Adding 300Gb hard drive

Model of PC?

Dimension 4500 p4 2.26 1024 Ram factory installed bios which I believe is the A02

With that 300gb drive connected to the IDE controller card, did you try to re-partition the drive in Disk Management in XP?

I tried adding the second partition in XP, and using the software that came with my hard drive.  As I go to add the second part as another drive I go through all the steps and after it says you have formatted your drive click finish to complete then I get an error message that states:

 

Disc config operation did not complete.  Check the system event log for more info on the error.  Verify the status of your storage devices before retrying.  If that does not solve the problem, close Disc management console, then restart Disc management or restart the computer.

 

Formatting I have:

File system: NTFS

allocation unit size: default

volume label: new label

Thats not the problem.  I tried that when I was on the phone with the hard drive maker and it didn't do anything.  They informed me to get the ATA controller card because my bios isn't 48 bit. 

 

Since I have installed the ATA controller card nothing has changed hardware wise.  I have no problems with my computer I just want to be able to use the other 1/2 of my hard drive.  I installed the drivers for the card so I am thinking something else needs to be done like changing the boot on the PC but I am not sure.  The install instructions don't say much at all beyond install the driver, and the makers site provides no help especially since their site says my product has an invalid registration key and there is no way to contact them without entering that.

Try deleting the partiton and start over.

Nine, the 4500 model's BIOS has 48-bit LBA support for large hard drives so the use of a PCI Controller card isn't needed.  I suspect the problem is related to the way the drive was partitioned and formatted.  The fact that you are experiencing the same problem with the drive attached to the controller card would confirm this.

 

If you are using an existing Windows XP installation to partition and format the new drive then make sure that you have Service Pack 1 or 2 installed.  Windows XP without the service packs won't support a large hard drive.  You could also use Maxtor's Big Driver Enabler along with the services packs just to be sure.  What the Enabler program does is edit your Windows XP registry to insure the operating system supports large hard drives.  Since the program just edits the registry, it can be use with any make of hard drive.  Click here for a download of the Enabler program.

According to Dell, and the maker of my hard drive (seagate), and my Bios info I only have 24 bit LBA.  When I called Seagate they told to me download a 48 bit program and it wrote back over my hard drive causing me to reinstall everything confirming I have 24 bit LBA.  Which is why I am wondering if I need to update to the A04 not A02 which I currently have.

 

The drive wasn't partitioned in any odd manner.  When I installed it I choose not to break up the hard drive at that time because I wasn't aware my PC would only allow 128 Gb to be used not even the 137 I keep hearing people talk about.

 

The instructions with the controller card mention having bus mastering enabled, and changing booting to the card.  I haven't done either because I wanted to get in contact with the manufacter of the card to go through it step by step since on a Dell nothing seems to work the way the instructions state and I don't want to have to reinstall my software all over again. 

 

I do have service pack 2.

Nine, at one time Dell had a Knowedge Base article which showed the largest hard drive they tested on a 4500 was a 200 gig.  If Dell has found a 200 gig drive works then the BIOS has 48-bit LBA support  (I'd show the article to you, but unfortunately with every forum improvement Dell makes they trash the links to previously useful KB articles.)   What I can show you is another forum posting from someone else with a 4500 I helped earlier this year.  Click here for that posting.  

Majestic I bought my 4500 about 2 weeks after the 4400 was discontinued and I know for a fact from the documentation I have read that I do not have 48 bit LBA support.  Besides that was what I was told directly from a Dell technician when they entered my service tag number.  And even the people at Dell can't tell me how to get the rest of my hard drive to show up. 

 

I am getting about fed up with Dell products and constantly hearing how they are not made to upgrade which I am finding out left and right. 

 

I can see why Dell is no longer the #1 computer maker in the US.  Customer service went down the toilet when those jobs were shipped to India, and they aren't made to save the customer money by allowing upgrades.  Unless I get some help from Dell my next PC will be a HP since they seem to still care about their customers and not profits.

Nine, I don't know what else to tell you. 

 

As for the Dimension 4400, that model does support hard drives larger than 137 gigs. The 4400 had BIOS version A03 released back in January of 2002 which added 48-bit LBA support to the BIOS code for large hard drives. 

