BIOS upgrade

[SonKun]

were could I get one. I need one because my current one doesnt support my new hard drive cappasite.

[rhegedus]

Go to your motherboard's manufacturer's web page.

Make sure you know EXACTLY which motherboard you have...you did keep the instructions, didn't you......

Rob

[SonKun]

Um.... no I didnt or I cant find it . Is there any other way to tell?

[rhegedus]

Have a look at the the first screen during boot or power-up. You'll find some clues there.

If you bought it off a big company, like Dell etc, then you could always get in touch with their customer support and find out.

Rob

[SonKun]

ya its a dell. its a Dimension 4400. I dont realy like dell that much but i didnt buy it so... its great

[rhegedus]

On the sude or the back of the case, you should find a sticker with the service tag (serial no) of you pc. Just plug it in here

http://support.dell.com/us/en/register.asp?redirect=yes

it may give you the details you need.

Rob

[SonKun]

I did it. but no luck. AHHHHH im just never going to get this hard drive to work at full capasity (maxtor 120gb)

[rhegedus]

You have put the jumpers on the right way, haven't you???

Rob

[SonKun]

yes I did that right (actualy there was a pin in one side two prevent messing up)

[rhegedus]

I think that all new-ish boards can work with 120G drives (I know my 3 year old Dell can). I think it's more a question of setup on your part - a new bios will not change anything.

If bios can see the new drive then it's up to you to configure it in bios (if it's a second drive then you can probably do that in windows).

Have fun,

Rob

[SonKun]

how do I configure it.... I kinda dont know

[rhegedus]

Sorry, I can't tell without seeing it.
When you boot up, press del and check to see if there's a menu for hard drives or IDE configuration and work from there.
Can't help you any more I'm afraid....

Rob

[SonKun]

so just mess with the settings from there till it works?

[rhegedus]

Don't 'mess' with it - just be logical.

Can bios actually see the drive? Try auto detect.

If it can't then you havn't wired it in correctly.

Rob

[SonKun]

yes it can see the drive its just reading 32gb instead of 120gb

[rhegedus]

And what does bios say under IDE?

Rob

[SonKun]

its on auto and it says that the maxtor is the slave (its correct) or somthing like that

[wellmashed]

My 40 gig drive is stuck at 32 gig.....

Yes you need a bios upgrade.

I just can't be bothered doing mine yet.....

[rhegedus]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

The Dell dimension 4400 was released in early '02.

Both the BIOS and motherboard can handle a 120G drive!!!

Did you contact Dell or check the motherboard specs on the Dell support site?

Probably not.......

[SonKun]

SHIT do you know what the most it can hadle is?

[SonKun]

O wait did you say that it CAN handle a 120gb hard drive? or that it CANT ??

[rhegedus]

So you still haven't found anything out then!!! What do you want us to do? Fit the drive for you???



Rob

[SonKun]

no I was just wondering if you ment it can or it cant i mean

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

The Dell dimension 4400 was released in early '02.

Both the BIOS and motherboard can handle a 120G drive!!!

realy looks like you mean "CANT" but you said

Both the BIOS and motherboard CAN handle a 120G drive!!!

So wich was it?

[rhegedus]

I was refering to the previous post:

My 40 gig drive is stuck at 32 gig.....

Yes you need a bios upgrade.

I just can't be bothered doing mine yet.....

Did you put your service tag details into the dell web-site?
Did you call Dell? Is there nothing written on the motherboard itself or during the boot-up screen?

Rob

[SonKun]

ok I called dell and I found out that the max my current motherboard can support is 120gb altogether. So that means with the maxtor 120gb and the WD 20gb (master) i cant have boath so what do you think I should do go and return the 120 and get an 80 or just take out the 20gb and make the maxtor my mastor hdd???

[SonKun]

ok I made my maxtor the "mastor" and it works now but now it is showing 114GB itstead of 120GB is this normal?? because on my old HDD it would show 18GB for a 20GB hdd?

[rhegedus]

Well, my 120G IMB deskstar formats to 115G, so I guess that's close enough!

Rob

[SonKun]

ya the do alwayse do that I think