Seagate ST31270A Computer Drive User Manual


 
Determining if your BIOS accepts more
than 528 Mbytes
The following suggestions can help you to determine whether
your BIOS limits the drive capacity to 528 Mbytes.
If you are using a 286 or 386 computer, the native BIOS does
not recognize more than 528 Mbytes.
If the copyright date of the BIOS is earlier than 1994, it
probably will not recognize more than 528 Mbytes. The BIOS
copyright date, manufacturer and version number appear on
your screen at the beginning of power-on or reboot.
Install the drive using the Standard setup described on page
18. (Transfer the free software stored on the drive to a diskette
before you start the installation. See page 11 for transfer
instructions.) When the installation is complete, type dir
d
: for
the new drive and check the number of bytes free. The number
should be close to the formatted capacity of your drive. If the
number is less than 528 Mbytes, you need to consider alter-
natives for surpassing the 528-Mbyte barrier. Some alterna-
tives are listed below.
Solutions for surpassing the 528-Mbyte barrier
Upgrade the BIOS to one that supports more than 528 Mbytes.
Such BIOSs incorporate logical block addressing (LBA) and
extended cylinder-head-sector (ECHS) addressing.
Use a host adapter that supports more than 528 Mbytes.
Use the free installation software, EZ-Drive, that is stored on
the drive at the factory or an equivalent. (See page 11 for
instructions on transferring the software to a diskette. See
page 16 for instructions on using EZ-Drive.)
Use dual-drive emulation. Dual-drive emulation makes the
drive two logical drives for the computer. Each logical drive is
assigned a drive type in System Setup and is partitioned and
formatted. However, you can only use the translation geome-
Medalist 1270 Installation Guide, July 1995 13