What is your system board model?

Most BIOS now has an AUTO setting (and Detect Hard Disk) that will set this up for you.  Perhaps an upgrade will do, but we need to know the make/model of your PC, or better - your system board/BIOS type.

Here's some info:
Normal or CHS: This mode is sometimes called "CHS" mode, for "cylinder, head, sector", the three geometry specifications for a hard disk. This is the "standard" mode with no special translation or addressing. It is used for regular IDE/ATA hard disks that are smaller than 504 MB; more precisely, it should be used for any hard disk that has 1,024 or fewer cylinders and 16 or fewer heads.
LBA: This stands for "logical block addressing". Instead of referring to locations by passing to the disk a cylinder, head and sector number (CHS addressing), the sectors are serialized so that each just has an integer number; 0, 1, 2, etc. up to the total number of sectors on the disk. LBA is now pretty much the standard for addressing large hard disks, and is recommended for hard disks that are not small enough to be used under "Normal" mode. When LBA mode is used, the autodetect program will still translate the drive parameters so that the number of cylinders is less than 1,024, the BIOS limit. However, accesses to the disk will be based on the integer sector number.
Large: This mode is also sometimes called "ECHS" mode, standing for "Extended CHS". This mode uses translation to ensure that the number of cylinders is less than 1,024. However, unlike LBA, it does not then number the sectors linearly, it refers to the disk using the translated cylinder, head and sector values. This is a valid way to deal with larger hard disks, however it is very rarely used and is now considered non-standard. Using this mode is therefore not generally recommended.
Auto: Some BIOSes will automatically detect and set the hard disk mode at boot time. Some BIOSes have the ability to dynamically autodetect all drive settings at boot time. However, even if you aren't using this overall boot-time autodetection, you can use this specific mode autodetection if your BIOS supports it, in most cases.

You may be able to get an update here:
http://www.driverguide.com/
http://www.bios-drivers.com/drivers/20/20541.htm
http://www.video-drivers.com/drivers/28/28745.htm

More Info:
http://www.md4pc.com/questions/58.htm
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/mbsys/bios/set/ideTranslation-c.html
http://www.pccomputernotes.com/hdrives/hdrive02.htm
http://www.storagereview.com/guide2000/ref/hdd/geom/tracks.html

You likely have a BX chipset - what is the motherboard manufacturer, the brand of the BIOS and its version?  You may be able to flash a newer BIOS that is aware of larger disks.  Most motherboard manufacturers provided an update on their websites.

Thank you all for responding.

My BIOS manufacturer and type is:           Award Modular BIOS v 4.51PG
This is what I get in Windows/System Information, and this is the first line When I start my Comp.

After this line I have some other regarding BIOS. Here they are:

ASUS P2B-LS ACPI BIOS Revision 1007
Award Plug and Play Bios Extension v1.0A
Araptec AIC-7890 SCSI BIOS v2.01

I'm not sure what model is my motherboard.I have found three large labels on It and here they are:

ASUS - probalby the manufacturer              ( it is painted onto the board )
next to it is a paper label:  00E018982E40    ( glued onto the board )
P2B-LS -                                                    ( also painted but not next to ASUS )

I'll try to follow some of your links, and find newer BIOS.

I have installed Bios Agent from    http://www.esupport.com/biosagent/ba.exe

It reported the following:

Program:   eSupport.com BIOS Agent Version 3.23
BIOS Date: 12/23/98
BIOS Type: Award Modular BIOS v4.51PG
BIOS ID:   12/23/98-i440BX-P2B
OEM Sign-On: ASUS P2B-LS ACPI BIOS Revision 1007
Chipset:   Intel 440BX/ZX rev 3
Superio:   Winbond 977TF rev 0 found at port 3F0h
OS:        Win2000
CPU:       Pentium® II (0.25 µm) 400 MHz
BIOS ROM In Socket: Unknown
BIOS ROM Size:      Unknown
Memory Installed:   255 MB
Memory Maximum:     Unknown

Can my current BIOS support 40 GB disk, or do I have to upgrade it?

If it does, how do I make it work, and if it doesn't what do I have to do to upgrade it?

I have found at http://www.bios-drivers.com/companies/147.htm that there are many versions of BIOs updates. Which one should I download?

Can this mess up my computer if I choose the wrong one?

You're in luck!
Check it out->
P2B-LS BIOS Ver. 1011. 10/21/99  Support IDE hard disk larger than 32G bytes.

Get it here:http://www.asus.com.tw/download/mbdriver/slot1-440bx.htm
Scroll down to P2B-LS - download the latest 5/3/2000 -it'll include the same support...

Thank you very much. I'll try it.

OK. I have    bxls1012.awd   file now.

How do I use it?

I have found the instructions on http://www.asus.com.tw/inside/Techref/bios-flash.html.

