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Problem with New 250GB Hard Drive



 
 
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  #16  
Old January 3rd 05, 08:34 PM
Dave
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Problem with New 250GB Hard Drive

I'm personally running 2 250gb drives on my PC. I used Windows XP to format
them and I've not encountered any problems. I did have problems initially
when installing them as I had the jumpers set to cable select rather than
master/slave. The only other thing that I can think of is the ribbon
cables themselves. Try replacing them. Its possible that they are
damaged or defective, or it might be a 40 pin cable when you need a 80 pin
cable (I have no idea how to tell them apart other than the 80 pin cables
tend to have a blue connector). Other than that, I'm afraid I'm out of
ideas.

Dave

wrote in message
oups.com...
Dave,
Until WinXP SP2 I was using 160gb/200gb/250gb on three different
computer
other tha "C:" drive and had no problems
Some where "D:" but most where "F:" and "G:"
connected to Promise.com pci ATA drive controller.
However after SP2 found I only had 130gb of new 160gb
hard drive using Disk managment in Winxp for partition/format

Took the same drive to old machine that I haveyet to update to SP2
and it partitioned/formatted correctly.

Existing 200GB and 250GB hard drive on computers that I just updated to
SP2 seemed ok and disk managment reported about 200gb and 250gb
so I thought they where ok.

However I am finding out I am getting corrupted data as I got over
110gb in usages on large drives.

I have done everything suggested with no success.

New motherboard/CPUs/ide ATA pci boards as well with no success.

Currently I put aside any drives over 120gb and using two
brand new 200gb drives to test partition/format and data storage
read/write over 160gb.
Result: can't use in winxp SP2 computer no mater what fix I apply.
Anybody please HELP!!!
Thanks,
Ray



Dave wrote:
On the drives themselves, what are the jumpers set to? I just did a


similar install and experienced no problems once I correctly set the
master/slave settings on the HDs. Also, what version of XP do you

have
running? home? pro? no sp (format limit of 137gb) SP1? SP2? ( no

format
limits)
Dave

"Gary" wrote in message
...
Non booting.........
Is the Master drive fitted to the end of the Ribbon cable and the

slave
connected to the mid point connector? In this case, jumper both

drives to
CS or Cable select, set drives to Auto detection in the BIOS. Make

sure
you have Both or all EIDE channels to be available in the BIOS.

Double check the connectors, make sure the ribbons are the right

way
around. The red trace or other than the main colour on the ribbon

should
be close to the power connector.
I would be wary of using WD tools on a Seagate drive for example,

the
geometry for the two drives are radically different.




"NoneOfBusiness" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 14:32:56 -0500, "Art"
wrote:

"Adolfo" wrote in message
...
OK, this is throwing me for a loop. I recently (a month ago or

so)
installed a new 250GB Hard Drive as the Master device on EIDE 1.

That
install went fine and everything worked perfectly, leading me to

believe
that there were no ATAPI issues with the large Hard Drive size.

OK, now
yesterday I installed another 250GB Hard Drive as the Slave device

on the
same EIDE channel (EIDE 1). This is where the problems start. If

I
format
the new drive as a 250GB Hard Drive, the computer will not boot

("Error
Reading From Disk" or some such error). If, however, I let the

Western
Digital tools limit the drive to 137GB when it gets formatted, the


computer
boots and everything works fine.

Is it possible to run into an ATAPI problem with one device on the

EIDE
channel and not the other?

Is there a combined Hard Drive size limit that I am not aware of?

I tried a few things, even partitioning the new Hard Drive into 2

125GB
partitions and got the same results. I even booted and, once

Windows
came
up, reformatted the new Hard Drive as a 250GB Hard Drive. When I

did
this,
everything seemed to be fine (I could see the drive, write to it,

read
from
it, and it looked like another valid 250GB Hard Drive) until I

restarted
the
computer - then it wouldn't boot again and I had to reformat back

to
137GB.

Any ideas?

