hello, im having a big problem with my hard drive... in my computer (pentium iv 1.7mhz 512 megabytes memory...) i have two hard-drives connected to ide1 and two cd-rom drives connected to ide2. they are all detected by the bios, they are all okay!... there is no problem and i never had problmens with them... the first disk has 60 gigabytes and contains the operating systems (microsoft windows 98 second edition and slackware 9.1), three partitions, everything okay... but the other disk wich has 300 gigabytes and only one fat32 partition (100% of the disk space) is not working now! and i really (r-e-a-l-l-y) can't loose all the data i have in that disk! the bios detects the disc, fdisk also detectes and shows all the information, it shows the 100% fat32 partition... but everything i try to access it, in microsoft windows, linux, dos... i cant! the error messages are like if the disk isn't formated (it says that it can't access it, the disc is being used, locked, etc...) it really looks like there are no partitions in the disc, but fdisk and the other hard-drive partition utilities detect the 100% fat32... when i could access it, i was copying some files (many files, gigabytes) from one hard drive (the first one with the operating systems) to the 300 gigabytes drive, i went away from the computer and when i was back microsoft windows had a error message saying that the disk was full and could't copy more (wich is not true, hard drive couldn't be full)... i rebooted and then... i could never more access that hard drive. what can i do? i really can't loose all the data in that hard drive!!! i can't scandisk, etc it says that the drive can't be accessed, please tell me some software that scans and detects problems, what should i do?

I used pci file recovery software to get my data back. This software will even work if you have to format the disk. Try and do it without formatting first. This program is free, just go to downloads.com to get it. I'm sure someone else will have a different suggestion on what to do, but for me first thing is first, file recovery!

300 Gig? - Did you know that Win98 is limited to 137 Gig?

The old ATA protocol uses 16+4+8 = 28 bits to specify the sector number, and hence cannot address more than 2^28 sectors.

Windows 98SE has a default limitation of 137 GB supporting ATA interface disc drives.
Therefore, your hard drive partition will have a maximum size of 137 GB even if the Hard drive is larger than that.

What did you do to overcome this limit when you first installed your hard drive?

Have you go DDO overlay software installed ? I think not as you say that it has one FAT32 partition utilising the full disk space.

To use Hard drives greater than 137 Gig in size you need to use a motherboard or add-on IDE controller that supports 48bit LBA mode.
Additionally you need to be running Windows XP SP1 which has 48bit LBA support included. Windows XP pre SP1 will NOT work either.

That I believe is your problem. How it worked for a while I do not know. Maybe it is because you were using only the first 137 Gig of it. But that is guessing on my part.

If you want to know more about hard drive limits in Windows, then visit my website (follow Homepage link) and look up the fdisk and format procedure.

To recover your data you may have to resort to file recovery software because I suspect that your partition table is inconsistent due to the problem I described above.

Hope it helps.

___________________________________________
☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.

mosaddique: many thanks for your help! please tell me, what do you mean, microsoft windows 98 can only handle 137 gigabytes? you mean, the operating system, right? the bios detects and shows 300 gigabytes... and for what i know fat32 can handle drives with that space, right? i didnt understand what you said the problem was... even microsoft windows would show me 300 gigabytes total space, but maybe you are right, maybe when i passed the 137 gigabytes i had the problem!

thing

in your website you say "your boot drive partition will have a maximum size of 137gb even if the hard drive is larger than that" read my message, i said that microsoft windows installed in the first hard drive, with three partitions, two for linux and one 50 gigabytes for microsoft windows! the other 300 gigabytes only has one partition and no operating system! am i wrong or...?

thing

Do a search for `137gb'.

The fact that a bios can see a drive properly does not mean that an OS will see it as well.

98 can only access up to 137 gig using it's native drivers. ATA add-on cards use SCSI type drivers (even though the drives are IDE) that will allow windows to see beyond the 137 gig barrier.

I don't know if having a non-booting slave >137 gig will get around that limitation but I doubt it.

I do mean the operating system. Both the BIOS and OS must support 48bit LBA mode.

From what you are saying it seems your BIOS does. However, I do know that the Win98 OS does NOT.

FAT32 is NOT the problem. The problem is the ATA specification for addressing hard drives to which Win98 works.

It does NOT matter whether the hard drive is a slave or is the master running the OS. You STILL run into the 137 Gig problem.

You did not answer my question "What did you do to overcome this limit when you first installed your hard drive?" How did you fdisk and format it? What capacity did it report at the time?

Anyway I hope the above clarifies to you the situation.

Here are few urls for you to look up.

