Problem with 250 Gig WD (WD2500JB) (yes, I read sticky!)

B

Baconstrip

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 17, 2002
Messages
184
Alright, now I've been fighting with my new hard drive quite a bit recently. First off I popped it in not expecting the fact that it was only going to be recognized as a 137 gig. So I read up on it and messed around a bit, and here is where Im at.

I popped in the hard drive and the windows install only recognized 130 gigs. So I partitioned that to a 10 gig partition and installed windows on it. Problem is, the 120 gigs of data is gone when I get windows running. I installed SP1 and threw in the WD software that came with and it enabled 48bit LBA. I reboot, and still no luck. So I pop in the windows CD again and try to partition the 120 gigs of space, but magically, its GONE! So on to a new step.


I rebooted and ran the tools that came with it (Western Digital software, forgot the name) in DOS mode.

I successfully partitioned my hard drive to a 10 gig partition, 130 gig, and 120 gig partition (Around there, at least. Not exact #'s)

So I think great, sounds good. The Western Digital program says it looks good, it installed Dynamic Drive Overlay, etc. Tells me to reboot and hit C to install a new drive when the little prompt comes up.

So I wait for that to come up so I can hit C and install windows, only I get the Error: Dynamic Drive Overlay not installed. WHAT? I installed that successfully!! So I rebooted and did everything over again, the WD program successfully saying I installed Dynamic Drive Overlay. STILL no luck, same thing, same error message.

So I say screw it and boot the windows XP CD. And what's this? Apparently I only have about 33 gigs of total hard drive space. I've tried everything to at LEAST get my 130 back, but to no avail. Windows XP setup says I only have 33 gigs. Anyone have any clue what I can try or do? I'm getting quite frusterated, and ready to get rid of this 250 gig (its more hassle than its worth) and pop in my 80 gig again.

Hopefully someone here has the answer for poor baconstrip :(
 
I would try booting from your 80GB, with the WD as slave. Make sure you have all the necessary patches for Windows, etc, and partition the WD from windows. Then try it as master again.
 
Does your mobo support over 137gb drives?

once you install onto the 10gb partition...you install sp1a and then right click my computer, choose management and should see under disk management...your additional space to create another drive...

You shouldnt have to use that drive overlay software...its kinda sucky.

Ive been reading and reading and reading on the same thing...Ill probably still have a problem installing on 2x250 in raid next week...
 
I had no problems whatsoever with my 250GB WD. Here is what I did:

1) Installed 120GB Maxtor as master and 250GB WD as slave.
2) Installed windows xp pro oem w/ sp1 on Maxtor.
3) Ran windows update and installed all critical updates.
4) Reboot.
5) Goto disk management and formated the WD as one bigass 232GB partition.

Oh and I have an AI7
 
Thanks for the help guys, I'll try that tomorrow when I'm not so inebriated. The slave\master idea sounds like a good one... and it should work no problem. Thanks alot.

Oh, and I have an Intel D865GBF so it should support 48-bit LBA.

Anyway have a happy new year!
 
Ive tried everything, its still seen as only a 30 gig drive. *Sigh*

How frusterating.
 
Originally posted by Baconstrip
Ive tried everything, its still seen as only a 30 gig drive. *Sigh*

How frusterating.
Click to expand...
You even tried formatting it as the slave?
 
That might be because of the overlay software.....on the WD site there might be a utility to wipe out the overlay software...

Once you do that, you should be able to partition it as one big drive and format it..

then you can put it in place of the 80gb and install onto it..
 
You know - if you're tired of messing with it, I'll be glad to take it off your hands. Just let me know, and I'll PM you my address.

Just Kidding :p :rolleyes:
 
LOL.. well thanks for the help guys. And yeah Ill look for that software... thank you!


I actually did just get frusterated and put my 80 gig in .... I built this computer when I was right in the middle of Knights of the Old Republic and really wanted to play it last night *Grins*

Anyways, I'll fiddle with it again soon enough. Gonna email Western Digital and see what they come up with.

Another thing is, does anyone know of some sort of boot disk that could possibly detect this problem (and let me format my drive). The only program that actually reads how many GB my harddrive should be is the western digital software, and that stuff doesnt work AT ALL!

