Problems with fdisk

[GEAgent21]

I have installed a harddrive in a computer that I am building. When I run fdisk everything looks fine. When I exit fdisk, restart computer and try to run format C:/s. I get an error No C drive. When I go back in fdisk and check the hard drive it is not formated or partitioned. I have formated and partitioned it every way I can think of and yes I made the partition active. Help.

[jurassicpc]

Does system see hard drive under device managers? If there's an exclamation point, there's conflict somewhere. If no conflict and hard drive listed under device manager:

Is hard drive only hard drive. Someone else suggested selecting option 5 (change current disk?) when I was having trouble partitioning and formatting a hard drive. System saw hard drive, but could not get fdisk to partition until I selected option 5.

I'm still newbie at this so if someone else has better answer, please listen to them first. Good luck.

[edit] You might also check out thread in this same forum
http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...threadid=57131

[edit2] Listen to Force_flow and ignore mine please.

Andrea

[Force Flow]

When I format, I always type "format c:". I have no idea what the addion "/s" is, but that may be part of the problem, but I'm not sure. Try formatting by just typing "format c:"

Also, after partitioning, completely shut down the PC, not just restart.

[Nuclear Krusader]

I don't think that is the problem.

And he does need to type the /s parameter if he wants the HD to be bootable.

/s transfers the OS to the HD.

[mike breck]

Hi GEAgent21,

It sounds as though the HD is not saving the partition made by FDISK.

Follow this guide and make sure you have been using FDISK correctly.

http://www.muisejt.com/fdisk/fdisk.html

If it still doesn't work:

Are you building with new parts or old parts?

What motherboard and make, model, and size of Hard Drive (HD)do you have?

How do you have the HD jumpered - Master or Cable Select?

Does the BIOS recognise the full size of the HD?

Does FDISK recognise the full size of the HD?

Which version of FDISK are you using - Win95 or Win98?

If this is an older motherboard, then it will have problems working with a new, larger capacity HD.

Also FDISK has problems recognising HDs greater than 64GB without a patch.

http://support.microsoft.com/support.../Q263/0/44.ASP

Anyway, come back with the answers to my questions, and we'll have a clearer idea of what's happening.

[Cricket]

Originally posted by jurassicpc Does system see hard drive under device managers? If there's an exclamation point, there's conflict somewhere. If no conflict and hard drive listed under device manager.

Device Manager is found in Windows...at this point, GEAgent21 has no operating system on the hard drive yet.

Originally posted by force_flow2002 When I format, I always type "format c:". I have no idea what the addion "/s" is, but that may be part of the problem, but I'm not sure.

The "/s" switch places DOS system files on the hard drive after the format. This makes the hard drive bootable.

GEAgent21: Is the hard drive recognized by the BIOS? Are you shutting down or restarting the PC after you run fdisk like you're supposed to? Have you tried another hard drive? Have you tried another IDE cable? Are you getting any error messages at all?

Cricket

[Confused]

You have to make at least one partition active. That will be the "C" that you will; Format C:/S

If this is in preparation to loading WIN98 or newer OS, just boot from the CD as they are all bootable. You can then format and load the OS from there.
Chas

[GEAgent21]

OK I will try to answer all the questions.
Case & Power Supply is new
MB is Used VIA Apollo MVP4M/J
Hard Drive is reconditioned 3.2 Gig Western Digital from Computer Geeks. I have put a known working drive in it and it also does the same.
The IDE cable is brand new.
I have tried fdisk from WIN98, WIN98SE, and troubleshooting software from Western Digital.
HD is jumpered as master but I have tried cable select and neutral settings.
Fdisk does recognize 3079 MB
BIOS finds and records correct info on HD
When I run fdisk it looks like it is doing what it is supposed to. When I go to #4 and check the HD it shows that it is partitioned and active, but when I restart it errases the partition.
Thanks All help apppreciated. Im fresh out of ideas.

[jurassicpc]

Originally posted by Cricket Device Manager is found in Windows...at this point, GEAgent21 has no operating system on the hard drive yet.The "/s" switch places DOS system files on the hard drive after the format. This makes the hard drive bootable.

