200GB hard drives: does it work?

[MartinL]

Has anyone experienced some problems (or success) with an IDE 200GB hard drive (7200RPM - Ultra ATA/100)?

I\'m thinking of getting one for VSL, but I\'m not sure if it is too big... On the Western Digital web site, they say that it should be the exact same speed as a smaller drive...

Anyone?

Thanks,
Martin

[Sam]

I don\'t have your answer (sorry!) but one thing I know, my Promise controller requires the latest bios to be flashed for WD drives > 137 gigs, probably all brands of huge drives. I think there was an IDE protocol limit (or something) at 137G, I wouldn\'t be surprised if a late bios flash is required for huge drives on other controllers / motherboards.

If I were to bet I bet it works and with great performance.

[MartinL]

I was aware of the 137GB limit... In fact, WD suggest to contact the motherboard manufacturers to check if the BIOS supports more than 137GB for a drive...

So I sent an email to ASUS about my motherboard... Still waiting for their answer...

[christian marin]

martin, in case there has been no answer:
besides the bios it\'s the chipset (IDE-controller) that has to support big drives first
you should find the name/manufacterer/type in your manual or device-manager
windows earlier than XP with intel-controllers may also need the inf-update, with via-controllers the latest 4-in-1-drivers
and don\'t forget to use 80-pin-cables for this drive and place the master at the end
christian