Seagate
Western Digital

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☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.

nvn vbnn hgvn vh nv vn v

thing

(sorry, any moderator to remove my last messsage?)

i don't know how the drive was instaled because the shop where i brought the hard drive did it!

i tried a file recovery utility, with good and bad results! the total search time was like 1500 minutes... i had to stop it, it found the data! but lots of bad named files, and they are not oranized, the software makes "cluster1...2...3.... ..." folders and puts all kind of files there. the hard drive is a maxtor and im finding lots of information http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/big_drive_enabler.htm http://maxtor.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/maxtor.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_lva=1392&p_faqid=960&p_created=1016214655

... ... ... don't forget that i have microsoft windows 98! im now going to try to install the intel application accelerator, they say that it can make microsoft windows access the drives... but i don't think i can trust them, please, im finding lots of information and possible solutions, if you can, help me find the one i need, many thanks!!

thing

File recovery utilities generally do NOT use the long filenames associated with Windows. They mainly use the 8+3 filenaming convention (i.e. DOS). Thus your files and Directories may be recovered but they will have truncated filenames and directory names will certainly not be the same as the ones allocated by windows. Maybe that is what you are seeing.

Reading the Maxtor URL you provided, option 2 (intel application accelerator) looks promising so long as you have one of intel chipset based motherboard listed. If you are lucky it may work. In fact as it is a Maxtor hard drive the chances of it working are higher.

Whether it does or not will depend on how the boot record was setup by the shop you bought it from. If it fails you may have to attempt to recreate the partition table / MBR. But that is another story, first see how you get on.

___________________________________________
☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.

about the intel application accelerator, it didn't help... i have a supported 845 chipset... and i still can't access the drive, i also have slakcware 9.1 wich also can't access. the only good news that i have is that "powermax" (maxtor utility) didn't any problems with the hard drive.

at this point i really think that the problem was the 137 gigabytes limit, theres much documentation about it... i don't understand, i just messed up the "partition table" i mean, the hard drive is okay... but no operating system can access it, if i install the very new microsoft windows xp with the service pack (wich supports drives over 137 gigabytes) i still won't be able to access, right? i messed it up?
if there only was a fix... people talk about "partition table/master boot record" im just afraid of really loosing everything. maybe i should call the shop where i found this hard drive and ask them what they think... im going to sleep now... tomorrow i will try to see what i can do. many thanks for all your time!
at this point i really think that the problem was the 137 gigabytes limit, theres much documentation about it... i don't understand, i just messed up the "partition table" i mean, the hard drive is okay... but no operating system can access it, if i install the very new microsoft windows xp with the service pack (wich supports drives over 137 gigabytes) i still won't be able to access, right? i messed it up until i format (wich would make me loose the data, and thats what i really don't want)?
if there only was a fix... people talk about "partition table/master boot record" im just afraid of really loosing everything. maybe i should call the shop where i found this hard drive and ask them what they think... im going to sleep now... tomorrow i will try to see what i can do. many thanks for all your time!

You could try using Ranish Partition Manager (RPM) to visually VIEW the partition table information of that hard drive. I believe that the latest version (2.44) of RPM supports large hard drives.

Visit my website (follow Homepage link) and look up details of RPM, where to find and how to use etc.

Good luck

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☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.

i tried ranish partition manager... (i can send you a screenshot of the information it displays, it says that the boot sector doesnt have valid information, and some other strange things... i found some software that can fix the problem but they need a image\backup from the good partition table\master boot record.... wich i don't have, is there any other way to fix it?

Send me the result of the following:
part -d 2 -p > A:\disk2.txt (replace 2 with your drive number, and A: with your preferred drive to store to).

I make no promises but I can look the data over for you to see if anything is possible.

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☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.

Hi

I am suprised that linux is not able to mount the drive. Within linux there was supposed to be a separate record of the partitions created. Somone with a lot more linux know how could point you in the right direction to modify the partition table using this information.

And you couldn't mount the drive in linux with fat 32 filesystem sucsessfully?

Don't know what to suggest exactly. You could try acronis (haven't yet bought it) as it will handle most linux partition types plus dos/9x/nt/xp. Said to pretty good. [if you're going to pay out for a fixer - might as well get one that handles more flavours] There is a another utility which is free but you need to be competent to compile and link etc.

i can send a email with the .txt if you want...

