Hard Drive: WESTERN DIGITAL: AC-21600 CAVIAR 1624MB 3.5"/SL ATA2 FAST
A C - 2 1 6 0 0 C A V I A R WESTERN DIGITAL
Native| Translation
------+-----+-----+-----
Form 3.5"/SLIMLINE Cylinders | 3148| |
Capacity form/unform 1624/ MB Heads 4| 16| |
Seek time / track 12.0/ 3.0 ms Sector/track | 63| |
Controller IDE / ATA2 FAST/ENHA Precompensation
Cache/Buffer 128 KB Landing Zone
Data transfer rate 5.500 MB/S int Bytes/Sector 512
16.600 MB/S ext PIO4
Recording method PRML 8/9 operating | non-operating
-------------+--------------
Supply voltage 5/12 V Temperature *C 5 55 | -40 60
Power: sleep 0.6 W Humidity % 8 80 | 5 95
standby 0.6 W Altitude km -0.305 3.048| -0.305 12.192
idle 5.1 W Shock g 10 | 150
seek 7.7 W Rotation RPM 5200
read/write 5.1 W Acoustic dBA 40
spin-up 12.4 W ECC Bit ON THE FLY,REED SOLOMON
MTBF h 300000
Warranty Month 36
Lift/Lock/Park YES Certificates CE,CSA,FCC,IEC950,UL1950
Layout
WESTERN AC32100/32500/21600 TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL 79-860019-000
+---------------------------------------------------------+ | |XX | |XX J2 | |XX Inter- | |XX face | |XX | |.X | |XX | |XX | |XX | |XX | |X1 | |+-+ | || |J8 | |+-1 | |XX Power | |XX J3 +---------------------------------------------------------+ 1
J2 J8 J3
+39------------------------------------1++5-3-1++-------+
|o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o||o o o||O O O O|
|o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o||o o o||4 3 2 1|
--+40------------------------------------2++6-4-2+++-+-+-++----
| | | +12V
(Pin 20 keyed) | | +- GND
| +--- GND
+----- +5V
Jumpers
WESTERN AC32100/32500/21600 TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL 79-860019-000
Jumper setting
==============
J8 Master/Slave/Cable Select Configuration
-------------------------------------------
+5-3-1+ Single (Neutral Position)
|xxx o| Factory default. The jumper in this position has no effect
|o o o| on single hard drive configurations.
+6-4-2+
+5-3-1+ Single Drive +5-3-1+ Master Drive
|o o o| Configuration |X o o| Configuration
|o o o| |X o o| (Dual Drives)
+6-4-2+ +6-4-2+
+5-3-1+ Slave Drive
|o X o| Configuration
|o X o| (Dual Drives)
+6-4-2+
NOTE
Pins 1 and 2 are reserved; do not jumper!
The Caviar can be assigned as either a single, master, or slave
drive.
Caviar drives are shipped with a jumper shunt in the neutral storage
position (across pins 5 and 3).
Dual Installations
------------------
Dual Installations require a master/slave drive configuration, where
one drive is designated as the primary (master) drive and the other
is designated as the secondary (slave) drive. The Caviar drive is
compatible in dual installations with other IDE drives that support
a master/slave configuration.
Jumper Settings
---------------
The Caviar drive has a jumper block (J8) located next to the 40-pin
connector on the drive. The Caviar can be assigned as either a
single, master, or slave drive.
Caviar drives are shipped with a jumper shunt in the neutral storage
position (across pins 5 and 3).
Single Drive Mode - If you are installing the Caviar drive as the
only hard drive in the system, leave the jumper in the neutral
storage position. Jumpers are not required for single drive
installations. Note that even with no jumper installed, the Caviar
checks the DRIVE ACTIVE/SLAVE PRESENT (DASP) signal to determine if a
slave IDE drive is present. If you have a dual installation (two
hard drives), you must designate one of the drives as the master and
the other as the slave drive. The jumper pins on the J8 connector
need to be configured for the dual installation.
