can't see HD-third party snafu

Dave Van Allen · Post by **Dave Van Allen** » 20 May 2001 8:34 pm

I have 2 drives in my Computer. one for the system and apps, one for data.
My computer is old enough that the BIOS needs to be tricked into seeing capacty drives larger than 8.4 gb, and obligingly drive manufacturers provide thes tools with their drives and online that do just that.

Problem is, they won't recognize each other's previously tricked drives!

story shortener... new system on a new drive, but I can't "see" the data drive in my computer.\

I have a utilty that lets me see I have a non dos partition on the physical drive, but no way to display the contents so that I may copy it /back it up etc...

any suggestions?[This message was edited by Dave Van Allen on 20 May 2001 at 09:57 PM.]

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 21 May 2001 2:49 am

This is not a direct fix for your question. However, if the drive that cannot be "seen" were partitioned into sections smaller than the BIOS maximum then the BIOS would see them and maybe it will work. I don't see where you would have a file that is that big anyway so whether it's on "E" or "F" or "G" or whatever it shouldn't matter.

The WD disk utility should see them. I guess the only thing is to be able to backup the data as it will get wiped out when you partition the drive.

If this doesn't make sense it's because it's not quite 7AM here yet.

Everett Cox · Post by **Everett Cox** » 21 May 2001 8:25 am

DVA-- Your description leaves me a bit confused. Did you upgrade the operating system to Win98 or WinME??? If so, what was the version under which the drive had been partitioned?

What was the software that you used to partition the drive ('trick the BIOS')? You should be able to use that same software on the new system(?) and still be able to 'see' the drive. That type of software usually requires a special driver to be loaded at bootup in order to interpret/convert commands that access the drive. The solution to your problem may be to get those drivers invoked from within the config.sys and/or autoexec.bat file(s).

A little more info from you might help us resolve the issue. By the way, there ARE utilities available which, in most cases, will allow repartitioning a drive WITHOUT loss of data. --Everett

Dave Van Allen · Post by **Dave Van Allen** » 21 May 2001 11:22 am

I posted while in need of sleep- more information is always better when asking for help

the problem is related to the fact that Seagate uses a different proprietary overlay software than does Western Digital than does quantum.

I have installed a quantum 20gb drive, loaded win98se. using the quantum "Data Manager" sw (alowing large drive access) . I cannot see the WD 20 gb drive that has my data. it does not show up in the drive letter assignment sequence at all.
I tried Data Lifeguard from the WD site, still no go...
but apparently I had put on "EZ Bios" for Seagate drives on the old Seagate 4gb drive I had my system sw on that I am replacing with the Quantum. I think I Tried EZ Bios on new drive (it was getting tired out)...and it said "not a seagate drive please take a flying leap" or something...
booting from a disk utility called G-Disk which is a command line interface partitoning utility & disk wiper of DOD magnitude, I can see the second drive on the system, with "a non DOS partition" with the volume label of my datadisk. I am assuming my data is there somewhere, I just don't have the utility to get to a directory to copy it to another drive.

I will attempt when I get the kid to bed tonight to put the old system drive back in, and see if I can get it to see the second drive- If so, then gravy, I can burn CD's of my data/audio files and no problemo. If not I am back to square 1-
unless maybe I can get Data Lifeguard to let me see the WD disk by itself, & write a system to it- then the CD sw then do a backup... sheesh.

Now I remember why I prefer Macintosh

[This message was edited by Dave Van Allen on 21 May 2001 at 12:31 PM.]

Larry Beck · Post by **Larry Beck** » 21 May 2001 11:50 am

Dave:
Which drive do you have set to Master and which to slave?

------------------
http://members.home.net/lbeck22/

Everett Cox · Post by **Everett Cox** » 21 May 2001 6:06 pm

DVA-- Yes, indeed, you have a problem. Some of the older 'overlay' methods used a driver which converted the head/cylinder/track parameters FOR the BIOS. Newer techniques, however, REPLACE some of the BIOS with more advanced instruction sets. You probably are using newer overlay s/w (certainly with the Quantum). While I don't yet have an easy fix, there is a possible work around.

You probably don't yet have a lot of stuff on the Quantum. Consider booting from a DOS floppy, Fdisk it without large support, and creating an active DOS partition along with Extended/Logical partitions. That should preclude the need for the Quantum overlay.

Then, the WD drive MIGHT be visible - even from DOS. There may be a 'driver' for the WD drive that must be loaded from the Config.sys or Autoexec.bat file. The install disk you used with the WD drive should have details.

That's just an 'off the cuff' suggestion. Hopefully, I or someone else will come up with a better fix. --Everett [This message was edited by Everett Cox on 21 May 2001 at 07:08 PM.]

Dave Van Allen · Post by **Dave Van Allen** » 22 May 2001 7:37 am

oh well... thanks anyway guys...
my data is history... gone the way of the carrier pigeon...
I have some backups of some stuff... but not anywhere near complete...

I will go forward and pretend I never had a computer before yesterday;it'll give me a whole new perspective on my projects...clear eyes and ears, a chance to start again afresh, makes me feel 20 again...

yeah, right

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 22 May 2001 8:20 am

This is a good case for the "backup your important data" case. Periodic backups of data that can't be replaced should be a priority or you end up with "nothing". The programs that you download should also be backed up as it's easier to restore them from a local backup than redownloading them.

The easiest way, today, is with CD's. Burners are now under $100 which is relatively cheap considering what the lost data is worth.

Dave Van Allen · Post by **Dave Van Allen** » 26 May 2001 8:59 pm

the bad news is the data is inaccessable, so I reformatted the drive

the good news is that I had backed up far more of it than I had remembered, one way or another, on cd-r.

still starting from a clean install, and re-installing my critical audio apps...now if I look at it as a glass half full, I have an additional 20 GB of storage