(-d -p -r)

Ranish Partition Manager Version 2.40.00 February 08, 2001

HD 2 (129) 286,103M [ 36,473 cyls x 255 heads x 63 sects = 585,940,320 sects ]

Problems File Starting Ending Partition
 # Type Row System Type Cyl Head Sect Cyl Head Sect Size [KB]

0 MBR Master Boot Record 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
1 Pri Unused 0 0 2 0 0 63 31
! 2 >Pri 1 Windows FAT-32 LBA 0 1 1 36,472 254 63 292,969,341
3 Pri Unused 36,473 0 1 36,473 24 63 787

Partition table details:

Problems Starting Ending Starting Number of Ending
 # Type R FS Cyl Head Sct Cyl Head Sct sector sectors sector

0 MBR FF 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0
1 Pri 00 0 0 2 0 0 63 1 62 62
! 2 >Pri 1 0C 0 1 1 36,472 254 63 63 585,938,682 585,938,744
3 Pri 00 36,473 0 1 36,473 24 63 585,938,745 1,575 585,940,319

Problems with partition 2:

Boot sector doesn't have valid information

Partition records exactly as they appear in MBR (EMBR):

Starting Ending Starting Number of
# HD FS Cyl Head Sect Cyl Head Sect sector sectors
(0,0,1):
1 80 0C 0 1 1 1,023 254 63 63 585,938,682
2 00 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 00 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 00 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Detailed information about each partition:

--- Partition 2 ---
Type: Windows FAT-32 LBA CHS=(0,1,1) 292,969,341 k 585,938,682 sectors

Volume Label: 
j
System id: Uý!<—‹â
File system: ãþñåUõ€
Cluster size: 37k (75s)
FAT size: 1,757,377,319k
Drive number: 93 Exp: 129
Starting sector: 2,699,324,222
Expected value: 63
Number of sectors: 987,763,213
Expected value: 585,938,682

thing

Some things for you to do:
1. Send me the text file as I originally requested.
2. Send me a screen shot of the partition table showing the problem.
3. Keep the text file safe as a backup of how your hard drive partition table looks like currently.

Depending on the two things you send me, I may be able to manually help correct the partition table or at least have a go. The choice to proceed will obviously be yours.

Are you on MSN Messenger? If so send me your details.

Keeping fingers crossed.

___________________________________________
☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.

Thing,

I have looked at the RPM information you posted and I am now fairly convinced that your partition table is intact but somehow your MBR has been corrupted.

I cannot offer any explanation of why this could have happened.

Here is what you can do to try and correct the problem.

1. Remove all other hard drives from your system except your faulty hard drive which should now be your disk 0.

2. Boot up with a Win98 boot floppy.

3. At the A:\> prompt type in fdisk /mbr.

fdisk /mbr only works on disk 0 that is why you have to have it as the only drive.

4. Reconnect all your hard drives as normal and boot up your system. With any luck you should be able to access your hard drive. If not then post/mail me the new Ranish Partition Information.

NOTE - To re-assure you fdisk /mbr does not alter the contents of your hard drives. It only re-writes the Master Boot Record (MBR) which in your case is corrupted to the point of not being useable. So your files will still be there so long as you do not format the hard drive.

Good Luck.

___________________________________________
☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.

Thing,

Before doing what I suggested in the previous post try fdisk /cmbr x where x is your faulty hard drive number.

However, please note I have not used the /cmbr switch so I am unsure of it, whereas I have used the /mbr switch several times.

The /cmbr option saves having to disconnect all your other drives which is obviously an advantage. However you do have to be certain of your hard drive number.

Hope it helps.

___________________________________________
☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.

Hi

I would think that if linux was unable to mount the drive, clearing the mbr on that hard disk, isn't going to alter the inability of linux to mount it. - Just a thought, but perhaps I'm wrong there.

i don't have msn messenger

so i don't change my hardware and do fdisk /cmbr 2 ?

i will do that and send the email...

file recovery software is working, r-recover is working and displays directory trees!

thing

Thing,

Received your mail - I will look at it soon.

However, I am a bit confused because the screen shot you have sent is for disk1 (60 GB). But you say the problem is on disk 2 (300 GB) and the file you have sent is for disk 2. Can you send me the screen shot for disc 2 (use the F5 key to change disk when you are in Ranish Partition Manager.

According to RPM your first hard disk has also got a problem. It says "Boot sector doesn't have valid information". However, like disk2 the partition table seems to be intact. Are you sure you have not picked up a boot sector virus?

At the moment "it seems" as though both your hard drives have problems in their boot sectors (i.e. MBR).

I await the screenshot for disc 2. While you are at it you might as well send me the ranish partition record for disk 1 to complete the picture (i.e. part -d 1 -p > A:\disk1.txt)

___________________________________________
☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.

disc 1 is okay... it has three partitions microsoft windows 98 second edition and slackware 9.1... i really don't think i got a virus... everything is okay in disc 1... and i use antivir anti-virus... and also the problem ocured when i was copying files, everything points to the 137 gigabyte problem, i will now send the right screenshots, sorry.

OK I understand.

One more question. How do you boot up Linux and Win98 (i.e. what boot loader are you using - Is it LILO, Grub or something else?

