200gb hard drive

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by nffc

Read the thread the Maxtor utility comes on a floppy...

Although I happen to think this is BIOS related, try updating the BIOS (WITH CARE!) or checking the settings, put the IDE detection on Auto if you haven't already.

be nice

but i agree i reckon it is a bios problem

[nffc]

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

be nice

but i agree i reckon it is a bios problem

Maybe I'm just assuming everyone knows that Maxtor utilities are floppy affairs and I was trying to be as nice as possible. Perhaps I only know cos one of my drives is a Maxtor ...

It's something about some BIOSes not being able to address more than 137GB- if you look in the mobo manual or on the support forums of the mobo manufacturer's site (MSI have a good one for example) you might be able to confirm that as the case and a BIOS flash might solve it. If not buy a new mobo or put up with 137 which is still a lot but not ideal

[banjo]

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

be nice

but i agree i reckon it is a bios problem

Thank you for that,but,would I not need an a:\ drive to update the bios as previously to do this I have had to boot from a floppy ?

[nffc]

Originally Posted by banjo

Thank you for that,but,would I not need an a:\ drive to update the bios as previously to do this I have had to boot from a floppy ?

yes probably but mine will update from CD or HD as well

you could always buy a new floppy drive, only cost about a fiver/ few pints...

you can download a bootable cd iso image from the website, have a look at

http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Ma...&downloadID=19



<edit> I've uploaded the installation manual to

http://gazfan.com/files/EN_FR_DE.PDF

if you want to have look

[banjo]

Found a utility on the mother board driver disc, and I think this has updated my bios without leaving Windows, I have tried the the floppy drive on my son's machine and it is not working, but, when I re-connected his f/drive that had the same faults as mine has so i am left wondering if the f/drive has damaged the floppy controller on my mother board ? sounds unlikely but it could happen !!!

Originally Posted by banjo

Found a utility on the mother board driver disc, and I think this has updated my bios without leaving Windows, I have tried the the floppy drive on my son's machine and it is not working, but, when I re-connected his f/drive that had the same faults as mine has so i am left wondering if the f/drive has damaged the floppy controller on my mother board ? sounds unlikely but it could happen !!!

sorry banjo, I'm confused - are you saying both floppies have packed up now? - sorry if this sounds silly, but have you checked that your ribbon cable is ok & that the red stripe side is connected to 'pin 1' at both the drive & motherboard end? It should also connect 'end to end' with the end with the twisted wires connected to the drive, not the motherboard.

[zoombini]

You can tell if the floppy is connected wrong, the light is always on then.

Originally Posted by zoombini

You can tell if the floppy is connected wrong, the light is always on then.

Yeh, that happened with my old PC

[banjo]

Originally Posted by homealone

you can download a bootable cd iso image from the website, have a look at

http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Ma...&downloadID=19



<edit> I've uploaded the installation manual to

http://gazfan.com/files/EN_FR_DE.PDF

if you want to have look

Thank you very much this has helped no end I will try that later as I am pulling my hair out at the moment, pints all round I think, Cheers !!!

[banjo]

Originally Posted by homealone

sorry banjo, I'm confused - are you saying both floppies have packed up now? - sorry if this sounds silly, but have you checked that your ribbon cable is ok & that the red stripe side is connected to 'pin 1' at both the drive & motherboard end? It should also connect 'end to end' with the end with the twisted wires connected to the drive, not the motherboard.

Sorry, but yes both a\drives are not working on their respective machines, same fault on both no lights no head chatter and even with a disc in I get the error message that their is no disc in the drive, I have checked the data/power connectors and all seems OK.

The strange thing is the a:\ drive still shows up in my computer even when it is not connected in any way ?

[nffc]

Originally Posted by banjo

Sorry, but yes both a\drives are not working on their respective machines, same fault on both no lights no head chatter and even with a disc in I get the error message that their is no disc in the drive, I have checked the data/power connectors and all seems OK.

The strange thing is the a:\ drive still shows up in my computer even when it is not connected in any way ?

Obviously a BIOS or a motherboard controller issue then, have you checked whether the BIOS can see it?

Originally Posted by banjo

Sorry, but yes both a\drives are not working on their respective machines, same fault on both no lights no head chatter and even with a disc in I get the error message that their is no disc in the drive, I have checked the data/power connectors and all seems OK.

The strange thing is the a:\ drive still shows up in my computer even when it is not connected in any way ?

weird - the floppy from the laptop was ok till you tried it with your desktop machine, then you put it back in the laptop & it didn't work? - am I reading that right?

[Stuartbe]

Does the bios report the drive as the correct size ?

If it does then it could be the way that you are formating the drive. Maxblast installs proprietory software into the boot sector and can create problems.

Personaly I would install the drive as a slave on xp and format the drive from disk management.

HTH

[nffc]

Originally Posted by Stuartbe

Personaly I would install the drive as a slave on xp and format the drive from disk management.

HTH

I've done that with my last three drives including a Maxtor and had no probs.

So unless it's a BIOS issue try that and see.