If anyone has any more suggestions for me, feel free to share!
 
Well 1st

Originally posted by dbwillis
Ive been reading and reading and reading on the same thing...Ill probably still have a problem installing on 2x250 in raid next week...
Click to expand...

IDE RAID employs SCSI drivers, and thus dont even have the 137GB limit per se (the controller itself might have issues, depends on the RAID controllers BIOS)

Baconstrip start over

burn a copy of The Ultimate Boot CD (freeware),
just burn the ISO directly
it contains among other things Autoclave which will zero out the disk (or you can download it from the last link)

alternately use DBAN

as far as I know, Western Digital dosent employ any Dynamic Drive Overlays for drives over 137GB, (they bundled IDE cards)


check out if there is a Disk Size Reduction Jumper on that drive
http://www.storagereview.com/guide2000/ref/hdd/bios/overJumpers.html

"A rather sub-optimal solution that is offered as an alternative by some hard disk manufacturers is the disk size reduction jumper. Certain hard disk size barriers can cause a hard drive to not be seen by a system at all. If you set one of these jumpers on the hard disk, this tells the disk to change the drive parameters it presents to the system, reducing the size of the drive. Since the system sees the drive as being small enough to avoid the size barrier, the barrier is avoided. Of course, this costs you capacity: you lose the storage of the drive above the size barrier, unless you supplement the jumper with a software overlay.

The first time size reduction jumpers were commonly used was to get around the 4,096 cylinder barrier. One of the common ways that a BIOS with this barrier may treat a disk that is over about 2.1 GB is wrapping around. So a 2.5 GB disk would be seen as only around 400 MB. The size reduction jumpers would cause the hard disk to "pretend" that it had less than 4,096 cylinders, so it was only 2.1 GB in size. This is of course a waste of however much space the disk really has over 2.1 GB, but it is better than only using 400 MB of the disk.

Similarly, some newer drives may come with size reduction or capacity limiting jumpers to get around the 32 GB size barrier. These force the drive to present a size small enough to avoid triggering that capacity barrier.

This "solution" is in some ways the hard disk equivalent of that old Marx Brothers routine: "Doctor, it hurts when I do this"... "So don't do that!" ;^) It's not really a solution, but rather a way to avoid the consequences of the problem. It's better than having your PC hang when you try to boot the system, but still, this solution is a very poor one. The only time these reduction jumpers really make sense is when you use them in conjunction with drive overlay software--in some cases, without the jumpers you may not even be able to get the system booteed so you can install the overlay! Proper hardware support is still a better solution of course."

Software Translation Drivers (Dynamic Drive Overlays)
"The idea behind one of these programs is pretty simple: they override in software some of the BIOS code in your motherboard or hard disk controller, allowing access to the full size of a new hard disk on an older system. The software must be loaded immediately when the machine is booted, to ensure that the driver is in place before any other piece of software tries to access the disk. Otherwise, the disk will not work properly. To ensure that they are always loaded immediately at boot time, the installer for this sort of program modifies the boot disk's master boot record and installs the driver at the beginning of the disk."

so by wiping the drive, it would be gone if it is there
 
Wow, thats a wonderful post Ice Czar, thank you VERY much. I will try that tonite when I get off work.

You may be right on with the Dynamic Drive Overlay. When I was messing around with the WD software, the FIRST TIME I partitioned my drives with it, it did not say anything about installing Dynamic Drive Overlay. Then the next time I used it, it said it installed DDO (Although, it also says Dynamic Drive Overlay is not installed when I boot the machine right after I partition with the WD software. It says to boot directly and press "C" to install the OS, but it wont work).

Now Im not 100% sure but when my drive started recognizing as a 33 GB drive might have been right after the software said it installed DDO. I think my BIOS stopped reporting the drive as a 250 gig after this too..... so it could definatly be causing the problems.

Ill give this a try tonite... hopefully it fixes the problem. Thanks very much for taking the time to post all that for me :)

Will let you know how it goes!

EDIT: Oh yeah, unfortunately my hard drive did not come with a 48bit LBA controller card like I've heard that most big drives come with. Strange because I did not buy it OEM.... it was new in box. Now I havent gotten confrimation but I'm fairly certain my mobo has 48bit LBA support. So that should work just fine.
 
