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So, uh, I got a 486SX in the shop that I'd love to see if I can get running. It was donated "in working condition" but the owner kept the HDD and I didn't get to see what size it was. I installed a 4090MB IDE HDD (laptop, but used a laptop to desktop adapter) and attempted to input the info into the bios, but it won't work. I know there are specific limits in the kinds of HDDs I can install, and I'm not sure if I'm running into one.
The drive: 4090MB IBM DCTA-24090. Confirmed it works - pulled it from a working laptop. 7944CYL 16H 63 Sec/T.
BIOS reads those numbers when entered as a total of 3910MB however. When it loads it says HDD Controller Failure. Can someone point to me where I'm going wrong?
coinich
Posted 2016-04-01T14:02:52.043
Reputation: 53
roughly 480mb-512mb is the limit. Due to a limitation on CHS.(Cylinders,heads, sectors). If I remember correctly 1023C,63H,255S. Unless your BIOS happens to support LBA. – cybernard – 2016-04-01T14:21:16.090
It is probably the 504 MB limit. Maybe you can find a BIOS update? – masgo – 2016-04-01T14:23:07.457
The BIOS reports up to ~6000MB using a different HDD - way over 504 or 512. Still, the other 6GB HDD is reported a few MB short. I'm not against looking for a BIOS update I'm just not sure how to find one or install it (3.5" floppy?). – coinich – 2016-04-01T14:29:44.910