Hardware

Ask something
Discussion Locked

AST BRAVO

0 helpful
8 replies

by lbsmusica2

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.
Can a 20 gig hard drive work in an Ast Bravo MS5166M computer.It does support LBA and has a 6 gig drive now.It has 128 MEG RAM 16x cd-rom win 98se and v1.06 bios.

8 replies

by dmiles

Check the BIOS manufactured date,when booting computer stop at the startup screen and go to manufacturersweb site to check the motherboard to see if the BIOS needs to be updated to support larger hard drives

by thechas

Give this site a check with your serial number as there are several different Bravo systems:

http://www.ari-service.com/support/product_info.asp

Remove the space between ari- and service.

I would not be surprised if this PC had an 8.4GB HDDlimit.

Since this is a desktop, you do have an option if the BIOS cannot properly detect your hard drive.
You can install a PCI IDE controller card.

These cards sell for under $30 (US) and will likely give you a higher data transfer rate thanyour on-board IDE controller.

If the 20GB drive is ATA 66 or 100, you will realize a 2 to 3 times data transfer rate increase over the on-board controller.

Chas

by lbsmusica2

I will start with the last answer.Yes it is a 20 gig ata 100.The other hard drive is a maxtor 8.4 with a pin limiter for 7.9.Pins 5,6 are used.Pins 7,9 are across not up and down,this one can be used for limitor on the drive. The bios is up to date for what ARI has available,on Bravo 5166m.The board is 133 to 233mhz.I am using a 166mhz,Bios v106.

by thechas

Since the CLA jumper is in place on the existing drive, I would assume that the BIOS cannot properly detect large hard drives.

Further, unless both drives are Maxtors, you may have problems if you attempt to install both drives on the same IDE cable.

Therefore, I recommend that you invest in a PCI IDE controller card.
For hard drive detection, the PCI card has it's own BIOS. It will recognize the full size of your hard drive.
As previously stated, you have the further benefit of the faster data transfer rate.

If you wish to boot off of the new drive, you will need to change the boot sequence in BIOS settings to place SCSI in the list.
(SCSI is the default BIOS setting to boot from a drive connected to a plug-in controller card.)

Chas

by lbsmusica2

There is a controller card that supports 4 IDE drives.The First IDE drive on the cable is the Maxtor 8.4gig.No other drive is using that cable.The second IDE drive is the cd-rom.It is using IDE Cable 2 second master.No other drive on the cable.The 20 gig was placed on the first cable first master position,just as the maxtor was. The other drive is a Western Digital 7200 ATA 100 20 GIG Drive.All have been done already.No detection.

by lbsmusica2

TheChas answer seemed good to get me going,I had hoped,but with all said and done,the drive was not detected,therefore did not work.I followed the instuctions to the letter.There are many computer techs that help everyday.I myself have had many years and diplomas from computer courses.The new technology is rising faster everyday.It is hard to keepup.Thanks all

This discussion is closed to new replies.