Master Drive Mode - To designate the drive as the master, place a
jumper shunt on pins 5-6. With the Caviar configured as the master
drive, the Caviar assumes that a slave drive is present. The jumper
on pins 5-6 is optional if the slave drive follows the same protocol
(Common Access Method AT Bus Attachment) as the Caviar.
Slave Drive Mode - To designate the drive as the slave, place a
jumper shunt on pins 3-4. When the Caviar is configured as the slave
drive, the Caviar delays spin up for three seconds after power-up
reset. This feature prevents overloading of the power supply during
power-up.
J3 DC Power and pin connector assignments
-------------------------------------------
+------------+ pin 1 +12 V
| 4 3 2 1 | pin 2 GND
+------------+ pin 3 GND
pin 4 + 5 V
Alternate Jumper Settings for the Caviar AC32500
================================================
One initial boot, some system BIOs may lock up on drives that have
more than 4095 cylinders (driver larger than 2.1 GB). Alternate
jumper setting have been provided for the Caviar AC32500 to overcome
this system BIOS limitation. These jumper settings cause the drive
to report 4095 cylinders (instead of the usual 4960) in Word 1 of the
Identify Drive data. The true capacity is still reported in Word 54
and Word 60-61. All other Identify Drive data remains the same.
+5-3-1+ Single Drive +5-3-1+ Master Drive
|X X o| Configuration |X o X| Configuration
|X X o| |X o X| (Dual Drives)
+6-4-2+ +6-4-2+
+5-3-1+ Slave Drive
|o X X| Configuration
|o X X| (Dual Drives)
+6-4-2+
Install
WESTERN AC32100/32500/21600 TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL 79-860019-000
Notes On Installation
=====================
Orientation
-----------
The Caviar can be mounted in the X, Y, or Z axis depending upon the
physical design of your system. It is recommended that the drive be
mounted with all four screws grounded to the chassis.
Screw Size Limitations
----------------------
The Caviar is mounted to the chassis using four 6-32 screws.
Recommended screw torque is 5 in-lb. Maximum screw torque is 10
in-lb.
Caution: Screws that are too long will damage circuit board
components. The screw must engage no more than six threads (3/16
inch). Side mounted screws should engage a maximum of .188 inches
(3/16"). Bottom mounted screws should engage a maximum of .250
inches (1/4").
Grounding
---------
It is recommended that the drive be mounted with all four screws in
the side grounded to the chassis. The drive must be grounded with at
least one mounting screw. Side mounting: Use four metal screws.
Top face mounting: Use four metal screws.
Determining Your Configuration
------------------------------
You can configure the Caviar in one of two ways:
1. The drive is cabled directly to a 40-pin connector on the
motherboard, or 2. The drive is cabled to an adapter card mounted
in one of the expansion slots in the computer.
Both configurations use a 40-pin host interface cable.
If you are using the Caviar drive as one of two hard disk drives in
the computer (dual installation), you may use either configuration.
In dual installations, you must use a 40-pin host interface cable
with three connectors and daisy-chain the two drives to the
motherboard or adapter card.
Dual Installations
------------------
Dual installations require a master/slave drive configuration, where
one drive is designated as the primary (master) drive and the other
is designated as the secondary (slave) drive. The Caviar drive is
compatible in dual installations with other IDE drives that support a
master/slave configuration.
Mounting the Drive
------------------
For dual installations, it is usually easier to completely install
one IDE drive in the lower position first. The order of IDE drives is
unimportant if you are using two Western Digital drives. As explained
previously, one must be jumpered as the master drive and the other as
the slave drive. When installation is complete, the drives are
daisy-chained together.
Cabling and Installation Steps
------------------------------
Make sure your interface cable is no longer than 18 inches (including
daisy chaining) to minimize noise that is induced on the data and
control buses. When connecting two drives, use a daisy-chain cable
that has three 40-pin connectors. Connectors should be placed no more
than six inches from the end of the cable. If only one drive is
connected, it should be placed on the end of the cable.