___________________________________________
☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.

i use lilo in a floppy...

fdisk /cmbr didn't work

i have used all software in http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads8.html
some of that software says that they can rebuild and fix the partition table\master boot record, but didn't work, should i still try the fdisk /mbr?

file recovery software is working, PC Inspector File Recovery, finds the files and lets me recover, freeware with no limits, but it displays everything in folders named cluser1 cluster2... ... and doest handle file names right. r-studio is not free and has limits but finds the files with right names and folders!

this week my computer has always been turned on because im using the freeware file recovery, wich takes like one day to scan all the 300 gigabytes partition... when it ends (three hours left) i will send you the right screen shots
now i really don't think that anyone will be able to fix the hard drive\partition for me... even the software couldn't do it, what do you think?

what will i do when the problem is fixed? i need to use that hard drive, what was the problem? i still dont understand, there are too many things to think about when you talk about hard drives and partitions and file system and limits... ata problem?

thanks for all

Hi

Acronis partition recovery (rather than the manager) is what you could try. It does cost, but it is said to work well. Have you
seen this product within 2003 expert.

http://www.acronis.com/products/recoveryexpert/

In linux; gpart didn't do any good either?

Anyhow here is another interesting link

http://www.linux.com/howtos/Partition-Rescue/x107.shtml

Yes I want you to try fdisk /MBR. But first disconnect your current boot drive and set the 300 GB Hard Drive as master then do the fdisk /MBR. After that put both hard drives back the way they were. Then boot up and see if there is a difference.

My investigations are ongoing.
So far I have determined that your partition table is intact but your boot sector has been corrupted.
If you look at the ranish report where it details "Detailed information about each partition:" you have already seen that the information is messed up. In particular these fields are in error:

System id: Uý!<—‹â (should be MSWIN4.1)
File system: ãþñåUõ€ (should be FAT32)
Cluster size: 37k (75s) (this is wrong)
FAT size: 1,757,377,319k (I need the hard drive info for this)
Drive number: 93 Exp: 129 (93 should be 128)
Starting sector: 2,699,324,222 (should be 63)
Number of sectors: 987,763,213 (should be 585,938,682)

I am trying to look for a boot sector editor and some decent boot sector information to try and recreate the boot sector.

However, I am hoping that fdisk /mbr will do that so please make sure you try it as I have asked you.

In the meantime please supply me the following details.

1. What is the make and model number of the 300 GB hard drive?
2. What markings are there on the Hard drive label? For example:
Cylinders:?
Heads:?
Sectors:?
LBA:?
Plus any other markings.

___________________________________________
☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.

thanks for your time! i did the fdisk /mbr with only that drive primary master and everything is the same... even in rpm

notice that in rpm "drive num" is 93 X,XXX,XXXm and those numbers there don't stop going up, the same happens with "minimum size"

this is my hard drive: http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/products/ata/enterprise_applications/maxline_ii/index.htm

ata/133, 2mb, lba: 585940320

possible jumper settings are: ds (master), ds (slave), cs enabled and cap limit. i always used it ds (slave)

thats all the information the hard drive has!!!

maybe i will instal microsoft windows xp so that i can use a good file recovery software, r-studio.

Why don't you use it?
BigDriveEnabler

http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/big_drive_enabler.htm

i tried a file recovery utility, with good and bad results! the total search time was like 1500 minutes... i had to stop it, it found the data! but lots of bad named files, and they are not oranized, the software makes "cluster1...2...3.... ..." folders and puts all kind of files there. the hard drive is a maxtor and im finding lots of information http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/big_drive_enabler.htm http://maxtor.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/maxtor.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_lva=1392&p_faqid=960&p_created=1016214655

axel

Hi

Some good links by rvanhorne.

thing::

r-studio is seeing file names so its a good chance most of the data is still there, just the first part of the drive is muddled.

Did you try clicking on the advertisement link on the this forum list.

http://www.runtime.org/ [getdataback]

/mbr thing didn't work eh. In reference to #20 I was refering to my understanding of ms-fdisk/mbr [as it was suggested] and not a total wipe of 512 bytes. (fdisk mbr affects the first 446 bytes which is reserved for boot code) Here is a link of how ms-fdisk/mbr is to do (from documentation) Microsoft MBR Note that some people assume that BPB (bios parameter block) is wiped as well but the 2nd paragraph of the link clearly states this info will not be changed.

At this point there has been no feedback on the linux side of problems with mounting the drive, so I guess its safe to suggest, at present, you only "use" linux, as compared to someone who "swims" in it as they would have responded to the few little questions I asked.

