250gb Maxtor HDD showing as only 5.7gb (and jumpers are ok)

[sforza]

Hello everyone!

My 250GB MAXTOR 7L250R0 MaxLine III PATA133 had a MBR (master boot record) corruption. It won't work under windows, and showed like a single partition of 5.7gb. But data was still there, and I managed to recover it without problems under linux.

Now, using the Bios IDE HDD auto-detection, it recognizes the drive as 6136mb. And windows trusts the bios, so there is no way to get it right, I have tried everything, partition magic, etc. Even w98 boot floppy disk. Windows thinks it's a 5.7gb.

On the other hand, Linux doesn't pay attention to the bios and reads the drive itself, getting the right info.

Maxtor recover utility says everything is ok.

There are two ways to fix this: enter manually the specs of the hdd in the bios (like cylinders, sectors, etc) or get the drive to be autodetected right again.

There is no info about cylinders etc on drive's surface. And I can't find anything on the internet.

How can I make the hdd to "send" to the bios the right specs again??

Thanks in advance.

[profdlp]

What is the model number of the drive?

[Kwitko]

Since you got what you needed from the drive, you should try doing a FIXMBR in the Windows Recovery Console. This page (http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_rec.htm) has some good instructions on starting up and using the recovery console.

[sforza]

The drive is a Maxtor 250GB 7L250R0 MaxLine III. I think that's the model number. If not, please let me know.

Problem is not MBR related, is how the drive is detected by the bios. If I would follow the recovery console instructions, I may get a working drive, but never bigger than 5.7gb.

I have even booted with a windowsXP installation CD until the formatting section, and it would let me make partitions and so on, but the max availiable space was 5.7gb.

[profdlp]

Sorry, I missed the model number in your first post. :o

Can you try detecting the CHS values in another computer?

[Pterocarpous]

Hi sforza

Any BIOS updates available for your motherboard??

[zero.counter]

Try what the lady suggested, albeit there aren't any related fixes in the BIOS release:
AI7 BIOS 19

Version: 19
Released Date: 2004-11-03
File Size: 401 KB
Download Time (56K): 58.7 sec
Description:

1. Added adjustable MAX & MIN multiplier item for certain retail INTEL CPUs.
2. Updated CPU micro code.
3. Supports certain SATA CDROMs when "OnChip Serial ATA" is running in "Enhanced Mode".
4. Changed "CPU Alarm temperature" default to 85°C.
5. BIOS compile date: 11/03/2004

http://www.abit-usa.com/downloads/downloads.php?file=/downloads/bios/ai7/ai719.exe

Clear CMOS, swap IDE cables, check the drive on another system, ensure that no other devices are on the same ide cable when testing, check for bent pins, try the jumper on C/S, SLAVE, MASTER and when using C/S, make sure that you are on the end of the cable. As far as the CHS, contact the HD support line.

[Pterocarpous]

AI7 BIOS 19 (http://www.abit-usa.com/downloads/downloads.php?file=/downloads/bios/ai7/ai719.exe)
Version: 19
Released Date: 2004-11-03
File Size: 401 KB
Download Time (56K): 58.7 sec
Description:

Added adjustable MAX & MIN multiplier item for certain retail INTEL CPUs.
Updated CPU micro code.
Supports certain SATA CDROMs when "OnChip Serial ATA" is running in "Enhanced Mode".
Changed "CPU Alarm temperature" default to 85°C.
BIOS compile date: 11/03/2004


Clear CMOS
swap IDE cables
check the drive on another system
ensure that no other devices are on the same ide cable when testing
check for bent pins
try the jumper on C/S, SLAVE, MASTER
when using C/S, make sure that you are on the end of the cable.
As far as the CHS, contact the HD support line.


ZC's suggestions are very good, sforza. Please, let us know if you need any help w/ any of his suggestions. We'll be happy to step you through it.

ZC's on the mark about the BIOS, too. (I didn't see your motherboard listed at the bottom of your post.) If there weren't any related issues addressed in the BIOS update he cited nor in any since the last time your BIOS was updated, then it is unlikely the issue is BIOS-related.

[profdlp]

If the drive worked with the board before, it is not the BIOS. ;)

[Pterocarpous]

If the drive worked with the board before, it is not the BIOS. ;)
Exactly right, prof! I had it in my head it was a new HDD. There I go, skimming again.... :crazy: bad southern belle, bad bad, Fruitwing...

'Course, somethin's changed. Even though the Maxtor diag. sez it's ok, I'm suspicious of the drive... Or, it's back to the BIOS which might've wigged out... Still another possibility is the IDE controller could've failed...

I think ZC's suggestion to plug it into another system real quick to see how it's detected will pin the problem down very quickly.

EDIT://

If you don't have another computer to test the HDD in, try connecting the HDD to the secondary IDE controller (using a different IDE cable if you have one available)
If the problem remains the same, connect a different IDE HDD to each controller and see if it is detected properly.

[zero.counter]

If the drive worked with the board before, it is not the BIOS. ;)
If someone were in the process up updating a BIOS and it was incomplete, causing corruption, then that could lead to the issue at hand. Being the devil's advocate by simply stating, "Never say never".

It has happened at least once, personally. But I still feel it is something else as well.

[profdlp]

If someone were in the process up updating a BIOS and it was incomplete, causing corruption, then that could lead to the issue at hand...
I would imagine that sforza would have mentioned that little detail if it applied to him.

[zero.counter]

I would imagine that sforza would have mentioned that little detail if it applied to him.
C'mon now, end-users are who pay the bills for some of us. :bigggrin:

[sforza]

Well, I owe you a little explanation here. I got the problem fixed but never came back to tell you how did everything finished.

In Spain we use to say: "Better late than never"

The MBR of the disk was corrupted, that was the reason for only showing 5.7gb. BUT the data was still there, fortunately.

I booted using a knoppix liveCD and the data showed up. I got the valuable help of a friend who lent me some disks to equal the size of my disk to make a backup.

Then we had the problem of being only able of reading NTFS but not writing on it, at least with that knoppix, so we had to get some files into pieces, to make it more difficult.

So what I learnt and I hope it could be valuable for you too sometime in the future is that linux ignores the MBR that windows writes so data is still accesible and the data is recoverable.

Thanks for your help, this is the only forum on the whole internet where I've been able to find solutions while on others didn't.

[Kentigern]

Thanks for the update sforza - we appreciate it :)