Oops! Ignorance is blistering. Thanks Cricket. Sorry about that GEAgent21. You're in good hands with the others. They'll get you through this.

[Cricket]

Originally posted by GEAgent21 OK I will try to answer all the questions. Case & Power Supply is new

What brand is the power supply and how many watts does it put out?

Originally posted by GEAgent21 Hard Drive is reconditioned 3.2 Gig Western Digital from Computer Geeks. I have put a known working drive in it and it also does the same.

Since it's a Western Digital hard drive, if it's the only drive on the IDE cable you would use no jumper on the jumper block. That's for 1 drive with no slave present.

Are you using a 40 wire ATA33 IDE cable or a 80 wire UltraATA66/100/133 IDE cable? That's a pretty old chipset, so I'm guessing the motherboard doesn't support ATA66 or higher and use of a 80 wire IDE cable isn't required.

Cricket

[mike breck]

The motherboard is an Epox and supports ATA33/66 Hard Drives.

http://www.epox.com/html/motherboard...MVP4M/J&lang=1

According to the faqs there is an issue concerning UDMA Western Digital Hard Drives and this chipset:

"Western Digital UltraDMA hard drive problems with VIA chipsets.

There are some known issues with regarding UltraDMA-33 use on certain models of Western Digital hard drives with the CCC identifier code starting with C1 or B1. As long as the CCC code printed on the drive begins with codes other than C1 or B1, there should be no problems with VIA chipsets. For example CCC: E3 30 MAR 98 S would have no problem as it begins with E3. If you should have a problem drive please contact your vendor for a replacement."

However, I take this to mean that the mobo has problems running certain WD Hard Drives in ATA 33 mode. So that really shouldn't affect the ability to create partitions with FDISK.

When you say you tried the WD troubleshooting software, do you mean you ran the WD Lifeguard Tools on the Hard Drive?

http://support.wdc.com/download/

If you didn't, you should to ensure the Hard Drive is working properly and is in good shape.

If the Lifeguard test give the Hard Drive a clean bill of health, it might also be a good idea to use the Lifeguard tools to write zeros to the the Hard Drive. This will wipe everything off the Hard Drive and return the Hard Drive to the way it left the factory.

Just in case there is something on the HD that FDISK can't see (like a Drive Overlay) and that stopping the partition process.

Then try FDISK again to create your partitions. Remember to say "yes" to "Do you wish to enable Large Disk Support (Y/N)". If you don't say "yes" then it will format the Hard Drive with FAT16 instead of FAT32.

FAT16 has a partition limit of 2.1GB. So you couldn't make a 3.3GB partition with FAT16. You'd have to split the Hard Drive into two partitions, each of which are less than 2.1GB.

HTH

[GEAgent21]

Power Supply is EE 300 Watt. I changed the IDE cable from 80 wire to a 40. No difference.
The Harddrive is a Western Digital Caviar 23200 Model= AC 23200-60LC CCC= CA 02 May 98 DCM= CRAAKIAAOABJ SN=WT408
I removed the slave drive and the jumper on the harddrive. Same result

[GEAgent21]

I have tried FAT 16 and FAT 32 when running fdisk. Neither work.

[Cricket]

Have you tried swapping out the RAM yet?

Cricket

[GEAgent21]

No but I will do that right now. Thanks

[GEAgent21]

Changed from 2 64 meg to one 128. Same problem.

[GaryRouth]

Try formatting it with the hard disk tools from WD. I believe they are in the same DataLifeGuard set of tools that mike breck posted for you a few posts earlier.
. . . Gary

[GEAgent21]

I down loaded DataLifeguard and ran it. Got an error message that indicated that I need to use the older version of Lifeguard. The only machine that I have running has WIN XP operating sys. According to Western Digital I can't use XP to download the older version of Lifeguard. I'm going to download it at work, where I have a machine running WIN98SE.
Thanks
Greg

[GaryRouth]

Good luck with the diagnostics: they'll give you a good look at whether all is OK mechanically. Mike B gave you some good tips: the zero write can sometimes help with drives that are showing odd behavior, and yet testing out Ok. I believe the zero write clears the MBR (Master Boot Record) along with everything else, which will help if you do happen to have a drive overlay program installed on that drive (those install to the MBR). If you decide not to zero-write, but would like to start with a new MBR, you can use the fdisk /mbr command. If any drive overlays are in there, or viruses, or corrupted MBR programs: that should clear them out. [your most thorough protection is a full zero write, though]
Best of luck
. . . Gary

[GEAgent21]

I did a zero write. still have problem. Ran lifeguard software It said I have problem with cable. It is a new 80 wire but I bought another one today and tried it. Same problem. Tonight I am going to pull the motherboard and give it a good look. I am wondering if there is a problem between the pins and the board. Everything else checks out OK.