(yes use / swim its ... - Linux is water, an essential element) And yeah I can't swim yet but I'm watching from the side to see how.

anenefan - "the fifth wheel"

"maxtor big drive enabler" is only for microsoft windows 2000 and microsoft windows xp.
they say that "intel application accelerator" also works to fix the problem, but i have it installed and nothing...

you mean that i should ask for help with linux users? i will do that...

sorry this is too complex for me, i don't even study computers... hard drives, interfaces, partitions, sizes, file systems, master boot record, partition table, first sectors, etc... then you say that "ATA" is the problem... could anyone point me to a guide? because when i fix this problem i need to save the data back in the big hard drive... what are the do's and the dont's?

thanks!

Sorry it has not solved your problem. I am still looking for a good boot sector editor to try and use to correct your boot sector. However, it is looking less promising. If there is someone out there who knows of one please let us know.

As for your options, you have the following options:

1. If your motherboard is 48bit LBA capable (check the manual) then you could move to WinXP (it has to be SP1 though).

2. If your motherboard is NOT 48bit LBA capable then you could buy an add-on IDE controller (the promise Ultra 100 TX2 comes to mind) which is 48 bit lba capable an attach the hard drive to that. The card costs about £30.00.

3. If your motherboard is NOT 48bit LBA capable then you could replace it with one that is. You will still need WinXP SP1. However, that is more expensive than option 2 above.

4. Once you have recovered your files you can use fdisk or RPM to wipe the hard drive and create a single partition no bigger than 127 GB. I say 127 GB and not 137 GB because scandisk in windows 98 will not work with hard drive partitions bigger than 127 GB. This is the worst possible option for you because you will NOT be able to use the remaining disk space which is a lot to loose.

5. IF maxtor provide Dynamic Drive Overlay (DDO) then you can use it to make full use of the hard drive. DDO works by fooling the system that it has several hard drives instead of one. DDO are NOT the recommended way because they have other complications. But it is a choice available to you.

Finally go to www.48bitlba.com to read up and understand fully all the issues that you face. This the best guide you will get. It is not a how to but more a what you need to know to help you excercise the best of the options for you.

I hope it helps and Good Luck.

I will post or contact you again if I find anything more on correcting the boot sector attempt.

My Cable Modem has developed a fault so I can now only communicate from my work place.

NTL are due to come out and replace my modem in a couple of days. So until then I am off the WWW (especially at the weekend).

___________________________________________
☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.

Also give this helper a try.

___________________________________________
☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.

This suggests that the boot sector corruption can be fixed using Norton Diskedit. Are you able to get hold of it? If so we could give it a try.

___________________________________________
☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.

Hi

thing:: yep ask there re linux; but you'd have to answer the same questions I have all ready asked and probably give some feedback on various non destructive procedures. (like the ones I have already mentioned) Anyhow many there could give you a step by step runthrough of mounting an unknown partition.

Mind you I could take a wild guess that you didn't have the fat32 drive mounted to share info between windows and linux.

Did you try getdataback?

Here is an idea of how important fdisk/mbr is to partition and data recovery, a simple example::

I got a functional drive with a version of windows on it. 9x whatever.

Using linux I copied the first 446 bytes that fdisk/mbr affects. (a mbr is 512 bytes but the partition table is left intact so that means the first 446 bytes are boot code) Made a nice little txt file - viewed it - yep full of weird and wonderful characters.

I then delete the first 446 bytes using a linux command.

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=446 count=1

Again I copied the first 446 bytes to a file and it indeed looked "zeroed" (blanked out with zeros)

OK no boot loader but the partition table was still intact.

Now booting with both linux then dos, I booted the machine. Both systems were able to view the original files and write files to the disk. This should really come as no suprise as that is why you have "boot disks".

In the recovery process you definitely don't want to write files to the disk. In linux you can quite easily mount the drive, trying different variables in a read only mode.

I suggest linux as you already had it, and therefore use it. Windows 98 has a limitation on how large a drive it can see. Later versions of linux should be able to view a large hard disk (including sata) with single partition fat32 file systems, and hopefully recover those files to a smaller drive.

anenefan: sorry its hard for me to understand you hehehe.

next time i will buy a external hard drive! errr! now i can no longer use microsoft windows 98 second edition... i have to install microsoft windows xp...

what about linux, how will i know that it won't give me problems? all websites talk only about microsoft windows

thing

first, many thanks for everyone who helped me!!! mosaddique, anenefan... ...

one week... one entire week with bad sleep and bad days hehe.
i think that the files are safe now, i hope,
recovering the files with "getdataback", still have to test and see...

