Mara wrote:
> Hello, all -
>
> I've searched the archives and can't find the answer to my specific
> problem, so here goes.
>
> I'm running Windows 98 on a Gateway system with a 500Mhz PIII. I have
> PhoenixBIOS version 4.0, release 6.0. I just added a (non-bootable)
> slave hard drive to my system last night. Everything went without a
> hitch, everything's jumpered correctly, etc. However, I can't actually
> get to the hard drive; it won't show up in "My Computer".
>
> When I go to my device manager, it shows up there, and it says that the
> device is working properly. What I noticed, though, is that in the
> device manager, the slave hd has not been assigned a drive letter.
> Here's what the device manager tab looks like:
>
> Disconnect is checked.
> Sync data transfer is checked.
> Auto Insert Notification is unchecked and greyed out; I can't check it
> off.
> Int 13 Unit is checked and greyed out; doesn't seem to be a way to
> uncheck it.
> Current drive letter is blank.
>
> Removable was NOT checked. However, when I checked this box, suddenly
> I was able to manually assign a drive letter in the "Start Drive
> Letter" and "End Drive Letter" drop down boxes, AND it causes it to
> show up in "My Computer" as a removable device. However, when I click
> on it, it tells me the "Disk in drive Z: is not formatted" and asks me
> if I want to format it now. Unfortunately, I've got 70 gig of
> information on this hd and don't want to wipe it out, so I hit NO!
> Which takes me right back to square one.
>
> I'm assuming that because this device is showing up in properties, it
> would also show up in the BIOS. I'm not actually able to get to the
> BIOS, however; I can get into setup via F1, but it won't allow me
> scroll up to the BIOS settings. I've tried getting in with Enter,
> Shift, Alt, Tab, F10, F11, and F12, all to no avail.
>
> What am I doing wrong? What is my next step? Anybody? Help?!
>
Let's start off by reviewing some information. First, what
is the formatting of this hard drive - FAT32 or NTFS? Win98
will not see a NTFS partition. (At 70 GB, probably NTFS.)
Second, Win98 is a derivative of DOS and uses a config.sys
file. Is there a "LastDrive" line in config.sys; if so, what
does it say? That is, if Drives C, D and E already exist and
there is no LastDrive line, Drive F and above will not be seen.
Third, even if this hard drive is in FAT32, the {hoenix bios
might be too obsolete to see beyond 32 GB.
These may be some of the factors involved here.
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