I can't partition my hard drive larger than 2GB. Why?

-The FAT file system (most commonly used by DOS) has a partition limit of 2GB. There is no way to increase the partition size unless you either use NTFS provided by Windows NT or the 32bit file system provided by Windows95. Other operating systems may offer this feature but check with your O/S developer for more information about 2GB limits.

Can I use UDMA drives with my motherboard?

-Yes. Even if your system board does not directly support UDMA, you can still use the drive as a normal EIDE hard drive. If, at a later date, you do upgrade to a UDMA compatible system board, you will be able to use the UDMA performance automatically.

Problems with IDE Tape Drives in Windows 95 and NT

-It has come to our attention that many users are having problems with IDE tape backup drives. We have concluded from lab testing that there is no compatibility issue dealing with our hardware or your IDE backup drive. The root of the problem lies in the fact that all bus mastering software, with the exception of Microsoft's, do not support tape drives.

If you have problems detecting or running IDE tape drives on our boards, try removing all bus master drivers from your system. In most cases, this is all you have to do to get these devices to work properly.

If you are attempting to use an IDE tape drive through a Creative Labs sound blaster IDE port, be aware that Creative Labs's drivers do not support IDE tape drives. You MUST use Microsoft's default drivers to use it.

I have a 12GB IDE Hard Drive. Why does the system BIOS only detect 8GB?

-The AMI WinBios will detect 12GB hard drive if you set the IDE setting in CMOS to AUTO. The BIOS only shows 8GB when you let BIOS to detect the hard drive manually.

The other way to resolve this problem is to use the text mode BIOS. (text mode BIOS file has a "t" inside the filename)

What are the symptoms of an incorrectly installed Hard Drive?

-Some symptoms of incorrectly installed HDDs are:

Hard disk drives are not Auto-Detected:

May be caused by a Master / Slave drive problem or a bad IDE cable. Contact your vendor.

"Hard Disk Drive Fail" message at bootup:

May be caused by a bad cable or lack of power going to the drive.

No video or beeps on bootup:

Usually means the cable is on backwards.

Hard drive lights are constantly on:

Usually means bad IDE cable or defective drives/motherboard. Try another Hard Disk Drive.

Hard drives do not power up:

Check power cables and connections. My also be caused by a bad power supply or IDE drive.

My floppy drive light stays on all the time and I can't read any floppies.

-The number 1 cause for the floppy light staying lit continuously is a reversed cable at either the motherboard or drive end. NEVER stick a floppy disk into a drive if the floppy light is continuously lit because it will render the floppy unreadable.

To correct the problem, make certain that the red stripe on the floppy cable is correctly aligned with pin 1 on the motherboard. In addition, 90% of the floppy drives on the market today require the red stripe on the cable to face the power connector on the drive. If you are unsure of proper cable orientation on the motherboard end, please consult the user manual that is shipped with the motherboard. If you are unsure about cable orientation on the drive end, consult the drive manufacturer.

What are the symptoms of an incorrectly installed Floppy Drive?

-Some symptoms of incorrectly installed floppies are:

Floppy drives are not detected:

Usually caused by faulty cables, backward cables, or a bad floppy or motherboard. Tyr another single floppy drive to verify the problem or try another cable. Also check to see if the onboard floppy is enabled in the BIOS.

"Floppy Drive Fail" message at bootup:

The cable, floppy drive, or motherboard may be faulty. Try another cable or floppy drive to verify.

Light on the floppy is on constantly:

A dead giveaway that the cable is on backwards. Reverse the cable at the motherboard end and try again.

I can't get my COM ports to work. Why?

-99% of the time, not being able to use a com port is a result of not using the supplied cables or the com ports are disabled in the BIOS. To ensure that the motherboard is recognizing and intializing the com ports, boot up the system and review the stat screen (the screen which pops up before it starts the O/S). There you will find a section for I/O ports and if it is working properly, you should see the interupts the com ports are using. (ie.. 2f8, 3e8... etc). If the motherboard shows these as active, it's probably not a bad motherboard but rather a bad or incompatible cable, or you have a IRQ conflict with another communications device such as an internal modem. Remember: you MUST use the supplied cables in order to use the com ports on the motherboard!