Caution: You may damage the Caviar drive if the interface cable is
not connected properly. To prevent incorrect connection, use a cable
that has keyed connectors at both the drive and host ends.
Pin 20 has been removed from the J2 connector. The female connector
on the interface cable should have a plug in position 20 to prevent
incorrect connection. Make sure that pin 1 on the cable is connected
to pin 1 on the connectors.
The order in which you perform the following steps will vary
depending on your system.
1. Attach the end of the 40-pin interface cable to the 40-pin J2
connector on the back of the Caviar hard drive. For dual
installations, connect the two drives together by using a
three-connector interface cable. Match the orientation of pin
socket 1 on the 40-pin IDE cable to pin 1 on the connector.
2. Thread the cable through the empty drive bay and slide in the
Caviar drive.
3. Mount the Caviar drive in the drive bay using four 6-32 screws. Be
sure to use the correct size screws. Do not install the screws
past six threads (3/16 inch). Screws that are too long will
damage the Caviar drive.
For proper grounding be sure to use ALL four screws.
Interface Pin 39 DASP (I/O) Drive Active/Slave Present
------------------------------------------------------
This open collector output is a timemuliplexed signal indicating
drive active or slave present. At reset, this signal is an output
from the slave drive and an input to the master drive, showing that a
slave is present. For all times other than reset, DASP is asserted
by the master and slave drives during command execution.
Features
WESTERN AC32100/32500/21600 TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL 79-860019-000
General Description
-------------------
The Caviar AC32100, AC32500 and AC21600 Enhanced IDE (EIDE) disk
drives are high-performance solutions designed to meet the
requirements of today's most powerful systems from home and business
PC's to workstations and servers. These drives are based on our
successful proven design concepts.
High-speed host data transfers, advanced caching, increased
rotational speeds, and low mechanical latency combine to give
the AC32100, AC32500 and AC21600 the level of performance demanded by
today's most advanced systems. These drives support host data
transfers of 16.6 MB/s Mode 4 PIO and 16.6 MB/s Mode 2 multi-word DMA
enabling VESA VL or PCI local bus EIDE integration.
The AC32100, AC32500 and AC21600 offer a rotational speed of 5200 RPM
and include CacheFlow4. CacheFlow4 offers adaptive read and write
caching capabilities which complements the advanced caching
capabilities of today's major operating systems. An average read seek
time of sub 12 ms and rotational latency of 5.76 ms combine to
provide fast mechanical access.
The AC32100, AC32500 and AC21600 offer performance beyond that of
the ISA bus. Optimum performance is obtained when these drives are
integrated into a VESA VL or PCI local bus EIDE environment. System
integration of these drives in a DOS or Windows environment requires
either BIOS, device driver or operating system support for EIDE disk
drives with capacities greater than 528 MB.
The AC32100, AC32500 and AC21600 drives support advanced power
management capabilities that can reduce power requirements over 85
percent. All Caviar drives are preformatted (low-level) and defects
are mapped out before shipment. Additional Caviar features include
logical block addressing, linear logical/physical universal address
translation, automatic head parking, embedded servo control data on
each track, and ECC on-the-fly correction.
Western Digital's award-winning Caviar drives are designed and
manufactured to the highest standards of quality and reliability.
This is demonstrated by their three-year warranty, 300,000 hours
Mean Time Between Failure, and guaranteed compatibility.
The Caviar AC32100, AC32500 and AC21600 drives are today's solution
to the computer market's ever-increasing demand for higher
performance and expanded connectivity capability and they still
provide the advantages of low cost, compatibility and ease of use.
Advanced Product Features ------------------------- - CacheFlow4 - Western Digital's unique, fourth-generation caching algorithm evaluates the way data is read from and written to the drive and adapts on-the-fly to the optimum read and write caching methods. CacheFlow4 minimizes disk seeking operations and the overhead due to rotational latency delays.
CacheFlow4 includes random and sequential write cache. Incorporating write cache with other CacheFlow4 features enables the user to cache both read data as well as write data. Multiple writes can now be held in the cache and then written collectively to the hard disk later. Data is held in the cache no longer than the time required to write all cached commands to the disk.
