Asus P4PE, XP, Win98se and S-ATA disk size

[Lars-Erik Østerud]

Will a P4PE work with a 200GB og 250GB S-ATA2 disk?
How big partitions can I use for WinXP SP2 with it?
(I use 2 x 40GB FAT32 partitions today and that works OK)

What about Win98se (have that bootable on one 40GB partition today)?
Is there any limit for the partition size to make Win98se start?

BTW: XP is on the 2nd partitions today. Is there any limit to the
start block of the partition for WinXP to start (I remember reading
somthing about this somewhere). It does start a 40GB today, so...

 

[DaveW]

The native P4PE, which I use, will NOT recognize harddrives larger than 137
GB. You might try upgrading the BIOS to the latest version and see if that
works. Win98se cannot recognize harddrives larger than 137 GB.

 

[Lars-Erik Østerud]

The native P4PE, which I use, will NOT recognize harddrives larger than 137
GB. You might try upgrading the BIOS to the latest version and see if that
works. Win98se cannot recognize harddrives larger than 137 GB.

Is that HDD total size over 137GB, or logical partitions over 137GB?
(doesn't the OS only see the active partition, I have a boot manager
that sets only one active partition at one time during boot up)?

I have the latest BIOS for my P4PE and I'm using the S-ATA controller.

BTW: What happendsa if I connect a 200GB drive, will I be able to use
the first 137GB of it (it's not easy getting a <137GB drive today)?

I desperatly need more that 80GB (2 x 40GB partitions like I have
now), and I'm, a bit narrowed down to existing HDD sizes :-/

 

[Fred]

Is that HDD total size over 137GB, or logical partitions over 137GB?
(doesn't the OS only see the active partition, I have a boot manager
that sets only one active partition at one time during boot up)?

I have the latest BIOS for my P4PE and I'm using the S-ATA controller.

BTW: What happendsa if I connect a 200GB drive, will I be able to use
the first 137GB of it (it's not easy getting a <137GB drive today)?

I have a P4PE that I added a 250GB SATA drive to.
Using XPsp2 it was just a matter of installing the SATA drivers.
Enabling SATA in the BIOS
Configuring a single drive RAID array on boot up.
And using Windows XP disk management to prepare the drive.
The whole drive was configurable by XP as one partition.

 

[Lars-Erik Østerud]

I have a P4PE that I added a 250GB SATA drive to.
Using XPsp2 it was just a matter of installing the SATA drivers.
Enabling SATA in the BIOS
Configuring a single drive RAID array on boot up.
And using Windows XP disk management to prepare the drive.
The whole drive was configurable by XP as one partition.

I have a S-ATA today so that bit works. But what about copying my
existing XP partition to the new disk? Last time I did that by
booting into Win98se (have that one one partition) and copying the XP
files from there (both are on FAT32). If Win98se (or FAT32) have
problems with >137GB drives, how do I then move my XP installation?

I was thinking about setting my old S-ATA in an external cabinet (did
that with my old IDE drive tha last time), for copying and backup.

So to start with I would setthe NEW S-ATA external, format it, and
then I need to copy my old S-ATA drive XP partition to the new disk
(and I guess I cannot use Win98se anymore). What should I use?

 

[Dan]

I have a S-ATA today so that bit works. But what about copying my
existing XP partition to the new disk? Last time I did that by
booting into Win98se (have that one one partition) and copying the XP
files from there (both are on FAT32). If Win98se (or FAT32) have
problems with >137GB drives, how do I then move my XP installation?

I was thinking about setting my old S-ATA in an external cabinet (did
that with my old IDE drive tha last time), for copying and backup.

So to start with I would setthe NEW S-ATA external, format it, and
then I need to copy my old S-ATA drive XP partition to the new disk
(and I guess I cannot use Win98se anymore). What should I use?

A controller card should allow you to get around the limitation of
the greater than 137 GB system requirement for Windows 98 Second
Edition. I remember this being talked about a while back in the
newsgroups. Unfortunately, I do not know anything more about this but I
thought I would mention it since it seems like a solution and perhaps
someone knows more about this or you could use google for information
about the procedure.
Since I dual-boot with 98SE and XP Pro. this is an interesting
solution. I currently have a 40 gigabyte hard drive in 98SE in Fat32
and a separate 80 gigabyte hard drive for XP Professional which is in
NTFS. I am not interested in sharing between the two operating systems
or hard drives so this works fine for me but I will eventually need a
larger hard drive for the XP Pro. side.