48bit LBA support at the mobo BIOS level is going to be critical
to your success, as mentioned before DDOs suck :p

also you should access the BIOS and (typically) under the PNP\PCI submenu > Force Update ESCD (Extended System Configuration Data), if available, not all BIOS have that,
several Auto ESCD, verify its the right size, if your BIOS is still incorrectly recognizing the drive, Clear the CMOS (ideally by the jumper) and reset the CPU speed\multiplier ect.

And check carefully there arent any "strange" jumpers you cant account for (I havent got my hands on one of those so Im not familiar with the jumper config, and Im a bit to busy to look it up at WD)

all you "should" have to do is install to a partition you make w\ the XP install CD, boot into XP, add SP1, and access Disk Management
Start > Run > (type) Diskmgmt.msc > Rclick Unallocated space and Partition the rest of the drive
 
Hmmm...
WD is using DDOs now from the LifeGuard Help file

DDO and Booting from a Floppy Diskette

Data Lifeguard has installed a device driver on your hard drive to overcome a drive capacity limitation in your system. You will notice evidence of this driver; each time you boot your system a blue banner appears before Windows starts. This driver must load in order to have access to your hard drive.

If you wish to have access to your hard drive when booting from a floppy diskette, you have two options:

Start by booting from your hard drive. When you see the blue banner, press the spacebar. You will be prompted to insert your boot diskette. This process allows the device driver to load.

Using Data Lifeguard DOS Version, create a DDO Boot Diskette. An Ontrack Boot Diskette is a regular boot diskette that includes the device driver. To use a DDO Boot Diskette, simply boot your system directly from the DDO Boot Diskette.

It is recommended that you make a DDO Boot Diskette. To make a DDO Boot Diskette, boot to the Data Lifeguard CD and select "Run Data Lifeguard Installation Software." From the Data Lifeguard DOS Version menu, select Maintenance Options, then select Create DDO Boot Diskette and click "Next."

You will be prompted to enter desired switches when making the Ontrack Boot Diskette. Normally, you will use the default switches. The following are the most common switches:

/P- DISABLE FAST ATA MODE

Syntax: /P-

Description: Disable Fast ATA PIO hardware detection. Prevents the Dynamic Drive Overlay from trying to detect hardware support for Fast ATA PIO. In rare cases detection may cause a system, usually one without Fast ATA PIO hardware, to hang. Use /P- to correct this problem should it occur.



/C FORCE CHS IO MODE

Syntax: /C

Description: This option allows you to force the Dynamic Drive Overlay to issue Cylinder, Head, Sector (CHS) commands to all drives rather than Logical Block Addressing (LBA) commands.

LBA commands are slightly faster than CHS commands because less math is required for each IO. If your drive supports LBA, the Dynamic Drive Overlay will use it by default. In some rare cases a drive claims to support LBA, but does not operate correctly when LBA commands are used. Use this option to disable LBA should this problem occur.

NOTE: Disabling LBA does not affect the Dynamic Drive Overlay's ability to support large drives.



/E ENABLE IDE POWER MANAGEMENT

Syntax: /E or /E={1-16}

Description: This option enables IDE power management features. This will cause any IDE/EIDE/ATA drive in your system that supports these features to spin down after a specified length of time. The drive will automatically spin up again when accessed.

IDE power management is intended to conserve energy, not reduce drive wear. It is particularly useful for laptop systems, which operate on limited energy reserves, and on systems that are idle for long periods of time.

Option descriptions:

/E Enables IDE power management using the default spin down time, which is 21 minutes.

/E= Enables IDE power management using the specified spin down time. The time is specified in minutes. The range supported is 1 - 16 minutes.



/L= SET MEMORY RELOCATION

Syntax: /L={0|1|2}

Description: This option controls the DDO's memory relocation feature.

/L=0 Disables Dynamic Drive Overlay memory relocation. The DDO will remain in conventional memory.

/L=1 The Dynamic Drive Overlay will insert itself in the memory chain but remains in conventional memory.

