Abit SL6 User Manual page 43

BIOS Setup
IDE Primary Master:
Three settings are available: Auto, Manual and None. If you choose Auto, the BIOS will
automatically check what kind of hard disk you are using. If you want to set the HDD
parameters yourself, make sure you fully understand the meaning of the parameters, and be
sure to refer to the manual provided by the HDD manufacture to get the settings right.
Access Mode:
Since old operating systems were only able to support HDDs with capacities no bigger than
528MB, any hard disk with more than 528MB was unusable. AWARD BIOS features a
solution to this problem: you can, according to your operating system, choose four operating
modes: NORMAL ) LBA ) LARGE )Auto.
The HDD auto detection option in the sub-menu will automatically detect the parameters of
your hard disk and the mode supported.
Auto:
Lets the BIOS detect your HDD access mode and make the decisions.
Normal mode:
Standard normal mode supports hard disks of up to 528MB or less. This mode directly
uses positions indicated by Cylinders (CYLS), Heads, and Sectors to access data.
LBA (Logical Block Addressing) mode:
The earlier LBA mode can support HDD capacities of up to 8.4GB, and this mode uses a
different method to calculate the position of disk data to be accessed. It translates
Cylinders (CYLS), Heads and Sectors into a logical address where data is located. The
Cylinders, Heads, and Sectors displayed in this menu do not reflect the actual structure
of the hard disk. They are just reference values used to calculate actual positions.
Currently, all high capacity hard disks support this mode and that is why we recommend
you use this mode. Currently, the BIOS can support the INT 13h extension function,
enabling the LBA mode to support hard disk drive capacities exceeding 8.4GB.
Large Mode:
When the number of cylinders (CYLs) of the hard disk exceeds 1024 and DOS is not
able to support it, or if your operating system does not support LBA mode, you should
select this mode.
Capacity:
This item auto displays your HDD size. Note that this size is usually slightly greater than the
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User's Manual