now i think that i have to find a solution to save my data in the 300 gigabyte hard drive, from what "mosaddique" said, and for the guides i saw, i really have to install microsoft windows xp (with the service pack), wich i really don't like but have to... (they say that microsoft windows 98 second edition could also work but with problems and risk), and thats if my motherboard supports 48bit lba... the problem is that i can't find that information, my motherboard is a "nb72-sc rev. b+" (chipset intel 845) from "dfi" and i think i have the last bios update, could anyone try to help me find the information i need, the manual doesn't have that information. i can't view .pdf files, if anyone could help and see if my motherboard supports what i need: http://www.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_product_spec_details_r_us.jsp?PRODUCT_ID=1004&CATEGORY_TYPE=MB&SITE=US

i am now going to waste some time reading about "... hard drives, interfaces, partitions, sizes, file systems, master boot record, partition table, first sectors, etc" hehe
could you tell me what you tink about file systems? i know that fat32 is old and bad, and i can loose if i use it in big hard drives... the problem is that i wanted to have only one file system for my computers (remember i have to computers with two harddrives each, the primary master has three partitions, one for windows and two for linux, the primary slave is a harddrive with only one partition (100%) wich is only used to store data...) as i said, i wanted something that linux (i use slackware) and microsoft windows could read and write, and fat32 is the only one. the data partition (wich uses 100% of the space) could be in fat32, no big problem, right?
and what about the partitions that the operating system's use? i know that microsoft windows xp can be installed in fat32, is there any problem with that?
and linux, does anyone know if it can be installed, and be safe of any error's and still work with no problems (no incompatibility with the linux kernel and software)?

i also would like to ask about the space partitions use... i have always used fdisk (microsoft windows 98 second edition boot floppy) but now when i installed slackware 9.1 i used something else and i could make my partitions bigger! fdisk was leaving behind some unused space and still say that the disc was full 100% with paritions, now after using the partition maker from slackware i still notice thar RPM says that i have free space... my question is, how should i create partitions? and by the way... people don't know how i could have a 270 gigabyte's fat32 partition... if i have to remove and make another one, how will i? (the last one was made by some people at the shop where i brought the hard drive)

thanks for your time once more!

Hi

You state you have slackware 9.1? So you run it and surely you'd notice in a google search, so most of it is linux groups.

By all means get xp pro and you'll have the best of both worlds.

hehehe ... yeah I think I eventually arrived at that conclusion too. I have to appologise as I assumed (for a start) that if you had installed slackware (linux) you'd be slightly familiar with some of the tools available. I forget even those who have used linux for years might not have run into problems, and thus haven't needed to be deeply involved with the lower level functions within their system.

I don't think 98 is dead in the water yet. Seagates link suggest some third party applications alrready.

http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/capacity/137/os/win98.html

Hi

Just saw your last message. Good to see that getdataback might work for you.

XP will work on fat 32, but you could certinly have your xp on ntfs partition and read/write data to a fat32 partition.

Purchase of a adapter card will clear up those concerns all round.

Ok late (very) here so I'm going offline.

Go to the ITOC question pages and ask their tech support if your motherboard supports 48 bit LBA.

You could purchase an add-on IDE controller. I know the promise ultra 100 TX2 does support 48 bit lba.
Read about it at the Promise website. I believe with this you do NOT need to switch OS either because Promise have the drivers for Wimn98 to use it as well. Check it out.

___________________________________________
☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.

i will send a email to sales@promise.com and ask them if they support microsoft windows 98 second edition...

what about linux? won't it mess up? writing data to the big partition?

anyone knows of problems installing microsoft windows xp (with service pack 1) in a fat32 partition?
what about linux? is really not recomended? i use slackware... possible?

thing

ohh and what about making the partitions and the free space that is left?

thing

---------------

To answer your question first:
If you use the promise ide controller with Windows 98 then you will not be able to use fdisk to create partitions. However, maxtor has a utility call MaxBlast which is free and can be used to create the necessary partitions. You probably even go it with your hard drive. If not you can download it from Maxtor.

----------------
One other thing I forgot to mention in the attempt to fix your boot sector is this:

You said you have installed the intel application accelerator and it made no difference. Well it would not at present because your disc has a corrupted boot sector and there is currently inaccessible.

However, I believe if you had it installed in the first place then you would not have hit this problem. So I suggest once you get your files recovered and the hard drive fixed, you will probably find that it will work correctly with the IAA drivers installed. So you may need to do buy anything or switch after all.

----------------
Getting back to the fault:

Have you tried anenefans suggestion of booting to linux and clearing the boot sector?
If not it is worth a try. Boot up to Linux, open a terminal window, (if necessary su as root) and type in:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hdb bs=446 count=1

hda is your first hard drive and
hdb is your second hard drive

If you want to know more about Linux hard drive number then there is a page on my website which explains it all.

----------------

By the way I have now got a copy of diskedit with which you can attempt to fix your boot sector. Let me know if you want to go down that root and I will mail you the information.