It says I have to change some jumpers in order to enable BIOS flashing.

Unfortunately. I have lost documentation for my motherboard. Is there a WEB site or something that has Motherboar layouts and description?

What is my motherboard model? Can you figure that out from the information above?

Got it ->http://www2.naic.edu/~wapp/DataSheets/ASUS_P2B.pdf

This is it.

I hope this will be my last question:

Where can I download a Flash.exe of Pflash.exe program. I have found dozens of different articles on www.asus.com which explain how to flash the bios but I was unable to find a link to theese ulilyties.

Here's the only list I was able to find, but I'n not sure if this is what I need.

1. Make sure you save the old BIOS just in case..... the BIOS upgrade documentation will tell you how...
2. Make sure that you don't loose commercial power during the BIOS upgrade - use a UPS if you have it.... If you don't
avoid windy and bad weather condition..... You may have an anchor weight on your hand if you loose commercial power during flash.

cheers

Thank you very much for your help.

I flashed the BIOS and formated the disk. It works perfectly now.

I have accepted sirbounty's answer becouse he was patient enough to answer my every question, and mark Gnart's answer as assisted, becouse he gave me a detailed explanation for BIOS shortcuts.

Thanx -glad you got it working

Hi

Ive got a similar problem to sirbounty
I recently bought an 80 gig hd to put in my PII 350 MMX. It also will not detect 80 and only alow me to use 36 gig.
My BIOS manufacturer and type is: Award Modular BIOS v 4.51PG
I do not know my motherboard manufacturer as there is nothing on the board at all that hints to this, and the startup is pretty much as useful as this.
The only other info I have is:

Award PCI/PNP686 ?
6ABX2V version 1.2 ?

I think it may be a Asus motherboard. I bought it in 1998 hence no idea.

As I could understand from all of this:

Award Modular BIOS v 4.51PG is only a skeleton which has to be adopted to a specific motherboard.
So motherboard manufacturer does the required modifications and then adds additional sign specifiing the exact version of modified BIOS.   I think     "6ABX2V version 1.2" is yours, but I'm just guessing.

In my case this was:       ASUS P2B-LS ACPI BIOS Revision 1007
I could read this information when computer starts up (just below original BIOS version) or using BIOS agent: http://www.esupport.com/biosagent/ba.exe.

Try doing a search in google or ASUS pages. Also, if you have documentation for your motherboard, try finding anything concerning BIOS upgrade.
The documentation for my MB had step-by-step tutorial on how to flash my BIOS, and which tools to shoud use.

Basicaly, I think you should search for the same thing, but just with a higher version number.
In my case:        ASUS P2B-LS ACPI BIOS Revision 1007       ->       ASUS P2B-LS ACPI BIOS Revision 1012

Good Luck!

P.S. It all seems so simple now that I've done it      :)

I think your MB manufacturer is Lucky Star, and that there is 6ABX2V version 3.0 available, but I don't know for search.

Just type     >  6ABX2V upgrade <     in google, and you should get everything what you need.

would it be energy star? says that on startup

forget that comment

Does any one know where I can find the latest Lucky star 6ABX2V bios update
I downloaded and tried to flash my bios with the following:
 
  Filename --- 9ka7-2.bin
 

THIS UPDATES BIOS TO 27 MARCH 2000
 Allows hard Drives in excess of 33.8gb

******************************************
(Note : This update is compatible with
Socket 370  & Slot 1 motherboards
******************************************

Usage:
Copy both files to DOS boot disk &
Run with the syntax  
" awdFlash 9ka7-2.bin " (without quotes)

It also helps that Lucky Star are no more........which isnt lucky for me

I would like to add for your edification...

Check your drive manufactures web site for your new HD spec's. Some bios, even newer ones, will not automatically configure your bios for your HD. I have noticed many MB bios automatically defer to PIO rather than DMA mode 4.

Example with an Western Digital WD WD307AA model drive wich transfers data at 66MBS in Mode 4 Ultra ATA, 33MBS in Mode 2 Ultra ATA, & 16 MBS Mode 4 PIO. Obviously you might prefer a higher transfer rate, but most bios of the generation you have will automatically configure for PIO Mode 4. I believe in your bios those settings are configured in the Integrated Peripherals page of bios.


JMFOX

just adding another solution for others that may come across this thread and the provided fixes do not work.  

Western Digital (and probably other hard drive manufacturers) provide alternative jumper settings (slave, Master) on back of hard drive to force detection by older motherboards.  This can be used when you have an old motherboard that does not have a bios update to enable detection by the normal process

link for western digital alternative jumpers:

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=4Q8AD74h&p_lva=&p_faqid=83&p_created=1005001469&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MzMmcF9jYXRfbHZsMT04MSZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=

link may need to be copied and pasted in address bar.