Big (> 137GB) Drive Support

[Tony Wasson]

I asked one of the techs I work with about 137GB support. I found it
informative and I summarize here...

Brand new motherboards support 48bit LBA, breaking the 137GB barrier. With
old motherboards, a BIOS upgrade may be available. If your BIOS doesn't have
a >137GB update, you need to use one of the controller cards for Windows to
'boot from it' or even 'see it'.

For Linux to 'see' it you need LBA48 support in the kernel. Old hardware
works, but may not boot from it. Also, there appear to be some Promise Linux
drivers out there. As always the ATA speeds are downward compatible, so your
ATA133 drive will work on an even an ATA33 system; some people said they
didn't notice any 'hit' not having ATA133 support .

Interesting reads:
http://www.uwsg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0204.3/0484.html
http://www.google.com/search?q=137GB+support+Linux

Tony Wasson