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[Striker2k2]

well lets stop arguing about hd's....

anyone tested the xbtool or Dominion-X Bios 0901 yet with a big harddrive and
care to inform us of the results?

[drewZen]

ditto...

[Kontra]

this works, comfirmed it myself.

First let me say Thanks Paul, and nice work on a job well done. You did a very nice job on the work, and the information as you were working on it. Glad to see good teamwork brang us such a usefull tooll.

For what I did for those inquiring. I used a WD 160GB 7200rpm 8  meg cache drive.  I took the 4978.03 bios, used the new xbtool to add all exhisting data > 137gb to partition6 (F:) then reformated the whole drive.  I was allocated about 155gbs to drive  F:, and the usualls to E: C: and the cache drives.

Everything seems to be working smoothly, I have started to refill the drive, and all first run tests of applications and games seem to work smoothly.

Thanks again

-Kontra
[email protected]

[uberx]

can this work with the exploits (phoenix bios loader) or does it have to have a modchip?

[wailer6084]

I would think it would work with the phoenix bios loader as long as all files needed to boot (phoenix bios loader, bios file, etc..) are _not_  on the f drive.

[Alpha-Omega]

So when you re-flash with this fix, can you just put in your hard drive replacement disk, like when you put in a new hard drive? I dont like the idea of formatting my hard drive, but I do like the idea of getting the rest of my 160 gig hard drive.

[NghtShd]

QUOTE (wailer6084 @ Sep 3 2003, 02:35 AM)

I would think it would work with the phoenix bios loader as long as all files needed to boot (phoenix bios loader, bios file, etc..) are _not_  on the f drive.

I don't have a > 137GB drive, so I can't test that, but most of my BIOS testing is done with BFM versions. I've had no problems, so far.

The only problem I see would be if you use the option in which the F drive takes the rest of the drive. In that case, you couldn't use the F drive until after the BFM BIOS loaded and you'd run the risk of data loss if something wrote to the F drive while the firmware loaded BIOS was running--assuming it wasn't setup the same as the BFM one.

If you are using any other partitioning option, I would think that you could even run the Phoenix Loader from the F drive, since it will be there and fully functional.

I've tested making BFM versions of all XBtool supported BIOSes using XBtool 1.0.8b8 and it works fine. All BIOSes patched for LBA48 support and converted to BFM by XBtool and were functional. See the BFM packer section of the documentation if you plan on using the BFM packing function.

[Corvo]

Let me get this correctly...

I format my 200gb HDD with the option to allocate the F: partition up to 137gb and the rest to the g: partition.
So, with my modchip disabled... everything would work (even though it is LBA24).
With my modchip enabled... everything works with whatever BIOS I use, and if I use a LBA48 patched BIOS: The G: partition is available.
Right?

Or is it the best to just patch all BIOS'es one has, and allocate all space to the F: partition?


Anyways: Keep up the great work Paul!

[oz_paulb]

QUOTE (Corvo @ Sep 4 2003, 10:29 AM)

Let me get this correctly... I format my 200gb HDD with the option to allocate the F: partition up to 137gb and the rest to the g: partition. So, with my modchip disabled... everything would work (even though it is LBA24). With my modchip enabled... everything works with whatever BIOS I use, and if I use a LBA48 patched BIOS: The G: partition is available. Right? Or is it the best to just patch all BIOS'es one has, and allocate all space to the F: partition? Anyways: Keep up the great work Paul!

Your summary is correct - selecting the option with F: using all space up to 137GB is the most compatible, and if you tend to switch bios's a lot, then it's probably best to use this option.  Your G: drive will only be visible when you have an LBA48-enabled bios installed.

- Paulb

[faf]

i've been watching everything unfold over the last week or so... like the silent watcher that i am.

This development seems exciting for everyone... even for people who dont have drives larger than 137GB...

now the way i figured... Paul didnt want to give a letter/name to the "extra drive" because he was leaning towards allowing people to choose thier own drive letters and hoping apps in the future will "request" which drives are available and be presented with a list...

but... did he just endorse the extra drive as G? i think he did. So G it is then.


Also... i'm kindda surprised that "that guy who seemed to know it all about the bios not working" .... hasnt been back to apologize.

Maybe he's too busy to have noticed?

[explicitlyrics100]

can any1 see any problems with certain games not working on the g drive? i cant think why but if it messes up with caching of files im not sure..

[AsTnBoMb]

I was thinking the same thing, but then again, F-Drive wasn't a partition that games were programmed for and that still works, so im sure G-drive will work just fine.

[elduderino1234]

QUOTE (AsTnBoMb @ Sep 7 2003, 07:47 PM)

I was thinking the same thing, but then again, F-Drive wasn't a partition that games were programmed for and that still works, so im sure G-drive will work just fine.

a kernel hack allows games to be launched off the hdd and allows the use of the extra partition F

[Dreamcazman]

Anyways I was wondering what the maximum size now is for LBA48? I've just noticed WD have a new 250Gb drive (which costs a bomb) and sometime down the track I will no doubt get a drive bigger than my 120 gigger.

I mean, would G: drive work up to 300Gb, 400Gb and up or what is the limit?  (once drives that big are released, that is )

[oz_paulb]

QUOTE (Dreamcazman @ Sep 8 2003, 07:48 AM)

Firstly, I have just been reading through this thread, cheers to you Paulb, you're a champ   Anyways I was wondering what the maximum size now is for LBA48? I've just noticed WD have a new 250Gb drive (which costs a bomb) and sometime down the track I will no doubt get a drive bigger than my 120 gigger. I mean, would G: drive work up to 300Gb, 400Gb and up or what is the limit?  (once drives that big are released, that is )

The only real limit will be a limit in the FATX filesystem (I'm unaware of any real limits there, but I'm sure there is something).  The 32bits we use of LBA48 gives us a max physical drive size of 2.2Terabytes.  But, I think a FATX limit will probably be hit before then.

People are successfully using 300GB drives with the LBA48 code.

- Paulb