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Thread: how to format FAT32 SATA HDD

  1. #1
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    how to format FAT32 SATA HDD

    I'm having the devil of a time getting my new system up and running. Seems like each problem solved only uncovers another. The system consists of a SATA-1 compatible mobo (ASUS A8V Deluxe), AMD X2 4200+ CPU and a single 250GB Barracuda. The BIOS recognizes the HDD during POST, but the XP install requires a SATA driver, which I had to get from VIA's website as it's not posted on the ASUS website. Go figure.

    Anyway, during my first attempt to install XP, I accidentally created an NTFS Primary partition. I need to use FAT32 for this system and I forgot to use DOS FDISK and FORMAT to set up the Primary partition. I had to download MS DELPART to get rid of the NTFS partition. I was then able to use FDISK (from WinME Startup disk) to create an 80GB FAT32 partition as Primary. I was a happy camper until I realized that FORMAT.EXE (also from WinME Startup disk) can't format the drive. It returns "Invalid media type reading drive C"

    I'm guessing this is related to the driver issue. The VIA driver I previously downloaded is obviously no help with MS DOS utilities.

    I imagine XP could format the drive as FAT32 during normal install, but I'd be limited to 32GB.

    What other options do I have to format the 80GB FAT32 partition I created?

    Thanks (and desperate)
    David

  2. #2
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    Try the WinMe bootdisk from http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

    What I use to exceed the 64 GB limit. Sometimes you see some funny number, but once it is finished, they have always been right.

    Partition Magic 8.0 will format it Fat32 ok.

  3. #3
    Stark Raving MOD Midknyte's Avatar
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    xp does not require a sata driver as long as you use "IDE compatibility mode" in the bios. look for something along those lines in the bios. do not use RAID or AHCI modes.

  4. #4
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    My mobo has two SATA controllers -- Promise and VIA. The Promise has an IDE mode. But best I can tell from the documentation, it's mainly for RAID, and is disabled by default in the BIOS. The VIA controller, although capable of RAID as well, is apparently the best one to use for an independent HDD.

    Having said that, I never tried to connect my drive to the headers associated with the Promise controller. The bootdisk referred by Train did the trick (thank you Train). The FORMAT command on that disk is apparently updated from the one that came with WinME. It formatted the drive without any problem.

    These early SATA-1 mobos apparently had a lot of problems since SATA was not yet native to the mobo. I just wish ASUS had mentioned something in the docs about needing to load the VIA drivers.

    David

  5. #5
    Stark Raving MOD Midknyte's Avatar
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    I skimmed the manual. i don't see any DOS drivers for the SATA controllers, and there isn't an IDE mode for that particular controller.

    why do you need an 80GB FAT32 partition? i see you mentioning winme. can't you run winme in a VM in winxp?

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Midknyte
    I skimmed the manual. i don't see any DOS drivers for the SATA controllers, and there isn't an IDE mode for that particular controller.
    Apparently none needed. I don't pretend to understand these things, but the FORMAT.EXE program on the bootdisk referred by Train formatted my FAT32 partition without any problem.

    why do you need an 80GB FAT32 partition? i see you mentioning winme. can't you run winme in a VM in winxp?
    Since you asked...
    The reason I want to have FAT32 primary is exactly what you said... I want to run WinME on my XP machine. I've read that certain situations can arise that would make it desirable to have both OS's using the same file structure.

    The reason I need to have ME on my new machine is because I have some critical software I cannot re-install on a new machine and don't have space for two computers. Plus, being able to run my existing ME install as needed on the new machine will make the transition MUCH easier. I can move all my stuff over to XP as needed rather than all at once (I've been using the ME machine for nearly eight years!!)

    I originally was going to set up my new machine for dual-boot, so I bought the fastest, most current mobo that I know will support WinME. However, right after I bought the mobo and processor, some folks in this forum encouraged me to instead use a VM. That appealed to me because it would make switching back and forth between ME and XP much easier. But I didn't think it was possible to clone a live OS into a VM. But I found some folks on Acronis True Image forum who've done this. I plan to use MS Virtual PC.

    In any case, if for some reason I'm not successful, my mobo will directly support WinMe, so I can revert to the dual boot scenario.

    As for the size of the partition, 80GB should be more than enough for my primary. I'm not a disk hog. After nearly eight years, my WinME HDD only has about 10 GB in use.

    David

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