---------------
Good Luck

___________________________________________
☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.

hello. i no longer want to fix the problem that way, im already getting all my data back and everything seems to be okay! then i will remove that partition and make a new one, right? i just need the information about the space left and file systems\operating systems
i still have to see if my mother board supports 48bit lba or not... i can't find the information
thanks!

im so confused!!!

i can't find out if my motherboard http://www.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_product_spec_details_r_us.jsp?PRODUCT_ID=1004&CATEGORY_TYPE=MB&SITE=US supports 48bit lba or not!

i don't know what im going to do!
im full of questions and can't find the RIGHT solution...
lets just think that my motherboard supports lba 48 bit, the bios detects a drive with 300gb does that mean anything?

okay, my motherboard supports lba 48 bit, lets just think like that, now what? now i could use microsoft windows 98 second edition with the intel application accelerator, they say it would work... but what if i write data to the hard drive and the intel software is not runing? bye to all my data! right?
so, i really have to use microsoft windows xp with service pack 1! and even with that operating system, i need to use a patch from maxtor.com, again, what if something happens, like before using that patch i write data to the 300gigabyte hard drive? again everything would go wrong...

im no computer expert... and now im getting really confused with the relations between bios, hardware, operating system and software. my microsoft windows 98 second edition just made me lost over 100 gigabytes of data (wich i am NOW getting back with recovery software) the problem was that microsoft windows 98 does not support hard drives over 137 gigabytes... but what about other software\operating systems, i use slackware 9.1 i don't even know if it supports it! and my biggest fear is what happens if i try to use old software, i play old DOS games (i don't even know how DOS works anyway, i just boot into it with my microsoft windows 98...) i have the feeling that i can loose all my data if i use software that doesn't support a hard drive of that size! im so confussed...

i need to have microsoft windows, now because of the hard drive problem it looks like the only solution is microsoft windows xp...

i also wanted to have linux... i use slackware 9.1, will i have problems?

then after understanding the lba problems (limits)

i still have some questions:

1- file systems, i wanted to have the same file system that all operating systems can access and write, wich is fat32.

1.1- does anyone know if there is any problem installing microsoft windows xp in a fat 32 partition?

1.2- this may sound really stupid, any linux solution for fat32? hehe... i think there is, but slackware won't work, right?

2- i have always used fdisk (microsoft windows 98 se boot floppy) to make partitions... but now when i used a partition manager that comes with slackware 9.1 i found that i could use more space from my hard drives to make partitions, before that i was making smaller partitions and fdisk said that the hard drive space was being used by 100%, now after making the partitions with the slackware utility i used "ranish partition manager" and it still founds some 3,559KB unused space, not that i really "care" hehe but why? and how\what should i use to make the partitions?

3- about the swap partition in linux, do i really need it? is there any document or guide wich talks about it, because, if there is no compatibility problem or any other problem that could give me error's i think i would like to have a linux system like the other operating systems (only one partition)

Hi

mosaddique:: I'm not really sure, but do not think that the boot code is required on the slave drive, to load the rest of the files on the primary or extended partitions. I don't even think windows 98 references it, but then I have not put in a drive that has an overlay on it, as a slave to a different system. My experience with overlays though, is practically non-existant. It was also some time ago and I can only remember that the overlay method was a pain, and there were difficulties if someone wanted to use it as a slave temporarily....Looking back it could have been due to other reasons but...???

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/newbootdevice bs=446 count=1 - Still a good procedure to zero where the boot code needs to go, just to make sure the fdisk/mbr procedure works.

thing::

You'd have to ask the people running Windows ME, but I found a table that lists ME's fat32 limit of 8.796TB (massive). But file types in the partition defining fat32 has types 0b and 0c as having a capacity of 512MB - 2TB (massive)

OK on to your questions:

I'll try to be brief.

mosaddique has already left you a link I believe to ask the support there if your board is 48 bit.

I am unable to offer any help about the intel or maxtor patch.

Windows 98 natively does not support it but there is software that changes all that.

Your questions::

1/ Fat32 is not a problem, just the native 98 system.

1-1/ XPsp1 or XPsp1a -- no problem

1-2/ yes already outlined. try at command > man Mount -- look at -t msdos. The question is; what does the kernel of that version support exactly, as drive sizes go. (but I think you would be pretty safe to assume it does support large drives.)

2/ A good realible partitioner. Ranish can do the job and so should maxblast. Not getting to complicated, the little bit extra is a result that Windows just finishes at the last complete "chunk". Other systems don't have any problem addressing the last incomplete "chunk".

3/ You need swap for linux just the same as you do in Windows.

im going to try to install microsoft windows 98 second edition and use the intel application accelerator.

http://www.48bitlba.com/win98.htm

how will i scan\defrag the hard drive then?

thing

anenefan: with regards to your comment "I'm not really sure, but do not think that the boot code is required on the slave drive". I was trying to reduce all possible unknowns hence if both hard drives had their MBRs reset using fdisk /mbr then at least that has eliminated it from being the problem source.

