Can hdd's geometry bee changed ?

**temeteus82** · Nov 17, 2006, 05:06 PM

Hi there!
Can someone tell me if hard-drive's geometry can bee modified...

H3X4D3C1M4L · Nov 17, 2006, 05:26 PM

Geometry as in its heads/cylinders/sectors geometry?

Modern drives have that autoconfigured and changing that would mean possibly messing up the drive if you try and allocate space that isn't there (lost sectors, corrupted tracks etc).

You used to be able to do that with floppies and manually configured (BIOS type 47) drives back in the 386 golden days, though never with SCSI drives.

Technically the naswer to that question is "Yes" but I question the widsom in doing so.

However if its just old hardware and you want to experiment then see if you can get into the BIOS and manually configure the CHS values for it, do a low level format, then try it out

**temeteus82** · Nov 17, 2006, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H3X4D3C1M4L

Geometry as in its heads/cylinders/sectors geometry?

Modern drives have that autoconfigured and changing that would mean possibly messing up the drive if you try and allocate space that isn't there (lost sectors, corrupted tracks etc).

You used to be able to do that with floppies and manually configured (BIOS type 47) drives back in the 386 golden days, though never with SCSI drives.

Technically the naswer to that question is "Yes" but I question the widsom in doing so.

However if its just old hardware and you want to experiment then see if you can get into the BIOS and manually configure the CHS values for it, do a low level format, then try it out

Thanks... PQmagic was giving mee info that the dive might have bad geometry ...

but anyway the drive that had it some cache chip malfunctioned just after I copyed some files to it

[EDIT] Here's image of the damage ... might bee that the whole hdd was damaged in the first place...

Matth · Nov 18, 2006, 03:34 PM

Is that a fireballed Fireball drive?
The Fireball 3 range (not sure if that's the actual name) seem to be prone to chip-frying.

**temeteus82** · Nov 18, 2006, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matth

Is that a fireballed Fireball drive?
The Fireball 3 range (not sure if that's the actual name) seem to be prone to chip-frying.

Seagate Barracuda 7900.10

swimtech · Nov 19, 2006, 06:56 PM

Ouch, seen that with some Maxtors over the past couple years...

H3X4D3C1M4L · Nov 19, 2006, 09:33 PM

Ouch! A new 7200.10 drive frying... warranty that thing pronto

**temeteus82** · Nov 19, 2006, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H3X4D3C1M4L

Ouch! A new 7200.10 drive frying... warranty that thing pronto

Yeah I was 10 minutes before they opened the doors and the tech who took a look of the drive wasn't really up to speed at 9 am...

It took some time to him to see the problem, but I got my self new now and it has worked just fine... temperature is around 37 Celsius...

H3X4D3C1M4L · Nov 19, 2006, 10:00 PM

Better luck in future

Nov 18, 2006, 03:34 PM	#4
Matth Flash Banner Hater Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: UK Posts: 3,426 Rep Power: 93 System Specs	Is that a fireballed Fireball drive? The Fireball 3 range (not sure if that's the actual name) seem to be prone to chip-frying. __________________ Mary had a little lamb, Her father shot it dead Now Mary takes her lamb to school, Between two crusts of bread

Nov 19, 2006, 06:56 PM	#6
swimtech HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,040 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	Ouch, seen that with some Maxtors over the past couple years... __________________ It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

Nov 17, 2006, 05:26 PM	#2
H3X4D3C1M4L DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6,794 Rep Power: 0	Geometry as in its heads/cylinders/sectors geometry? Modern drives have that autoconfigured and changing that would mean possibly messing up the drive if you try and allocate space that isn't there (lost sectors, corrupted tracks etc). You used to be able to do that with floppies and manually configured (BIOS type 47) drives back in the 386 golden days, though never with SCSI drives. Technically the naswer to that question is "Yes" but I question the widsom in doing so. However if its just old hardware and you want to experiment then see if you can get into the BIOS and manually configure the CHS values for it, do a low level format, then try it out

Nov 19, 2006, 09:33 PM	#7
H3X4D3C1M4L DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6,794 Rep Power: 0	Ouch! A new 7200.10 drive frying... warranty that thing pronto

Nov 19, 2006, 10:00 PM	#9
H3X4D3C1M4L DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6,794 Rep Power: 0	Better luck in future