/L=2 This is the default setting. The Dynamic Drive Overlay will load into upper memory blocks, if available, and insert itself into the memory chain (requires EMM386.EXE and DOS=UMB)



/M ENABLE READ/WRITE MULTIPLE

Syntax: /M

Description: This option enables read/write multiple for IDE/ATA drives that support it. Read/write multiple is a feature of IDE/EIDE/ATA drives that allow the hardware to transfer more than one record per interrupt. This setting can significantly improve data transfer rates.



/V= VERBOSE MODE

Syntax: /V={0|1|2}

Description: This option controls the amount of information displayed by the Dynamic Drive Overlay when it is loaded.

/V=0 Quiet Mode.

/V=1 Default mode. Displays the blue DDO banner and "Press SPACEBAR to boot..." prompt.

/V=2 Verbose mode. Displays all of the above plus configuration information for all drives controlled by the DDO. This mode is intended primarily for troubleshooting purposes only.



/R= DISABLE READ MULTIPLE

Syntax: /R={0|1}[,0|1][,0|1][,0|1]

Description: This option controls read multiple on a 'per drive' basis. Read multiple is enabled by default when /M is used. Write multiple is not affected.

"0" enables read multiple for the drive; "1" disables read multiple for the drive. Settings for multiple drives are separated by commas as shown.



/W= DISABLE WRITE MULTIPLE

Syntax: /W={0|1}[,0|1][,0|1][,0|1]

Description: This option controls write multiple on a 'per drive' basis. Write multiple is enabled by default when /M is used. Read multiple is not affected.

"0" enables write multiple for the drive; "1" disables write multiple for the drive. Settings for multiple drives are separated by commas as shown.
Click to expand...
 
hi there your problem is on the dinamic overlay thing re run it and read it carefully.:cool:
good luck. and happy new year to you too.
 
*sigh* Still no luck, even with all this information. I've tried everything (the Ultimate Boot CD programs don't seem to work.. AutoClave will not work... I get some wierd repeating number as an error and it does nothing else)


Absolutely nothing will allow this drive to be recognized bigger than 33.8 GB. Im about ready to call WD :(

Oh well, back to the 80 gig.
 
I want to thank Ice Czar for the info provided. I used the Ultimate Boot CD to help with my issue.

My problem had something to do with cylinder reduction I think? I had a 250GB Western Digital that I tried to get beyond the 137 barrier. After *tampering* with things (applying a BIOS update that read 48-bit LBA, then using the WD Lifeguard tool for drive setup) the drive began reading only 33GB. Next, I went and bought an ATA controller card for $55 and this got me absolutely nowhere.

Then, I tried a 120GB Western Digital, thinking my problem of the 33GB barrier would vanish as well as not even having to worry about the 137GB issue. Ha! Wishful thinking. I had screwed something up in the BIOS or CMOS I suppose. Not sure exactly what I did, but here's how I got the PC to see the 120GB drive.

This is a 4 year old P3 600MHz Compaq Presario that shipped with a 15GB hard drive that died recently.

--- I used the Ultimate Boot CD and ran autoclave, then I chose option #1, completely erasing all data. This is a low-level format?

--- Connected the drive as a slave to my machine that is running XP Home SP1 to see if it would then be recognized as 120, and it was -- whew!

--- Back to the original PC, I erased the CMOS by changing the jumper for a few seconds and I also took the batter out for about 5 minutes, then put it back in place. Then, of course, I put the jumper back in the right position.

This cured my problem. I was able to run setup and install XP with no problem, and the drive was read as 111, which is how it should read.
 
thread resurrection


must say, I've been lucky with big hard drives, b/c I've never done anything special and they always show up for me
 
From what little I've learned on this subject, it appears to me that the Western Digital DDO creates an issue. The 250GB hard drive was popped in the old Compaq of which I spoke, and it was recognized as a 137GB drive, which, of course isn't the full 250. But it's much more acceptable (in the short term) than the 33GB barrier that was seen after applying Western Digital's Lifeguard tools (using the "drive setup" feature).

In fact, the 33GB barrier was more complicated for me to figure out than the 137 barrier because there is a lot of literature that speaks to the 137 barrier issue. Funny that my choice of words just used included "figure out" because I really don't know what the hell I did (technically speaking) that enabled the Compaq to view the drive as larger than 33GB.
 
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