Adolfo continues...
I use the Western Digital tools to format. Both drives have 1 big


partition
(nothing fancy here) and I am not forcing drive letters - I let

WinXP
assign
drive letters. The bootable drive is Master (primary) on the EIDE

cable
and
the other drive (the one with the problem) is Slave (secondary) on

the
same
cable. Bootable drive is C: and other drive is D:. Both drives

are
250GB
drives and the bootable drive is formatted as such and works fine.

When
the
other drive is formatted as such, all of a sudden neither drive

can be
read
and the system will not boot. Only when the other drive is

formatted as
a
137GB drive (or smaller), is the computer operable again.


"R. C. White" wrote:
Hi, Adolfo.

I'm amazed and disappointed that many users still, nearly 5

years after
it
was introduced in Win2K, have not found Disk Management. At the

Run
prompt,
type: diskmgmt.msc

This is the proper tool to use in WinXP for all disk and

partition
project -
except for the System Partition (and, if different, the Boot

Volume).
Use
this to delete all existing partitions on the new drive and

create one
or
more new ones, then format it.
(SNIP)


"Adolfo" wrote in message
...
So, if I try this and get the same results (not sure why I

wouldn't),
then
the computer will NOT reboot and I will be forced to use the

Western
Digital
tools anyways. I'll try it tonight, but I'm not completely sure

you
are
visualizing the problem.

For more background, this new 250GB hard drive is replacing a

Western
Digital 100GB hard drive (formatted with exact same tools - 1

big
partition
again) that was working as expected.
Adolfo.

Adolfo:
Just to make sure I (and perhaps others) correctly understand your
problem...
1. You installed a 250 GB HD as your boot drive and there's no

problem
with
that HD booting and the system recognizing the full capacity of

that
disk,
right?
2. You then installed another 250 GB HD (Western Digital)

presumably as a
data or backup disk.
3. Using the WD utility, you partitioned/formatted the second HD

(single
partition of 250 GB) and apparently that process went without

incident.
However, when both drives are connected, the system will not boot.
4. If you partition and format that second drive (again using the

WD
utility) but limit the partition to 137 GB or less, the system

will boot
and
the second drive is recognized without any problem.
5. Then you say you partitioned and formatted that second drive

with two
125
GB partitions, booted up and reformatted that drive (presumably

using
XP's
Disk Management utility) into a single 250 GB partition and the

system
apparently recognized the full capacity of that disk. But when you


attempted
to boot, the system refused to do so.

If any of the above is significantly incorrect, please set us

straight.

It's a puzzle all right Adolfo. Here's a few thoughts...
1. You didn't indicate the make of your primary HD. If it's a

Western
Digital, make sure that its jumper setting is set to Cable Select,

or if
a
non-CS configuration, that it's set to Dual (Master). WD drives

are
unusual
in that they have this Single jumper setting which many users

forget to
change when they add another IDE device on the same cable.
2. Check the pins on your second HD to determine if there are any

bent or
otherwise deformed or even missing pins. I recently ran into just

that
kind
of situation where a HD acted erratically until we determined the

problem
was with one of its deformed connecting pins.
3. Ensure that the jumper setting on your second HD is correct and

make
sure
the cable connection is properly seated.

BTW, R. C. White's recommendation that one should use XP's Disk
Management
utility to partition/format one's HD is a good one. It's a tried &

true
program, designed to work flawlessly in an XP environment, and

relatively
easy to use. In my opinion it should be used in lieu of formatting


utility
provided by the HD manufacturer. In addition to the command

mentioned by
R.
C. White, you can also access the DM utility through Start

right-click
My
Computer Manage Computer Management Disk Management.
Art



I can think of a few things as well.

1)Master/Slave Jumper settings correct between the drives or are

you
using cable select?
2) Different brand/model drive from your other 250? I ask because
there have been times in the past where i had a Maxtor and WD and

they
had problems together on the same chain. If that is the case, put

the
other drive on your secondary controller?







Ads
  #17  
Old January 4th 05, 12:17 AM
R. C. White
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Problem with New 250GB Hard Drive

Hi, Dave.

or it might be a 40 pin cable when you need a 80 pin cable (I have no idea
how to tell them apart other than the 80 pin cables tend to have a blue
connector).


