Duncan Walker <[log in to unmask]> writes:
DW> Does anyone have any experience w/BIOS Update Cards like the ATA PRO
DW> PnP, AMI BIOS Extender, etc.?

Rick Glazier writes: Yes, with an older type and brand.
It "should have worked", in a 486-33 limited to 505/515m.
I used every trick I could think of and "fought" with it
for hours on a clean system/hard drive. I figured I must
have had a bad combination of "chipsets", drivers or the
board may have been defective.  I gave up, and stuck in
EZdrive. (I had a time limitation.)

DW> From what I understand, they override the onboard BIOS settings and
DW> among other things allow larger HD support for older systems (I have
DW> a Dell P133c).

For most of these "products" (the cards, EZdrive, and
DiskManager(TM)), you usually need to set the system BIOS
to something specific or a strange "drive type number"
AS determined by the "PRODUCT INSTRUCTIONS" you are using.
So YES, in the sense you put in what they tell you, they then
"override" it. They "used to" use some "very" small setting...
The trick later, in a recovery/service operation,
is having/remembering those instructions. There are a lot of
specific ways different board and "software solutions" answer
this problem, so knowing what was used is an important part
of being and staying successful.

DW> The larger HD support is primarily what I'm looking
DW> for, w/o the drawbacks of Disk Manager, etc...
DW> W/regard to larger HD support, I infer that they're sort of a
DW> hardware analog to Disk Manager, etc.  I'm using DM on another
computer,
DW> but from recent posts, I understand that DM limits the use of an HD
from
DW> a computer that uses DM on another computer that doesn't have or need
DW> DM...  I want to be able to freely share HDs among multiple computers
DW> (P90s, P133s, and P450s) w/o having to fiddle w/software like DM.

A long time ago, (at that time - in an older hardware/software
environment), I found there were "standards" for setting up a
Hard Drive. I quickly found out, like most things in computers,
there are different "flavors" or implementations of those
standards. All the equipment I am talking about next is still
running... I have taken LBA drives and moved them to similar
LBA systems, and they would not run...  I was VERY surprised
to discover the standard of LBA has different "flavors".  I
did the same thing with hard drives on the second ports of
vesa controller cards...
No can do...

In my opinion, a drive works best in the system it was set up in.
Moving it to a different BIOS/system can sometimes bring unexpected
results. This does not count all the master/slave/standalone jumper
changes, and the need to set parameters unless the system will handle
it... (Newer systems "sometimes" can... But for this discussion we
are taking a trip down memory lane...)

DW> One other question:  on the Dell P90 which I've set-up a lge HD using
DW> DM, what will I have to do to change to a BIOS update card?  Will I
DW> have to reformat it and loose the data/progs on it?

In a word, YES, and they will tell you that. In the real world,
depending on drive sizes, dozens of other factors, maybe not...
You should ASSUME when removing any DDO that the data WILL BE LOST!!!!!
Anything else is nothing short of a miracle...  But that  is what
backups and drive transfer programs are for...  Data should
"always" be at least two places at all times...
Anything less, is begging for trouble...

A short answer to all your questions:  With your mix of equipment
everything might "fall into place" and work perfectly with no problems.
I always "hope" for that too... (Don't we all?)
You will only know for sure by trying it...  That is always the only
way to know for sure...
All of the above is from personal experience.
Your mileage may, (and probably will), vary...

What "the list" needs is a different thread started about
the flavors and ways EZdrive and especially DiskManager(TM)
have changed over the years...
"That" is a very complex subject, so I can't start here...

           Rick Glazier
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                         PCBUILD's List Owner's:
                      Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
                        Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]>