CacheFlow4 constantly evaluates not only the size of the read data
request but the type of data request, that is, whether the
application is sequential, random, or repetitive. CacheFlow4 then
dynamically partitions the Caviar's 128-Kbyte DRAM buffer into
equalsized segments and selects the appropriate caching mode for
optimum system performance.
- Advanced Host Transfer - The AC32100, AC32500 and AC21600 support Mode 4 PIO (16.6 MB/s) and Mode 2 multi-word DMA (16.6 MB/s) as defined by the ATA-2 standards. To achieve Mode 4 PIO burst transfers, hard disk drives must be able to throttle the host via the IORDY signal.
Systems typically require a high-speed VL or PCI local bus in order to support Mode 4 PIO.
- High-Speed DMA Capability - DMA Read and DMA Write commands are ATA-2-compatible and provide significant improvement in CPU bandwidth over conventional PIO data transfers. The system CPU is free to accomplish other tasks while the Caviar drive transfers data directly to/from system memory.
- Power Conservation - The AC32100, AC32500 and AC21600 support the ATA-2 power management command set. This command set allows the host to reduce the power consumption of the drive by issuing a variety of power management commands.
- Zoned Recording - The AC32100, AC32500 and AC21600 employ Zoned Recording to increase the data density on the outer tracks of the drive. The outermost tracks contain more sectors than the innermost tracks, thereby increasing the total capacity of the drive.
- Block Mode - ATA-2 compatible Read Multiple and Write Multiple commands are supported. Block mode increases overall data transfer rates by transferring more data between system interrupts.
- Logical Block Addressing (LBA) - The AC32100, AC32500 and AC21600 support both LBA and CHS-based addressing. LBA is included in advanced BIOS and operating system device drivers and ensures high-capacity disk integration.
- Automatic Head Parking - Head parking is automatic with Caviar drives. On power down, the heads retract to a safe, non-data landing zone and lock into position, improving data integrity and resistance to nonoperational shock.
- Advanced Defect Management - These Caviar drives are preformatted (low-level) at the factory and come with a full complement of automatic defect management functions. Extensively tested during the manufacturing process, media defects found during intelligent burn in are mapped out with Western Digital's high performance defect management technique. No modifications are required before installation.
- Embedded Servo Control - These Caviar drives feature an embedded servo concept as the means of providing sampled position feedback information to the head position servo system. Servo bursts are located along a radial path from the disk center, ensuring that head positioning data occurs at constant intervals. This high sampling rate supports the high frequency servo bandwidth required for fast access times as well as highly accurate head positioning. The embedded servo concept provides the means of generating accurate feedback information without requiring a full data surface as would a dedicated servo control concept.
- Dual Drive Operation - These Caviar drives support dual drive operation by means of a "daisy chain" cable assembly and configuration options for master or slave drive designation.
- Universal Address Translation - These Caviar drives provide a linear disk address translator to convert logical sector addresses to physical sector addresses which provides for easy installation and compatibility with numerous drive types.
- Guaranteed Compatibility - Western Digital performs extensive testing in its Functional Integrity Test Lab (FIT Lab) to ensure compatibility with all 100% AT-compatible computers and standard operating systems.
- Reed Solomon ECC On-the-Fly - The Caviar implements Reed Solomon error correction techniques to obtain extremely low read error rates. This error correction algorithm corrects errors on-the-fly without any performance penalties. It allows for hardware corrections of up to a 24-bit error span on-the-fly.
- Automatic Defect Retirement - If the Caviar drive detects a defective sector while writing, it automatically relocates the sector without enduser intervention.
Defect Management
-----------------
Every Caviar undergoes factory-level intelligent burn in, which
thoroughly tests for and maps out defective sectors on the media
before the drive leaves the manufacturing facility. Following the
factory tests, a primary defect list is created. The list contains
the cylinder, head, and sector numbers for all defects.
Defects managed at the factory are sector slipped. Grown defects that
can occur in the field are mapped out by relocation to spare sectors
on the inner cylinders of the drive.