If you have one of each, you can tell them apart. The connectors on the
ends will be identical, but the 80-wire cable will have much finer ribs (I
guess we can call them that), because it has to squeeze twice as many wires,
plus their insulating coating, into the same cable width as the 40-wire
cable.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP

"Dave" wrote in message
...
I'm personally running 2 250gb drives on my PC. I used Windows XP to
format them and I've not encountered any problems. I did have problems
initially when installing them as I had the jumpers set to cable select
rather than master/slave. The only other thing that I can think of is
the ribbon cables themselves. Try replacing them. Its possible that
they are damaged or defective, or it might be a 40 pin cable when you
need a 80 pin cable (I have no idea how to tell them apart other than the
80 pin cables tend to have a blue connector). Other than that, I'm
afraid I'm out of ideas.

Dave

wrote in message
oups.com...
Dave,
Until WinXP SP2 I was using 160gb/200gb/250gb on three different
computer
other tha "C:" drive and had no problems
Some where "D:" but most where "F:" and "G:"
connected to Promise.com pci ATA drive controller.
However after SP2 found I only had 130gb of new 160gb
hard drive using Disk managment in Winxp for partition/format

Took the same drive to old machine that I haveyet to update to SP2
and it partitioned/formatted correctly.

Existing 200GB and 250GB hard drive on computers that I just updated to
SP2 seemed ok and disk managment reported about 200gb and 250gb
so I thought they where ok.

However I am finding out I am getting corrupted data as I got over
110gb in usages on large drives.

I have done everything suggested with no success.

New motherboard/CPUs/ide ATA pci boards as well with no success.

Currently I put aside any drives over 120gb and using two
brand new 200gb drives to test partition/format and data storage
read/write over 160gb.
Result: can't use in winxp SP2 computer no mater what fix I apply.
Anybody please HELP!!!
Thanks,
Ray



Dave wrote:
On the drives themselves, what are the jumpers set to? I just did a


similar install and experienced no problems once I correctly set the
master/slave settings on the HDs. Also, what version of XP do you

have
running? home? pro? no sp (format limit of 137gb) SP1? SP2? ( no

format
limits)
Dave

"Gary" wrote in message
...
Non booting.........
Is the Master drive fitted to the end of the Ribbon cable and the

slave
connected to the mid point connector? In this case, jumper both

drives to
CS or Cable select, set drives to Auto detection in the BIOS. Make

sure
you have Both or all EIDE channels to be available in the BIOS.

Double check the connectors, make sure the ribbons are the right

way
around. The red trace or other than the main colour on the ribbon

should
be close to the power connector.
I would be wary of using WD tools on a Seagate drive for example,

the
geometry for the two drives are radically different.


"NoneOfBusiness" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 14:32:56 -0500, "Art"
wrote:

"Adolfo" wrote in message
...
OK, this is throwing me for a loop. I recently (a month ago or

so)
installed a new 250GB Hard Drive as the Master device on EIDE 1.

That
install went fine and everything worked perfectly, leading me to

believe
that there were no ATAPI issues with the large Hard Drive size.

OK, now
yesterday I installed another 250GB Hard Drive as the Slave device

on the
same EIDE channel (EIDE 1). This is where the problems start. If

I
format
the new drive as a 250GB Hard Drive, the computer will not boot

("Error
Reading From Disk" or some such error). If, however, I let the

Western
Digital tools limit the drive to 137GB when it gets formatted, the


computer
boots and everything works fine.

Is it possible to run into an ATAPI problem with one device on the

EIDE
channel and not the other?

Is there a combined Hard Drive size limit that I am not aware of?

I tried a few things, even partitioning the new Hard Drive into 2

125GB
partitions and got the same results. I even booted and, once

Windows
came
up, reformatted the new Hard Drive as a 250GB Hard Drive. When I

did
this,
everything seemed to be fine (I could see the drive, write to it,

read
from
it, and it looked like another valid 250GB Hard Drive) until I

restarted
the
computer - then it wouldn't boot again and I had to reformat back

to
137GB.