 

[Fred]

I have a S-ATA today so that bit works. But what about copying my
existing XP partition to the new disk? Last time I did that by
booting into Win98se (have that one one partition) and copying the XP
files from there (both are on FAT32). If Win98se (or FAT32) have
problems with >137GB drives, how do I then move my XP installation?

I think it is possible that the latest version of the intel application
accelerator in conjunction with a partitioning utility (often available from
the hard drive manufacturer) could give you access to the drives full
capacity for FAT32
I suggest that you consult you hard drive manufacturers FAQ for pointers.

 

[Lars-Erik Østerud]

A controller card should allow you to get around the limitation of
the greater than 137 GB system requirement for Windows 98 Second

So the elimitation is in the IDE controller drivers in Win98se?
I have the latest Promise Fasttrack drivers for both XP and 98
(and I use the drive with both today, and both OSes are setup to
see the others partition as D:, I don't use XPs boot selector, but a
3rd party one that sets the partition boot bit each time a boot

 

[Lars-Erik Østerud]

I think it is possible that the latest version of the intel application
accelerator in conjunction with a partitioning utility (often available from
the hard drive manufacturer) could give you access to the drives full
capacity for FAT32

I don't use any Intel chipset controllers anyway. The S-ATA is a
add-on Promise Fasttrack controller on the Asus P4PE board with it's
own BIOS and drivers. Does that indicate that there is no problem

 

[Dan]

So the elimitation is in the IDE controller drivers in Win98se?
I have the latest Promise Fasttrack drivers for both XP and 98
(and I use the drive with both today, and both OSes are setup to
see the others partition as D:, I don't use XPs boot selector, but a
3rd party one that sets the partition boot bit each time a boot

That is all I know about this issue. Hopefully, someone else can shed
further light on it.

I found information for you on Google.

http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/faq/137_win98.html

"Controller cards support ATA interface disc drives through their own
onboard BIOS and Windows device drivers. Since the drives are supported
by drivers that emulate the SCSI driver approach, the native Windows
137GB ATA limitation does not apply since those drivers are not in use.

Also, the native Windows 98SE ScanDisk and Defrag utilities are limited
to smaller partition sizes and may not function on partitions greater
than 127GB. There are no fixes available from Microsoft for this
limitation. Third-party software may be available to defrag and monitor
larger FAT32 file systems. Seagate recommends creating partitions of a
size that can be managed by the native Windows 98SE ScanDisk and Defrag
utilities.

As noted above, controller cards utilize custom 48-bit device drivers
that support the full capacity of the drive. Unfortunately, in Windows
98, these drivers are added after the operating system is installed.
This means that the initial partition may be smaller than the full
capacity of the drive. Once the controller card drivers are installed,
any additional gigabytes will show up later as unallocated space on the
drive. You can easily create a second partition with DiscWizard for
Windows or the Windows FDISK partitioning tools."

Hopefully, this site and information can help you make a good and
informed decision. I sometimes even post here and in the 98 general
newsgroup before checking in with Google. A good tool is something like
what I use which is TrustWatch by GeoTrust in Mozilla Firefox in 98SE
side of my dual boot of 98SE and XP Pro. This tool marks which sites
are safe when you search using Google.

 

[Lars-Erik Østerud]

larger FAT32 file systems. Seagate recommends creating partitions of a
size that can be managed by the native Windows 98SE ScanDisk and Defrag

But that is no problem. If only the 250GB disk works with the
controller there are no problems with having the partitions smaller
than 127GB (I was planning on having a couple og 40 and 80 GB each)

This means that the initial partition may be smaller than the full
capacity of the drive. Once the controller card drivers are installed,

OK, do the Win98se boot partition must also be small (it is 40GB
today, and I was planning on just copying this partiotion as is)

 

[Dan]

But that is no problem. If only the 250GB disk works with the
controller there are no problems with having the partitions smaller
than 127GB (I was planning on having a couple og 40 and 80 GB each)


OK, do the Win98se boot partition must also be small (it is 40GB
today, and I was planning on just copying this partiotion as is)

AFAIK, that should be fine. I dual boot with 98SE and XP Pro. The 98SE
side has a 40 gigabyte hard disk and the XP Pro. side has an 80 gigabyte
hard disk. [I would just make sure to have back ups and the receipt for
the controller card if things do not work out as planned]