[MadCatMk2]

I will be using what used to be my untangle server from now on, here are the specs:
Athlon 800 on a Shuttle AK12 v1.1 with 768MB of RAM.

I tried installing several linux OS's (even loaded OS on RAM and these disks have been used for installations before. Several hard disks and CD/DVD drives have been tested.) , but encountered the same issue every time.
While formatting the hard drive the system just crashes. Whether it's during installation, gparted or drakdisk.

I haven't come up with another explanation other than the BIOS settings of the motherboard.
However I'm not familiar with most of them. I would appreciate it if someone could take a look at the settings.

http://www.overclock.net/gallery/sho...0&ppuser=23246

Thanks

 

[gonX]

Is there some sort of virus protection setting in the BIOS enabled?
What chipset does it use?

 

[MadCatMk2]

No there's no virus protection enabled in the bios. Here's the specs:
http://www.shuttle.eu/_archive/older/en/ak12.htm

I found out that you can use a <10GB partition and it formats fine, but crashes during installation later on.

 

[gonX]

Haha and I thought my server was ancient - that's even more ancient!

Are your harddrives recognized as the /dev/sdx or /dev/hdx scheme?

 

[MadCatMk2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gonX Haha and I thought my server was ancient - that's even more ancient! Are your harddrives recognized as the /dev/sdx or /dev/hdx scheme?

Yep everything is recognized properly. I've spent way too many hours on this; I'm replacing the HDD with a usb stick and calling it a day.

 

[gonX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadCatMk2 Yep everything is recognized properly. I've spent way too many hours on this; I'm replacing the HDD with a usb stick and calling it a day.

Ok, doesn't matter then

I was asking whether it used the /dev/sdx or the /dev/hdx scheme

 

[Dman]

How big is the drive? Most older boards of that era did not support drives larger then 8gigs (some did up to 30gigs) without a bios update, or they just didn't work with them period.

 

[enorbet2]

You can try finding and installing a newer BIOS but a better fix would be to buy and install a PCI accelerated IDE controller like the old Promise boards
example:

http://www.promise.com/product/produ...&product_id=87

Not only will it handle any PATA drives of any size but it lends itself to overclocking too! Commonly increasing FSB first reveals issues with hard drive read/write errors. Since such controller cards can operate normally at much higher speeds, it is no strain.

Cheap and easy as well as solid.

 

[MadCatMk2]

I did check the BIOS updages and all the changes that were done after my version are relevant to AGP. If I decide not to recycle it in the next few days I might as well do it.

 

[enorbet2]

I'm glad you posted this here as it brings up a valuable subject - old PCs can still have considerable value. Servers and such things as dedicated hardware firewalls a la Freesco systems, don't need much processing power just lots of ram and fast disk access.

I just recently retired an old Asus P3BF (yes, the ancient but venerable 440BX chipset) that with IDE accelerator card, modified bios, and a slotket - socket 370 adapter allowing a PIII-S cpu to run at 1.8GHz on said mobo, could actually run Doom3, Quake4, etc to run at reasonable frame rates.

It was replaced only because I could find no way to increase installable ram beyond 512 MB PC133 Ram. Then I found a source for a SuperMicro Socket 370 server mobo that addresses up to 4GB of DDR Ram and is crazy overclocking friendly for $30 US! I have built several exceedingly cheap but useful systems with this mobo.

Good luck with yours!

Jimmy

PS Oh yeah... almost forgot... an inelegant but free fix for older bios machines that won't recognize drives that break the 4GB or 32GB "barriers" is the manufacturers' own translation software that came with install floppies and cds. If you decide to do that and can't find one, contact me for a download link.

 

[MadCatMk2]

The funny thing is that this rig used to run windows off a 10GB HDD, so I don't think the fact it won't work with that very HDD now makes any sense. I'm not familiar with the era and the translation software you speak of, but I guess it's worth a try. Drop me a link if you find some time to search for it.

 

[enorbet2]

OK I've just re-read the entire thread and I'm agreeing with you that your mobo's recognition of hdd geometry may not be in question here. Your essential problem is crashing when accessing the drive so let's take a step back first.

If you still want to use translation software which essentially tells the system your drive geometry had a different amount of heads vs sectors that it can "understand" adding up to the same size one must seek the drive's manufacturer's website or at least give me the brand info. I'm pretty sure I have old install disks around if they are not still posted on the appropriate website... WD and Seagare for certain, IBM/Hitachi maybe.

However there may be a single fix for all of the above - Hirens Boot CD. It has an unbelievable collection of awesome tools (a little controversial in some countries too, if you get my drift... Har!)

Anyway not only does it have many translation tools, it has many hdd testing and fixing tools as well. It can boot to a MiniXP as well as a more powerful DOS Session with excellent menues.

At the very least the manufacturer's own testing tools will tell you if the drive(s) are still good. The low level formatter disk refresher may have to run for a full day on 10 G but you will know if the drive is salvageable.

So w/o any further ado download and burn

http://www.hirensbootcd.net/

It's amazing.

Regards
Jimmy