 

With your model, the initial A01 BIOS was released back in April of 2002.  So timewise, the first BIOS version for the 4500 came out several months after the 4400 model already had large drive support.  If you are in doubt about the BIOS version you have installed supporting large drives then why not update it to the latest version which is A04 and can be downloaded by clicking here.  There is nothing documented related to 48-bit LBA support being added to the BIOS code, but at least it will rule out the A02 BIOS version being the cause of your problem.   Just follow my directions below for using the download......

 

Once the file is downloaded to your hard drive just run the file.  The program will then prompt you into creating a bootable BIOS upgrade floppy disk so have a "good" blank one available.  Once the floppy is created just leave the floppy in the drive and reboot your system.  The BIOS upgrade program will then prompt you into updating the BIOS.  If the floppy fails to boot then check your system's boot order and make sure the floppy drive is before the hard drive in the boot sequence.  Once the BIOS upgrade is successfully done just remove the floppy disk and reboot the system.

If you encounter problems then try another download of the file and use another blank floppy disk.  If either of those two items are bad it will prevent a successful BIOS update. 

The actual time it takes the new BIOS code to be written is less than 30 seconds.  While the upgrade is in progress do not interrupt the upgrade or do the upgrade when weather conditions might indicate a possible power failure such as doing the upgrade during a thunderstorm.  An interrupted BIOS upgrade may corrupt the currently installed BIOS and thus require a motherboard replacement.

When I get a blank floppy I will upgrade my Bios, not sure how much good it will do.

 

I contacted Adaptec about the controller card and they have no clue what is wrong either.  The driver is installed, the device is working properly, but I still get the error message when I try to partition the remainder of the hard drive.  Hopefully someone can figure out what the heck the problem is and help me get it fixed.  I paid for 300 Gb I would like to have it all available.

Hi Majestic -- i am having the same problem with trying to upgrade a dell 4400 to recognize a 300 bg hard drive. my bios is version 2 -- you say that the version a03 added 48 bit LBA support...do you know where to find the release notes for that version a03...thanks.

Asandl, the BIOS release notes are available with the BIOS update.  Otherwise you can look up the individual BIOS updates and view their file descriptions on their download page.  For your reference I have included the BIOS history for the 4400 model below. 

 

DELL COMPUTER CORPORATION
BIOS RELEASE NOTES
Copyright 1997 - 2002 Dell Computer Corporation.  All rights reserved.

System:        Dimension 4400
Version:       A06
Release Date:  06/19/2002

1. Improved S.M.A.R.T. HDD error detection in POST.
2. Modified Rear Panel LED Codes to better identify memory errors.
********************************************************************

System:        Dimension 4400
Version:       A05
Release Date:  03/18/2002

1. Fixed issue where system would hang if certain USB mass storage 
   devices including some usb based digital camera's were attached 
   at power on.
********************************************************************

System:        Dimension 4400
Version:       A04
Release Date:  02/12/2002

1. Added Table entries to support Pentium 4 (100 and 133MHz FSB), 
   speeds up through 4GHz.
********************************************************************

System:        Dimension 4400
Version:       A03
Release Date:  01/15/2002

1. Removed irrelevant setup help text
2. Added code that allows a system with USB keyboard and PS2 mouse to wake 
   from standby with one keypress. Previous BIOS revisions required two 
   keypresses.
3. Added 48 bit LBA code for support for hard drives larger than 127GB. 
********************************************************************

System:        Dimension 4400
Version:       A02
Release Date:  12/20/2001

1. Updated MCH memory reference code from version 1.3 to version 2.1
2. Incremented ACPI OEM ID to reflect the proper revision.
3. Solved problem where system with a 1.6Ghz processor would intermittently  
   lock up during POST. 
********************************************************************

System:        Dimension 4400
Version:       A00
Release Date:  12/15/2001

1. Initial Release of Dell Dimension 4400 BIOS. 
********************************************************************

Asandl, the Intel Application Accelerator utility is offering a "software solution" to your present BIOS version's lack of 48-bit LBA support for large hard drives.  If were me, I would also want the system's BIOS to support the large hard drive as well.