Groups > comp.lang.forth > #19695

BIOS drive capacity limit, was [Re: FORTH for brute force test available? ??? ;/]

From	"Rod Pemberton" <do_not_have@notemailnotz.cnm>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.forth, alt.os.development
Subject	BIOS drive capacity limit, was [Re: FORTH for brute force test available? ??? ;/]
Date	2013-02-13 02:00 -0500
Organization	Aioe.org NNTP Server
Message-ID	<kffdjc$udv$1@speranza.aioe.org> (permalink)
References	<vI-dncAjquwIjIXMnZ2dnUVZ_s2dnZ2d@supernews.com> <kf9dph$kii$1@speranza.aioe.org> <3N-dnQ92c_hGjoTMnZ2dnUVZ_uSdnZ2d@supernews.com> <kfdgs4$qbp$1@speranza.aioe.org> <meKdnW56yJy8xYfMnZ2dnUVZ_iydnZ2d@supernews.com>

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"Richard Owlett" <rowlett@pcnetinc.com> wrote in message
news:meKdnW56yJy8xYfMnZ2dnUVZ_iydnZ2d@supernews.com...

> It's been decades since I dived into BIOS routines. Just how
> large a drive can a BIOS handle?

I'm not entirely sure.  There are a number of capacity barriers.
They are the result of limitations created by the combination of
the BIOS calls and the drive interface, e.g., IDE or ATA, or the
OS, e.g., DOS or Windows.  The BIOS Int 13h interface has been
extended by a number of BIOS related specifications.  I've listed
the critical ones that I'm aware of below the links to webpages on
drive capacity limits.  I'm not aware of an extension to Int 13h
to support 48-bit LBA.  That could mean BIOSes after 1998 are
limited to 128GB (28-bit LBA).  Of course, you can directly
program ATA devices instead of using the BIOS.

Webpages discussing drive capacity limits:
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Large-Disk-HOWTO-4.html
http://web.inter.nl.net/hcc/J.Steunebrink/bioslim.htm
http://ata-atapi.com/hiwchs.html
http://mrkay.org/zenpc/ref/hdd/bios/modesECHS-c.html


1981 original IBM PC BIOS Int 13h
1984 original IBM AT BIOS Int 13h - CHS upto 504MB
1992 IBM/MS Int 13h extensions - CHS translation
1994 Phoenix Enhanced Disk Drive 1.0 - CHS translation 8.4GB
1996 ATA-2 - 28-bit LBA - 128GB
1998 Phoenic EDD 3.0 - Int 13h extended for 28-LBA
2001 ATA/ATAPI-6 - 48-bit LBA - 144PB


Rod Pemberton
PS.  I added alt.os.development in the case someone there
has more information.

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Thread

FORTH for brute force test available? ??? ;/ Richard Owlett <rowlett@pcnetinc.com> - 2013-02-10 15:30 -0600
  Re: FORTH for brute force test available? ??? ;/ "Clyde W. Phillips Jr." <cwpjr02@gmail.com> - 2013-02-10 13:43 -0800
  Re: FORTH for brute force test available? ??? ;/ Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2013-02-10 14:07 -0800
    Re: FORTH for brute force test available? ??? ;/ "Rod Pemberton" <do_not_have@notemailnotz.cnm> - 2013-02-10 19:26 -0500
    Re: FORTH for brute force test available? ??? ;/ Hannu Vuolasaho <hannu.vuolasaho@nospam.tut.fi.invalid> - 2013-02-11 04:52 +0000
    Re: FORTH for brute force test available? ??? ;/ Andy Valencia <user@vsta.org> - 2013-02-11 19:43 +0000
      Re: FORTH for brute force test available? ??? ;/ "Clyde W. Phillips Jr." <cwpjr02@gmail.com> - 2013-02-11 12:41 -0800
      Re: FORTH for brute force test available? ??? ;/ Bernd Paysan <bernd.paysan@gmx.de> - 2013-02-11 22:01 +0100
  Re: FORTH for brute force test available? ??? ;/ "Rod Pemberton" <do_not_have@notemailnotz.cnm> - 2013-02-10 19:26 -0500
    Re: FORTH for brute force test available? ??? ;/ Richard Owlett <rowlett@pcnetinc.com> - 2013-02-11 09:52 -0600
      Re: FORTH for brute force test available? ??? ;/ "Rod Pemberton" <do_not_have@notemailnotz.cnm> - 2013-02-12 08:43 -0500
        Re: FORTH for brute force test available? ??? ;/ Richard Owlett <rowlett@pcnetinc.com> - 2013-02-12 08:56 -0600
          Re: FORTH for brute force test available? ??? ;/ Howerd <howerdo@yahoo.co.uk> - 2013-02-12 11:38 -0800
          BIOS drive capacity limit, was [Re: FORTH for brute force test available? ??? ;/] "Rod Pemberton" <do_not_have@notemailnotz.cnm> - 2013-02-13 02:00 -0500

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