Format Characteristics
----------------------
The Caviar is shipped from the factory preformatted (low-level) with
all the known defects mapped out. In order to be compatible with
existing industry standard defect management utility programs, the
Caviar supports the logical format command. When the host issues the
Format Track command, the Caviar performs a logical version of this
command in response to the host's interleave table request for good
and bad sector marking or assign/unassign the sector to/from an
alternate sector.
If the host issues the Format Track Command during normal operating
modes, the data fields of the specified track are filled with a data
pattern of all zeros. The Format Track Command can be used to
mark/unmark bad sectors, and reassign unrelocated sectors.
Automatic Defect Retirement
---------------------------
The automatic defect retirement feature automatically maps out
defective sectors while writing. If a defective sector appears,
Caviar finds a spare sector.
Error Recovery Process
----------------------
The Caviar has four means of error recovery:
* ECC On-the-Fly
* Read/Write Retry Procedure
* Extended Read Retry Procedure
* Extended (Firmware Assisted) ECC
ECC On-the-Fly - If an ECC error occurs, the Caviar attempts to
correct it on-the-fly without retries. Data can be corrected in this
manner without performance penalty.
Read/Write Retry Procedure - This retry procedure is used by all disk
controller error types. If this procedure succeeds in reading or
writing the sector being tried, then recovery is complete and the
controller continues with the command. Each retry operation also
checks for servo errors. This procedure ends when error recovery is
achieved or when all possible retries have been attempted.
Extended Read Retry Procedure - This retry procedure tries
combinations of positive/negative track offsets, and data DAC
manipulations to recover the data. This retry procedure is applicable
only to read data recovery. The Read/Write Retry procedure is used
to perform the actual retry operation. When an extended retry
operation has been successful, the controller continues with the
command. The controller ensures that any changes in track offset or
data DAC settings that exist are cleared before the command
continues.
Extended (Firmware Assisted) ECC - If an ECC error is too large to
correct using ECC on-the-fly, the Caviar can attempt to correct the
error using Extended Error Correction. This allows correction of
large ECC errors that ECC on-the-fly cannot correct. However, the
Extended Error Correction process takes more time than ECC
on-the-fly to return the corrected data.
REED SOLOMON ECC On-the-Fly
---------------------------
The Caviar implements Reed Solomon error correction techniques in
hardware to reduce the uncorrectable read error rate. This allows a
high degree of data integrity with no impact on the drive's
performance. Because on-the-fly corrected errors do not require the
drive's firmware to assist with error correction, they are invisible
to the host system.
To obtain the ECC check byte values, each byte within the sector is
interleaved into one of three groups, where the first byte is in
interleave 1, the second byte is in interleave 2, the third byte is
in interleave 3, the fourth byte is in interleave 1, and so on.
Interleaving and the ECC formulas enable the drive to detect where
the error occurs. A maximum of one byte can be corrected in each
interleave without firmware assistance.
Firmware Assisted ECC
----------------------
With firmware assisted ECC, a maximum of 3 bytes can be corrected in
each interleave. In this case, a 65-bit error span is the maximum
that is always correctable with firmware assistance because the
entire error span will never occupy more than three bytes in each
interleave.
Universal Address Translation
-----------------------------
The Caviar implements linear address translation. The translation
mode and translated drive configuration are selected by using the Set
Drive Parameters command to issue head and sector/track counts to the
translator. Caviar supports universal translation. Therefore, any
valid combination of cylinder, head, and SPT can be assigned to the
drive as long as the total number of sectors is not greater than the
physical limits. The product of the cylinder, head and sectors/track
counts must be equal to or less than the maximum number of sectors
available to the user.
AC21600 - 3,173,178
AC32100 - 4,124,736
AC32500 - 4,999,680
Each sector consists of 512 bytes.
The minimum value for any translation parameter is one. The maximum
value for any translation parameter is as follows:
Sectors/Track - 255
Heads - 16
Cylinders/Drive - 65,535
The values in the Sector Count Register and the SDH Register
determine the Sectors Per Track (SPT) and heads. Regardless of the
values of the SPT and the heads, Caviar is always in the translation
mode.
