C-2
Hard Drives
Automatic Soft-Drive Types
An automatic soft-drive type is a mechanism where the system ROM and Computer Setup provide
support for IDE hard drives that are not supported in the hard drive parameter table. Computer
Setup automatically builds a soft-drive type when it finds that a hard drive is not in the hard drive
parameter table.
The soft-drive types assign according to the table below:
Table C-1
Soft-Drive Type Assignments
Drive
Hard Drive Type
Controller
0
65
Primary
1
66
Primary
0
68
Secondary
1
15
Secondary
For hard drives that are greater than 528 MB, the system automatically translates the hard drive
parameter for DOS by logically halving the cylinders and doubling the heads. This allows DOS to
access greater than 528 MB. The translated hard drive parameters are put into the hard drive
parameter table in the shadow RAM copy of the system ROM. When using any operating system
other than DOS, you must use the Compaq User Diagnostic diskette to set up the hard drive
parameter table without translation.
