"Invalid media type reading drive C" error \ VOGONS

"Invalid media type reading drive C" error

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First post, by boxpressed

Posted on 2020-01-31, 15:27

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It's been a few years since I prepped a new HDD for my retro builds, but I decided it was time to do so again.

I bought a NIB Maxtor 30GB ATA133 HDD, which was recognized by the BIOS in my SE440BX-2. I used a 98SE-formatted boot disk with FDISK and FORMAT (98SE versions) to boot and then ran FDISK. The FDISK HDD disk verification during the partitioning seemed fine. I rebooted, then used FORMAT C: /S and got the "Invalid media type reading drive C" error."

I didn't think I needed to use FDISK /MBR with a new Maxtor drive, but I did it anyway. Same error.

So I tried a CF adapter with a 2GB CF card. Same thing.

When I tried again with a new 1GB CF card, I did a DIR on the C: drive just to see what happens, and it worked. It had a directory from an old digital camera, but everything was normal.

When I ran FDISK and FORMAT again, I got the same error as before.

Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong? Thanks!

Reply 1 of 4, by SirNickity

Posted on 2020-01-31, 20:33

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Maybe a BIOS translation issue? Is it set as normal, large, or LBA?

Reply 2 of 4, by boxpressed

Posted on 2020-01-31, 21:35

boxpressed Offline

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SirNickity wrote on 2020-01-31, 20:33:

Maybe a BIOS translation issue? Is it set as normal, large, or LBA?

Possibly. When I used the Maxtor, I got the option when launching FDISK to use large disks, but when I used the 1GB and 2GB cards, I did not get that option (and FDISK would only see them as ~504MB).

However, I think I got it to work, although I can't really see how it should make a difference. This time, I went back to the Maxtor and used FDISK to delete the active partition. I did not create a new, active partition and I didn't try to format from the command line.

I booted off my 98SE CD-ROM and its setup handled the partitioning and formatting for me. Then everything worked as it should.

Reply 3 of 4, by Horun

Posted on 2020-02-01, 02:18

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Ok have had that happen too from Win98SE boot disk not see the full HD but the Win98SE CD does. If less than 32Gb HD you would think it does not matter but for some reason it does in certain circumstances...

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 4 of 4, by boxpressed

Posted on 2020-02-02, 16:19

boxpressed Offline

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I think I solved the problem. I was using a floppy that I thought was a proper 98SE "Startup Disk," but it must have been just a disk to which I had transferred the system and a bunch of essential DOS files from the \WINDOWS\COMMAND directory.

I had forgotten that you have to use the "Startup Disk" maker from the Add/Remove Programs app in Control Panel to make a proper boot disk. It must make a difference because upon using it, I was presented with the large disk option, and everything proceeded smoothly from there.

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