Power Conservation
------------------
The AC32100, AC32500 and AC21600 support the ATA-2 power management
commands that lower the average power consumption of the disk drives.
For example, to take advantage of the lower power consumption modes
of the drive, an energy efficient host system could implement a power
management scheme that issues a Standby Immediate command when a
host resident disk inactivity timer has expired. The Standby
Immediate command would cause the drive to spin down and enter a
low-power mode. Subsequent disk access commands would cause the drive
to spin up and execute the new command.
To avoid excessive wear on the drive due to the starting and stopping
of the HDA, the host's disk inactivity timer should be set to no
shorter than ten minutes.
High-Speed DMA Capability
-------------------------
By engaging an ATA-2 compatible, Mode 2 multi-word DMA, the host CPU
bandwidth is increased because the peripheral data transfer burden is
off-loaded to the system's DMA channel. With the exception of DMA
data transfers, which are limited to Read DMA and Write DMA
commands, all other commands must be performed using PIO. DMA or PIO
data transfer mode selection by the host is performed on a
command-by-command basis.
Advanced Host Transfers
-----------------------
The AC32100, AC32500 and AC21600 support high-speed Mode 3 and 4 PIO.
These are data transfer modes that utilize hardware handshaking
between the host and the drive via the IORDY signal. When the drive
deasserts the IORDY signal, the host extends the read/write cycle
until IORDY is asserted, thereby eliminating data corruption from
overrun and underrun conditions. When in Mode 3 PIO, data can be
transferred in bursts to and from the host at a rate of up to 11.1 MB
per second; in Mode 4 PIO, the data can be transferred at a rate of
up to 16.6 MB per second.
Mode 3 and Mode 4 PIO are enabled on the drive by issuing a Set
Features command. If Mode 3 or Mode 4 PIO is enabled, it can only be
disabled by issuing another Set Features command, a hard reset, or by
cycling power. To support Mode 4 PIO, Flow Control must be enabled in
the host system. If this mode is enabled on a system that does not
support Flow Control, host FIFO errors can occur.
Mode 3 and Mode 4 PIO timings were defined to facilitate EIDE drive
integration into VL and PCI local bus systems.
Zoned Recording
---------------
Zoned Recording is a mechanism for increasing the capacity of the
drive by increasing the Bit-Per-Inch (BPI) density of data written
on the longer outer tracks of the drive. Track capacity (number of
sectors) is constant within groups of tracks or zones, and is
increased when the tracks are sufficiently long to accommodate a
significant number of additional sectors. This incremental increase
in track capacity moving outward on the disk surface creates a series
of concentric zones with different data densities.
Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.)
----------------------------------------------------------------
S.M.A.R.T. enables a drive's internal status to be monitored through
diagnostic commands at the host level.
The Caviar AC21600, AC32100 and AC32500 drives monitor read error
rate, start/stop count, spin-up retry count, and drive calibration
retry count. All of these attributes are updated and stored on the
hard drive in the reserved area of the disk. The hard drive also
stores a set of attribute thresholds that correspond to the
calculated attribute values. Each attribute threshold indicates the
point at which its corresponding attribute value achieves a negative
reliability status.
WESTERN DIGITAL Defect Management Utility
-----------------------------------------
All Caviar IDE drives are defect-free and low level formatted at the
factory. After prolonged use, any drive, including Caviar, may
develop defects. If you continue receiving data errors in any given
file at the DOS level, you can use the defect management utility
WDAT_IDE to recover, relocate and rewrite the user data to the
nearest spare sector and maintain a secondary defect list.
Caution: As with all format utilities, some options in the WDAT_IDE
utility will overwrite user data.
General
WESTERN CAVIAR INSTALLATION GUIDE 79-850086-003 SO 225 11/98
TROUBLESHOOTING
---------------
This section lists procedures to help resolve problems that you may
encounter when installing the Western Digital hard drive.
