Compaq Presario 5465 HDD size limit? \ VOGONS

Compaq Presario 5465 HDD size limit?

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First post, by lmttn

Posted on 2019-08-09, 01:27

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I recently got a Compaq Presario 5465, and while it for the most part works fine it has a major issue at the motherboard/BIOS level: it seems to have a pretty low cap on how big of an HDD it will support. The computer came with a 4.3GB drive, and every attempt I made to swap it with the various 40/80GB Western Digital drives I have lying about have all resulted in the computer sitting at the Compaq splash screen. The motherboard seems to be a rebranded Gigabyte GA-5SMM, but upon looking at a huge archive of Compaq drivers, I've found no BIOS updates. Am I screwed? Is there an alternate BIOS/update I could use? Could I use a PCI IDE controller (would that even work if it's the only HDD in use?)?

Reply 1 of 11, by weldum

Posted on 2019-08-09, 04:24

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a pci ide controller should work and also may give you better transfer speeds
that bios may have a 32gb cap, or even a 8.4gb cap, don't know the year it came that computer

DT: R7-5800X3D/R5-3600/R3-1200/P-G5400/FX-6100/i3-3225/P-8400/D-900/K6-2_550
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TC: Esther-1000/Esther-400/Vortex86-366
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Reply 2 of 11, by lmttn

Posted on 2019-08-09, 17:12

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Can PCI IDE controllers be used if the only HDD in the whole system is connected to it rather than directly into the mobo?

Reply 3 of 11, by weldum

Posted on 2019-08-09, 17:36

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it should work fine, but make sure you disable the internal ide in bios

Reply 4 of 11, by derSammler

Posted on 2019-08-09, 17:38

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Try manually changing the address mode for the hard disk in the BIOS from LBA to Large or vice-versa. I had many times that auto-detect used a mode which caused a freeze at POST.

Reply 5 of 11, by lmttn

Posted on 2019-08-09, 20:00

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Unfortunately none of those options seem to be available in this BIOS. It's extremely light on options at all, and I don't know if there's any alternative that I could flash onto this board (The current screen reads 2A5IMG09, Award Software)

Reply 6 of 11, by weldum

Posted on 2019-08-09, 20:14

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since is based on a gigabyte board, you should be able to flash the original bios
bear in mind that these "oem" boards may lack some physical components that are needed in the original bios

Reply 7 of 11, by Wolfus

Posted on 2019-08-09, 20:38

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Cannot find specifications, but if it is the same or similar Compaq I used to own (Pentium 2, and AGP blocked by serial port), HDD limit is 6,4GB and PCI IDE card can work with bigger disks (40 GB tested).

Reply 8 of 11, by lmttn

Posted on 2019-08-10, 04:51

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Wolfus wrote:
Cannot find specifications, but if it is the same or similar Compaq I used to own (Pentium 2, and AGP blocked by serial port), HDD limit is 6,4GB and PCI IDE card can work with bigger disks (40 GB tested).

I don't have the exact same model but it is of a similar era (AMD K6-2, no AGP), but that is good news. My main worry was that it wouldn't be able to see the only HDD in the whole system if it was hooked up to an IDE card rather than directly to the board.

Reply 9 of 11, by Wolfus

Posted on 2019-08-10, 07:23

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You can still use IDE-CF with 4GB as system disk and big "modern" HDD on PCI card.

Reply 10 of 11, by lmttn

Posted on 2019-08-10, 16:25

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I would like to but the case only has one HDD bay (the two other 3.5" bays bulge out of the front of the case for floppy drives since the case has a huge front-plate) and the rest of the case is so cramped there is really no other safe spot to place one.

Reply 11 of 11, by Wolfus

Posted on 2019-08-10, 16:30

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Isn't there place under CD drive..? I don't remember exactly 😒

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