Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 05:29:53 From: "neil barnes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: my brain hurts [LIB]
>Date: Sat, 09 Mar 2002 21:00:35 +0000 >From: "Fubar Libretto" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Re: my brain hurts [LIB] > >>Actually (major speculation mode) it occurs to me that >>as w98 only uses the bios at initialisation, that is >>might be quite happy once things have booted. >>Anyone got a big disk to experiment? > >That would be me ;-) > >OK, here's what I did:- > >- Libretto 110, 4.3GB HDD, Win'98, no other software involved >- external HDD caddy with PCcard connection >- 30GB Fujitsu HDD - 3 partitions, all FDISK'd in L110 as follows:- >- 1 - 7.77GB FAT32 - FDISK'd from DOS with Win'98 boot diskette >- 2 - 78.2MB FAT32 - FDISK'd with Win'2K >- 3 - remainder (20+ GB) FAT32 - FDISK'd with Win'2K > >7.77GB = 8,348,737,536 bytes >78.2MB = 82,073,600 bytes > >The Libretto running Win'98 / Windows Explorer showed all three partitions >on the external HDD(!!!) straight away when the PCcard was inserted. > >I copied 3GB of data (39,792 files, 2,888 folders) from the (internal) >4.3GB >HDD to the first (sub-8GB) partition on the (external) 30GB HDD - no >problems. > >Then, on the external 30GB drive - still using Win'98 / Windows Explorer - >I >copied the same 3GB of data from the first (sub-8GB) partition to the third >(last 20GB) partition - but this time a handful of files were rejected as >uncopyable - bad links / bad files names. > >A short while after this was completed, while playing around and looking >for >signs of anything being amiss, all three partitions of the external HDD >disappeared from Windows Explorer and could not be persuaded to return no >matter what. Trust me, I tried everything. > >Finally I removed the 4.3GB HDD from the Libretto, replaced it with the >30GB >HDD and ran Win'2K - a check of the copied files threw up a further handful >of errors on the third (last 20GB) partition. > >No problems were found with the external caddy setup when the 4.3GB HDD was >subsequently installed and plugged into the PCcard slot of the Win'2K >powered Libretto. > >Howzat? Tentative conclusion: w98 is probably getting the disk info from the partition table - so it sees the presence of the post 8G space - but it isn't immune from the ills of the 8G bios when it's accessing it. Now I'm tempted to ask - knowing full well that the MS answer is 'it's fixed in W2k and later' - what the hell MS were playing at when they claim that the disk drivers are 32 bit? As logically, if they don't use the bios as claimed (which is why you have to get drivers for e.g. ata100 drives), it should not be affected by the bios limitations. Presumably w98 still has some bits working in contemptability mode. Thanks, MS! Neil _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. ************************************************************** http://libretto.basiclink.com - Libretto mailing list http://libretto.basiclink.com/archive - Archives http://www.picante.com/~gtaylor/portable/faq.html - FAQ -------TO UNSUBSCRIBE------- Reply to any of the list messages. The reply mail should be addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Then replace any text on the message's subject line: cmd:unsubscribe --------TO UNSUBSCRIBE DIGEST------ Do above but with this on subject line: cmd:unsubscribe digest **************************************************************