- Refer to your system documentation to be sure that you followed the setup procedures correctly.
- Make sure that you partitioned and formatted the EIDE drive and any additional drive with the EZ-Drive installation software. Refer to your operating system documentation to check these procedures.
- If using DOS 3.3 and above, be certain to make one partition active during formatting.
- Check the physical installation of your system to make sure that: - Jumper selections on the drive are correct for your installation.
- Cables are correctly connected and seated.
- Adapter card, if required, is properly seated, connected, and
configured.
- Power is properly connected to your system and the system is
plugged in.
Operating System and System BIOS Limitations
--------------------------------------------
Computer operating systems and system BIOSs have separate limitations
that are related to specific hard drive capacities. Three capacity
points that can affect how your operating system and system BIOS
support your hard drive are 8.4 GB, 2.1 GB, and 528 MB. A brief
description of these limitations follows.
8.4 GB Barrier: There is an 8.4 GB hard drive limitations on some
traditional system BIOSs. To access the full capacity of 8.4 GB and
larger hard drives, your system BIOS must support extended BIOS
functions, and your operating system must recognize extended BIOS
functions. It is difficult to determine if your system BIOS supports
8.4 GB or larger hard drives. We recommend using EZ-Drive 9.06W
or later to ensure support of the full capacity of your hard drive.
2.1 GB Barrier: Some computer systems built before early 1996 do
not support hard drives with more than 4095 cylinders (hard drives
larger than 2.1 GB), unless you update the system BIOS, install an
EIDE controller card with onboard BIOS, or install third-party
software such as EZ-Drive.
528 MB Barrier: Most computer systems built before August 1994 do
not support hard drives larger than 528 MB, unless you update the
system BIOS, install an EIDE controller card with onboard BIOS, or
install third-party software such as EZ-Drive.
To determine if your system BIOS supports the full capacity of your
hard drive, EZ-Drive compares the system CMOS settings to the
actual drive size. If the values match, EZ-Drive only partitions and
formats the hard drive; it does not install EZ-BIOS. If the values do
not match, EZ-Drive partitions and formats the hard drive and
installs EZ-BIOS on the boot sector of the hard drive.
Operating System and System BIOS Limitations for 8.4 GB and
Larger Hard Drives
-------------------------------------------------------------
The following is required to access the full capacity of an 8.4 GB or
larger hard drive:
- A system BIOS that supports extended functions
- an operating system that recognizes extended BIOS functions
The limitations of your system BIOS and your operating system
combined determine your overall system limitation. For example, if
your operating system recognizes extended BIOS functions, but your
system BIOS has a 2.1 GB drive barrier, you are limited to your
system BIOS's 2.1 GB drive barrier. Conversely, if your operating
system does not recognize extended BIOS functions, but your system
BIOS supports 8.4 GB hard drives, you are limited to your operating
system's capability. Your system limitation is based on the lowest
functioning barrier.
Since it is difficult to determine if your system BIOS supports your
8.4 GB or larger hard drive, we recommend using EZ-Drive 9.06W to
support the full capacity of your hard drive. Another option is to
upgrade your system BIOS. A properly upgraded system BIOS will
support the full capacity of your hard drive if used with an
operating system that recognizes extended BIOS functions. Contact
your system manufacturer for more information.
Operating systems that recognize extended BIOS functions:
- Windows 95
- Windows 98
Operating systems that do not recognize extended BIOS functions.
- DOS 6.xx and earlier
- Windows 3.1x
- Windows NT
- Novell NetWare
- OS/2 Warp
Operating System Limitations and Exceptions
DOS 6.xx and earlier
Windows 3.1x
8.4 GB maximum capacity limit. Hard drive capacities
larger than 8.4 GB are recognized as 8.4 GB.
Windows NT Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 3 supports hard
drive capacities larger than 8.4 GB.
Novell NetWare Novell NetWare 4.11: Drivers are available to support
capacities larger than 8.4 GB.
Novell NetWare 5 supports 8.4 GB and larger hard drives.