[mike breck]

Try using the 80 wire cable with the HD jumpered as Cable Select.
Remember with an 80 wire cable, the blue connector connects to the mobo and the end, black connector goes to the HD.

Also, try the 40 wire cable with no jumpers on the HD.

Check the HD for bent pins. That happened to me today when I was working on a friends PC.

[GEAgent21]

I tried the 40 wire setup and the 80 wire. I downloaded Lifeguard V2.8 and ran diagnostics. Came up with error "Could not find partition table on drive one". So I am running 0's again and will then try to partition and format. I pulled the MB out of the case earlier, no burnt spots, pins all straight pins all tight in soder on back side of board. Running 0's effectively errases everything on the drive. Is there something I should be doing before I repartition?

[mike breck]

What motherboard and BIOS version number?

[GEAgent21]

VIA Apollo EP-MVP4M/J Motherboard
Award BIOS Extension v1.0A
AMD K6-2/500

I have checked the BIOS and turned off the boot virus check. Did'nt help. Thanks for your assistance.

[GaryRouth]

Seems like the partition table is contained in the MBR: try the fdisk /mbr (only takes a moment), just to see.

Cables can raise all kinds of havoc when they aren't right. I'd borrow a few just to try (not buy new, just borrow from friends - or if you have spares).

I'm beginning to wonder about the IDE port on the mb. (esp. since it's reconditioned/used). See if formatting on the Secondary Master changes the outcome.

Also, that incompatibility with WD drives and that chipset might indeed be a problem here, since although the drive's original CCC code is CA and not C1, it may have been altered enough in the "reconditioning" of the drive - and now might have the C1 sort of trouble. (just a guess).

The reason, though, that it would point to cables or IDE ports, is that you said you've taken another known good drive, and had the same result with that drive too.

One other thing you could try is using a different fdisk. (like the tools on the WD LifeGuard).

I'm curious to see how this one ends up. . . (hopefully well!)
. . . Gary

[mike breck]

Sorry for asking for the mobo brand again. What I really wanted to know was the BIOS version.

What was the other brand of HD you used and got the same result?

I tend to agree with Gary, that it must be down to the cable or the mobo IDE controller. However, the only thing that's throwing me is the fact the HD is detected by the BIOS on IDE 1 and is detected properly by FDISK.

It just won't save the partition.

It will be interesting to see if the partition remains when the HD is on IDE 2.

Also, it's a pity you don't have a Promise PCI Controller card lying around. It would be interesting to see if the HD would set up properly on the controller card.

Is this mobo covered by any sort of guarantee? Could you return it?

Just out of interest, try Slaving the WD in your XP machine and seeing if it partitions OK. You can always Zero the drive again to get rid of the XP partition.

[mike breck]

Just another little point I should have raised earlier. You are rebooting the PC after creating the partitions and before formatting with the format C: /s command?

Try making a 2GB Primary Partition and see if that sticks.

[GEAgent21]

Thanks for all the help. I have set up a 2 gig partition. It did the same thing with it. I have tried Ctl, alt, del and reset and complete shutdown after setting active partition in fdisk. I have a 10 gig HD that should be here on monday. The bad part is that I have two of these 3.2 WD harddrives. I am going to try the other one in a little Pent 200 machine that I have on the bench to see what it does with a completely different system. The motherboard in the machine that I'm having trouble with was purchased from ebay. I think it was guarenteed for a couple days but I have had it for over a month. I am going to try the IDE 2 set up to see what happens. I emailed tech support at Western Digital today to see what they say. I Know its the board. I'll bet if I email the MB co they will tel me its the drive. Thanks again.