Arch Linux

11010010110

Member

Registered: 2008-01-14

Posts: 284

installing large hard drive in old computer

I have a computer with Intel BX 440 chipset which supports about 32 GB hard drive

I want to install 80 or 160 GB drive in it

I tried to plug in 40 and 80 gig drives i have without the jumper - the box hangs in the memory test screen

I can buy a drive that has jumper that limits the capacity to 32 GB

May i expect the computer boot correctly from this drive with the jumper on ?

Will then linux override the jumper setting and have access to the entire drive ?

Do i need special partitioning scheme or just to have /boot with the kernel in the first 32 gigs ?

If later i move the drive to another box and set the jumper to standard settings will the drive be ready to use without being reformatted ?

What drive manufacturer or model you recommend ? (Drive needs to be reliable and long lived and silent and to not heat much)

vogt

Member

From: Toronto, Canada

Registered: 2006-11-25

Posts: 389

Re: installing large hard drive in old computer

Perhaps there is a bios update that will get rid of that 32GB limit:
http://www.bpcomp.com/osblimit.html

That jumper on that drive could probably work, but perhaps a couple compact flash cards might meet your needs in a similar budget?

And you have to consider whether or not it is worthwhile to keep such old hardware running, since newer equipment is more efficient, and has less of those legacy issues