Any ideas?

Adolfo continues...
I use the Western Digital tools to format. Both drives have 1 big


partition
(nothing fancy here) and I am not forcing drive letters - I let

WinXP
assign
drive letters. The bootable drive is Master (primary) on the EIDE

cable
and
the other drive (the one with the problem) is Slave (secondary) on

the
same
cable. Bootable drive is C: and other drive is D:. Both drives

are
250GB
drives and the bootable drive is formatted as such and works fine.

When
the
other drive is formatted as such, all of a sudden neither drive

can be
read
and the system will not boot. Only when the other drive is

formatted as
a
137GB drive (or smaller), is the computer operable again.


"R. C. White" wrote:
Hi, Adolfo.

I'm amazed and disappointed that many users still, nearly 5

years after
it
was introduced in Win2K, have not found Disk Management. At the

Run
prompt,
type: diskmgmt.msc

This is the proper tool to use in WinXP for all disk and

partition
project -
except for the System Partition (and, if different, the Boot

Volume).
Use
this to delete all existing partitions on the new drive and

create one
or
more new ones, then format it.
(SNIP)


"Adolfo" wrote in message
...
So, if I try this and get the same results (not sure why I

wouldn't),
then
the computer will NOT reboot and I will be forced to use the

Western
Digital
tools anyways. I'll try it tonight, but I'm not completely sure

you
are
visualizing the problem.

For more background, this new 250GB hard drive is replacing a

Western
Digital 100GB hard drive (formatted with exact same tools - 1

big
partition
again) that was working as expected.
Adolfo.

Adolfo:
Just to make sure I (and perhaps others) correctly understand your
problem...
1. You installed a 250 GB HD as your boot drive and there's no

problem
with
that HD booting and the system recognizing the full capacity of

that
disk,
right?
2. You then installed another 250 GB HD (Western Digital)

presumably as a
data or backup disk.
3. Using the WD utility, you partitioned/formatted the second HD

(single
partition of 250 GB) and apparently that process went without

incident.
However, when both drives are connected, the system will not boot.
4. If you partition and format that second drive (again using the

WD
utility) but limit the partition to 137 GB or less, the system

will boot
and
the second drive is recognized without any problem.
5. Then you say you partitioned and formatted that second drive

with two
125
GB partitions, booted up and reformatted that drive (presumably

using
XP's
Disk Management utility) into a single 250 GB partition and the

system
apparently recognized the full capacity of that disk. But when you


attempted
to boot, the system refused to do so.

If any of the above is significantly incorrect, please set us

straight.

It's a puzzle all right Adolfo. Here's a few thoughts...
1. You didn't indicate the make of your primary HD. If it's a

Western
Digital, make sure that its jumper setting is set to Cable Select,

or if
a
non-CS configuration, that it's set to Dual (Master). WD drives

are
unusual
in that they have this Single jumper setting which many users

forget to
change when they add another IDE device on the same cable.
2. Check the pins on your second HD to determine if there are any

bent or
otherwise deformed or even missing pins. I recently ran into just

that
kind
of situation where a HD acted erratically until we determined the

problem
was with one of its deformed connecting pins.
3. Ensure that the jumper setting on your second HD is correct and

make
sure
the cable connection is properly seated.

BTW, R. C. White's recommendation that one should use XP's Disk
Management
utility to partition/format one's HD is a good one. It's a tried &

true
program, designed to work flawlessly in an XP environment, and

relatively
easy to use. In my opinion it should be used in lieu of formatting


utility
provided by the HD manufacturer. In addition to the command

mentioned by
R.
C. White, you can also access the DM utility through Start

right-click
My
Computer Manage Computer Management Disk Management.
Art



I can think of a few things as well.

1)Master/Slave Jumper settings correct between the drives or are

you
using cable select?
2) Different brand/model drive from your other 250? I ask because
there have been times in the past where i had a Maxtor and WD and

they
had problems together on the same chain. If that is the case, put

the
other drive on your secondary controller?


 




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