You can get around drive size limitations with certain partitioning progs. For example, with XP and a 440BX mobo with a 160GB HDD, you can format it to 160GB even though the mobo can only see 137GB.

I've done this with 486s. You just need to figure out a partitioning app that can see all of the drive and make a FAT32 partition with it. Then it "just works". I think Partition Magic can do it. I'm sure there are linux apps on bootdisks that can do it too. Maybe even a XP recovery floppy/CD or install CD with diskpart onboard.

If you just want to make a small partition don't even bother with anything fancy. Just use DOS fdisk and be happy.

Could you do a test of the HDD with Speedsys and post a screenshot?

GL1zdA wrote:

Could you do a test of the HDD with Speedsys and post a screenshot?

OK. Please see below. I ran the full HDD test.

swaaye wrote:

If you just want to make a small partition don't even bother with anything fancy. Just use DOS fdisk and be happy.

That's interesting. Are you saying -

take a large modern HDD, attach it to "modern" mobo (so that its HDD controller can cope OK with it at "POST boot-up"), then fdisk this HDD using say a DOS 6 boot-up diskette, then detach the HDD from the "modern" mobo, and attach it to an ancient mobo:- then this ancient mobo's HDD controller will be able to cope with the modern HDD OK? If that will work, then I guess there's no need to use overlay software.

retro games 100 wrote:

GL1zdA wrote:

Could you do a test of the HDD with Speedsys and post a screenshot?

OK. Please see below. I ran the full HDD test.

Thanks. Does anyone know, whether it is possible to tell, how much bandwidth the HDD controller has based on the Speedsys test ? (linear read speed?) A fast modern HDD should be able to saturate it with ease, so it might be possible, to find the limit.

retro games 100 wrote:

That's interesting. Are you saying -

take a large modern HDD, attach it to "modern" mobo (so that its HDD controller can cope OK with it at "POST boot-up"), then fdisk this HDD using say a DOS 6 boot-up diskette, then detach the HDD from the "modern" mobo, and attach it to an ancient mobo:- then this ancient mobo's HDD controller will be able to cope with the modern HDD OK? If that will work, then I guess there's no need to use overlay software.

Basically yes. But you should be able to find a partitioning program that will do the partitioning of the large drive even on the 486 mobo.

I've done this myself on my PCI 486 with a 8GB limit. Probably used Partition Magic.

The BIOS may not recognize the size, but the OS such as 95C seems okay anyway.

GL1zdA wrote:

Thanks. Does anyone know, whether it is possible to tell, how much bandwidth the HDD controller has based on the Speedsys test ? (linear read speed?) A fast modern HDD should be able to saturate it with ease, so it might be possible, to find the limit.

I think 486 PCI usually manages about 20MB/s. Part of the problem is poor DMA busmastering support so the CPU is quickly maxed out and part is that there just isn't much bandwidth to go around on a 32-bit 486 mobo.

Any 7200RPM desktop drive made in the past 9 years should be able to manage a linear read rate above 20MB/s. Newer 5400s too I'm sure.