The BIOS can automatically detect the specifications and optimal operating mode of almost all IDE hard drives. When you select type AUTO for a hard drive, the BIOS detects its specifications
If you do not want to select drive type AUTO, other methods of selecting the drive type are available:
1.Match the specifications of your installed IDE hard drive(s) with the preprogrammed values for drive types 1 through 45.
2.Select USER and enter values into each drive parameter field.
3.Use the IDE HDD AUTO DETECTION function in Setup.
Here is a brief explanation of drive specifications:
Type: The BIOS contains a table of predefined drive types. Each defined drive type has a specified number of cylinders, number of heads, write precompensation factor, landing zone, and number of sectors. Drives whose specifications do not accommodate any predefined type are classified as type USER.
Size: Disk drive capacity (approximate). Note that this size is usually slightly greater than the size of a formatted disk given by a
Cyls: Number of cylinders
Head: Number of heads
Precomp: Write precompensation cylinder
Landz: Landing zone
Sector: Number of sectors
Mode: Auto, Normal, Large, or LBA
-Auto: The BIOS automatically determines the optimal mode.
-Normal: Maximum number of cylinders, heads, and sectors supported are 1024, 16, and 63.
-Large: For drives that do not support LBA and have more than 1024 cylinders.
