[ltp] maximum supported harddisk size for T42 and T23

[Karel Podvolecky]

Hi,
  generally I think it's not a BIOS who in fact limits maximum drive
size. It's interface itself.
EIDE interface has 137GB limit. Newer EIDE ( I think ATA-7 specs)
supports LBA48 addressing which supports much larger capacities than
todays disks can reach.

To investigate, run 'hdparm -I /dev/hda' and look if there is line:
"48-bit Address feature set" with star mark (*). If not, you have limit
137GB drive (so 120GB drive should be fine).

And to BIOS stuff:
BIOS can limit capacity only to boot an OS. After linux kernel loads, it
loads it's own EIDE (PATA) driver, which isn't depend on BIOS, so you
can see all capacity supported by interface. In this case, there may be
problems with identification of partitions in newer computer, because it
has different CHS used to create them, but if you use it only in your
notebook, it should be fine. And little 1024 cylinder warning: I suggest
you to create first partition as /boot, so BIOS can see it.

kapo



Martin Steigerwald napsal(a):
> Hello!
> 
> Where can I find out what a maximum support harddisk for a certain 
> ThinkPad model is?
> 
> In concrete I have the following questions:
> 
> 1) Would a 80GB drive - that before worked in a T42 - work in a T23? The 
> hardware specs only mentions drives upto 60GB but I think thats how IBM 
> delivered them and I am not sure whether there is a hard BIOS limit at 
> 60GB.
> 
> 2) Would a 120 GB drive work in a T42? The hardware specs only mentions 
> drives upto 80GB.
> 
> I would like to avoid buying a disk that does not work in the end...
> 
> Ciao,