I agree with you that drive overlays are a pain and only to be used as the very last resort.

Thing:

In response to your comments

Looking at the BIOS page for your motherboard there is the following entry there:

Date Code 2002/01/24
File NB72SCR0124.ZIP
Size 216,786 bytes
Description 1.Support 160GB HDD. 2.Add CPU Temperture protect. 3.Boot sequence FDD-->CDROM-->HDD-->Others.

The fact that it says 160 GB (greater than 137 GB) seems to imply that it is 48 bit LBA capable. Contact their support and ask them to confirm it.

Also do not forget what I said about IAA as I feel you should be able to use it with Win98 and Large hard drives.

Playing DOS games should not cause a problem to your large hard drive so long as the game and its data does not reside on the large hard drive. Incidentally I thought DOS games only run on FAT16 (not FAT32) partitions.

Playing DOS games in XP is different as well.

You could try triple booting. I have Win98SE, WinXP Pro and Linux (Mandrake / Redhat) on mine. There is a procedure on my website of how to do this.

BIOS, Hardware, OS and Application Software have always been daunting for the average user. The fundamentals is to be clear about the constraints and how to work round them.

Remember there are two forms of accessing hard drives. Read from it and write to it. If say Linux cannot write to it that you can restrict yourself to use it in read mode on the large hard drive and use windows to read from and write to it.

In response to your questions

1. FAT32 should be fine as both Linux and Windows can work with it.

1.1 There are no problems installing XP SP1 in a FAT32 partition. However, there is no reason why you cannot install XP on NTFS and have your large hard drive as FAT32. WinXP can handle that as can Linux. It only means that Linux will not be able to access the WinXP partition but that is rarely an issue. In fact it is sometimes an advantage.

1.2 I am not sure about your question. However, if it is in relation to large hard drives than if you have the latest Linux kernel in your slackware then you should be fine. I think the kernel has to higher than version 2.14.19. In linux on a terminal window type in "rpm -a | less" and see what kernel you have got. There may also be a patch to apply.

Linux Hardware compatibilty HowTo. Check about your hard drive. It says "All hard drives should work if the controller is supported." The Promise ultra 100 TX2 is supported.

Here is a google thread on Slackware and Hard drives. It does NOT give answers but shows you are not unique.

2. fdisk has a large mode option which you have to answer yes to when you fire up fdisk. That allows you to create larger partitions otherwise it limits you to smaller sizes. Look at the fdisk and partition procedure on my site.

The last bit, that Linux still does not use some space at the end of the hard drive, as anenefan pointed out is due to the different way in which Linux and Windows uses the last incomplete Cylinder head block. Sometimes windows objects if that incomplete section is used in an Extended partition. Some Linux distros use the last incomplete block (Mandrake and RedHat) and some do NOT (I suppose Slackware is one of those)

2.1 Yes you need the swap.

--------------------

Finally. In my opinion your best option is to use an add-on IDE card (Promise ultra 100 TX2 or similar) it has everything you need plus you do NOT have to switch from Windows 98. I also believe Linux will also work with it. It only costs about £30.00 which is a lot less than XP.

Additionally you get the capability to add 4 more IDE devices if you so desire.

Good Luck.

___________________________________________
☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.

thanks

but i as i said, im going to try microsoft windows 98 second edition with intel application accelerator.

my only question now is, what about the tools, scandisk, fdisk (fdisk no problem... just don't use it) but the scandisk? it runs when microsoft windows didnt have a normal shutdown, i know i can disable that...
what if it runs? will it mess my drive again, or just give a error?

now other of my big questions is how i will install microsoft windows 98 second edition, i know the setup will only start after scaning all my hard drives, what do you think?

thanks

thing

Hi

To stop scandisk starting

edit msdos.sys

change autoscan=1
to autoscan=0

Installing - Hmmm Haven't done an install on a drive greater than 137G, so I don't know.

mosaddique:: Oh aha, Ok yep I see what you're aiming to do there now, a standard mbr sweep just to be sure. Sometimes, I just plain forget to look past the immediate problem.

anenefan

remember that i will not install microsoft windows to the big hard drive... that one is only to store files.

but the microsoft windows installer scans all drives before the setup starts

please tell me a solution because i will have install it today maybe

thing

Install Win98 without the big hard drive connected to avoid it for now until you have installed the IAA. Just pull the ide cable out.

With regards to scandisk, at the moment the suggestion by anenefan is probably the best option.

If scandisk does run then you will get this error. This is harmless, all you do is click ok and ignore it.

___________________________________________
☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.

i think thats all!

many thanks for all your time mosaddique, anenefan.

i will come back if i have any problem...
i still fear what can happen, for example running dos programs that write data into the hard drive...
just have to watch them and use them in the small hard drive
thanks

thing