another computer then swap it to the A31? I think my problem doing it that way would be the recovery disk (fresh install) overwrites what's on the disk and then I'd be back at 126gb capacity.

I keep thinking that there has got to be some update that enables the bios to see the full 250gb drive that I'm either not doing, or not doing in the correct order. But I've looked at the latest IBM updates and I have the latest bios and controller so I'm puzzled at what I might be missing.

[smw6230]

Maybe this could be of help to someone. I ran the intel application and copied the report. Under Disk size (bolded) it seems to show a 28 bit maximum that caps the drive space at 128gb. In the line below that you can clearly see the drive capacity is 232gb. I think I somehow need to change the 28bit to 48 bit. I think that is my problem.

---------

Intel(R) Application Accelerator, 2.2.0.2126
Saturday, December 11, 2010 1:59:45 PM (Local)
Saturday, December 11, 2010 9:59:45 PM (GMT)

Operating System
Windows XP (Build 5.1.2600, Service Pack 2)

Platform Information
Processor Type: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 Processor
Processor level: Family 15
Processor Revision: Model 2 Stepping 7
Active Processor Mask: 1
Number of Processors: 1

Controller Information
IDE Controller: Intel(R) 82801CAM Ultra ATA Controller, ICH3M
Storage Kit Build(s): 2.2.2.2150,
Storage Kit Installed: 2.2.2.2150
Driver Build: Intel Application Accelerator Driver
Driver Version: 2.2.0.2126
IDE Controller Tri-State: IDE Controller enabled
PIO Mode Support: 0 - 2 - 3 - 4
DMA SW Mode Support: 2
DMA MW Mode Support: 1 - 2
UDMA Mode Support: 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5
Disk Timeout Value: Default
CDROM Timeout Value: Default
CD Audio Timeout Value: Default
UDMA on 80 conductor cable only: Default, Disabled
Flush Enable: Default, Disabled
Ping Pong Enable: Enabled

Channel Information
Primary Channel
No Data
Secondary Channel
No Data

Device Information
Primary Master: WDC WD2500BEVE-00WZT0
Model: WDC WD2500BEVE-00WZT0
Firmware: 01.01A01
Device Type: ATA - Fixed
PIO Mode Support: 0 - 3 - 4
DMA SW Mode Support: No Support
DMA MW Mode Support: 0 - 1 - 2
UDMA Mode Support: 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5
LBA (28-bit maximum): 0x0FFFFFFF
LBA (48-bit maximum): 0x00001D1C5971
CHS: 3FFF x 0010 x 003F
CHS Sectors: 0x00FBFC10
Disk Size (28-bit maximum): 128.0 GB (137,438,952,960 bytes)
Disk Size: 232 GB (250,059,350,528 bytes)
Default Transfer Mode: UDMA-5
Current Transfer Mode: UDMA-5
Transfer Mode Limit: No Limit
Cable Type (Device): 80 Conductor
Cable Type (Host): 80 Conductor
PIO PPE: Enabled
UDMA Control Register: Ultra DMA Mode Enabled
UDMA Timing Register: CT = 3 CLK / RP = 16 CLK
Base Clock: Ultra DMA 100 Timings
Auto-Acoustic Management: Disabled
Advanced Power Management: Minimum Power Consumption Without Standby

Device Identify Data:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
0 7A42 FF3F 37C8 1000 0000 0000 3F00 0000
8 0000 0000 2020 2020 5720 2D44 5857 3054
16 3545 5639 414C 3937 0000 0040 3200 3130
24 302E 4131 3130 4457 2043 4457 3532 3030
32 4542 4556 302D 5730 545A 2030 2020 2020
40 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 1080
48 0000 002F 0140 0000 0000 0700 FF3F 1000
56 3F00 10FC FB00 1001 FFFF FF0F 0000 0700
64 0300 7800 7800 7800 7800 0000 0000 0000
72 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
80 FE01 0000 6B74 097F 2361 6974 09BC 2361
88 3F20 2E00 0000 8000 FEFF 0B60 FE80 0000
96 0000 0000 0000 0000 7059 1C1D 0000 0000
104 0000 0000 0000 0000 0150 E24E 8058 3FB7
112 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 1040
120 1040 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
128 0900 0000 0000 0000 0000 9712 0000 0000
136 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0400 0000
144 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
152 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
160 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
168 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
176 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
184 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
192 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
200 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 3F20 0000
208 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
216 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
224 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
232 0000 0000 0100 0010 0000 0000 0000 0000
240 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
248 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 A50E


Primary Slave: No Device Connected

[Neil]

I think I somehow need to change the 28bit to 48 bit.

Is there a jumper on the drive itself that will do that?

[smw6230]

Is there a jumper on the drive itself that will do that?

I'm pretty sure that this drive doesn't have jumper settings. In reading other threads it has been said that the jumper settings makes no difference on thinkpads.

[Neil]

Yeah, probably right. I'm just guessing as I've never tried to use anything that large in my A31. Sorry I'm not any help.

[Harryc]

Use Regedit - go to following registry key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINES\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Atapi\Parameters

add a new entry EnableBigLba (type DWORD) and set the value 1. After a restart the disk over 128GB in Windows 2000/XP is recognized.

If you have SP1, it's supposed to be done automatically. Go to Maintenance Utilities and add the extended partition to the drive.

[smw6230]

Use Regedit - go to following registry key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINES\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Atapi\Parameters

add a new entry EnableBigLba (type DWORD) and set the value 1. After a restart the disk over 128GB in Windows 2000/XP is recognized.

If you have SP1, it's supposed to be done automatically. Go to Maintenance Utilities and add the extended partition to the drive.

A question so I at least learn something from this experience. Would you concur that the problem I encountered was likely caused by my crossing the 127gb barrier on the C drive and XP, then not knowing where to go, looping back around and writing over the MBR?

What I don't understand is how that happened. I used Easeus and merged the C and unallocated partitions on my HD. It subsequently showed up as 232gb. I thought I was set to go. The only thing that I can think of is I didn't modify the MBR so while the HD space showed up correctly in disk management the MBR hadn't been revised to reflect the adjusted size of the new HD.

Does that sound about right?

Thanks for the tip, I ended up working around the problem by creating a new volume and partitioning the 104.89gb unallocated portion of the hard drive. Now I have the C drive with 126gb and an E drive with 104gb. I would have preferred having all 232gb on the C drive but I couldn't get that to work. Funny thing, I never partitioned a large drive before but after having done so I can see the advantages in this unintentional setup. I downloaded all XP and A31 updates and transferred over all my work files (stored on E drive) and so far no problems, although my total drive used space (C & E drive) is right at 126 gb, so........... I even took the precaution of doing a system image w/EZGIGII in an ultrabay just in case anything occurs. At least now if anything goes wrong I can quickly rebuild my system off the 40gb spare HD in my desk.

[Harryc]

Would you concur that the problem I encountered was likely caused by my crossing the 127gb barrier on the C drive and XP, then not knowing where to go, looping back around and writing over the MBR?

Yes, but the thing that was confusing is that SP1 is supposed to fix the issue. I believe that at least one point you had it fixed and simply had to enable 48bit LBA.