OS/2 Warp Requires patch to support 8.4 GB or larger hard drives.
System BIOS Limitations for Hard Drives Larger Than 2.1 GB
-----------------------------------------------------------
IMPORTANT
If you installed a 2.5 GB or larger hard drive and your system does
not respond (locks up) on initial boot, read this section.
Hard drives larger than 2.1 GB have more than 4095 cylinders. On
some systems, the system BIOS cannot properly recognize hard drives
with more than 4095 cylinders.
You will know if your system BIOS has this limitation after
installing your drive if:
- Your operating system shows a much smaller drive capacity than the actual drive capacity.
- Your system locks up on initial boot, preventing you from accessing CMOS setup.
Operating System Shows a Much Smaller Capacity
----------------------------------------------
If your operating system shows a much smaller drive capacity, use
EZ-Drive to overcome the 2.1 GB BIOS limitation.
Your System Locks Up on Initial Boot
------------------------------------
If you cannot access the CMOS setup because your system locks up
on initial boot, follow the instructions below.
1. Turn off your system power, check the IDE interface cable and
power supply cable.
2. Check jumper settings.
3. Turn on your system power.
4. Try to enter your CMOS setup and set the drive type to auto
config.
If your system still does not respond, your system BIOS may not
support drives with more than 4095 cylinders. If this is the case,
consider these solutions:
A. Use EZ-Drive.
If the system locks up and prevents entry to CMOS, you need to
turn off your system power and disconnect the IDE interface cable
from the system.
- Enter your CMOS setup. Refer to your system manual for instructions.
- Select the Hard Disk Type option for the new Western Digital hard drive. Select a user defined drive type and enter: 1023 cylinders, 16 heads, and 63 sectors. If your system does not have a user defined drive type, select Type 9.
- Reconnect your IDE interface cable to the system.
- Run EZ-Drive or boot to the EZ-Drive 9.06W diskette.These new settings allow your system to boot so that you can install EZ-BIOS to access the full capacity of the drive.
- OR -If you do not have a user defined or Type 9 drive type, use option B, C, or D below to change the parameters reported to the BIOS.
B. Upgrade your system BIOS
A properly upgraded system BIOS will support the full capacity of
your hard drive. Contact your system manufacturer and closely
follow their specific instructions. See page 3 for a list of common
system manufacturers and page 12 for BIOS upgrade sources with
their phone numbers.
C. Install an EIDE controller card with an onboard BIOS that
supports hard drives larger than 2.1 GB. For 8.4 GB or larger hard
drives, the EIDE controller card must support extended BIOS
functions.
D. Rejumper the drive as described on the following page and install
EZ-Drive. With these alternate jumper settings, you MUST install
EZ-Drive. If you move this hard drive to another system, you
must put the jumper back to the standard position.
Note for Windows NT Users: If your system locks up, and you are
using Windows NT, do not use these alternate jumper settings.
You need to either use the standard jumper settings on page 2 and
select a user defined drive type in CMOS setup or upgrade your
system BIOS to support the full capacity of your new hard drive.
IMPORTANT
These alternative jumper settings DO NOT work with Windows NT, Novell
NetWare, or Unix.
Single Drive: If you have a 2.5 GB or larger hard drive, your system
locks up on initial boot, and the drive you are installing is the
only drive in your system, set the jumpers in these positions.
Dual (Master) Drive: If you have a 2.5 GB or larger hard drive, your
system locks up on initial boot, and the drive you are installing is
the master drive in a twondrive system, set the jumpers in these
positions.
CAUTION: Use these jumper settings only if you encounter the
specific BIOS limitation (system locks up) described in this section.
These jumper settings cause the drive to report 4092 cylinders
(2.1 GB) rather than the actual drive capacity. If you use these
jumper settings, you MUST install EZ-Drive to access the full
capacity of your new hard drive.
Dual (Slave) Drive: If you have a 2.5 GB or larger hard drive, your
system locks up on initial boot, and the drive you are installing is
the slave drive in a twondrive system, set the jumpers in these
positions.
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