Windows XP and 2TB+

Discussion in 'Windows XP / Older OS' started by pappyN4, Jan 28, 2023.

  1. pappyN4

    pappyN4 MDL Novice

    Feb 5, 2022
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    https://forums.mydigitallife.net/th...-on-newer-hardware.81607/page-20#post-1751859
    @mistersmith

    I did a bit of testing with this. On XP I get the same as you, its seen in Device Manager as a Disk Drive but it doesn't populate the volume when I tested a 4TB GPT HDD as a second drive. The problem is not with storport however.

    On XP64, with the default disk.sys, partmgr.sys and backported storport 6.1.7601.25735. Both the amd_sata 1.2.1.402 and the storahci 6.2.9200.20652 can see and write to the drive. Partitioned with gparted or the built in windows disk managment tool. Tested by writing 3TB to ensure no weird overwriting issues. All good.

    With server2003r2standard x86 and the x86 version of storport 6.1, amd_sata, and storahci. The 4TB drive is seen as you would expect. I didnt do any overwrite testing since it was only a quick test.

    So back to XP32, the disk.sys and partmgr.sys from server2003 gave it the ability to see/write to GPT disks up to 2TB. The paragon driver didnt do anything for me... From the few post that exists, it looks like its hooks into the IDE side of things, so not useful for any new motherboard that is AHCI only. I also tried the win7 msahci since there is some overlap with atapi/pcidex but also didnt work.

    Since >2TB worked on server2003x86 (NT5.2) then I would say that the issue is not with the backported SATA/storport/etc... drivers but something within windows NT5.1(XP) compared to NT5.2.

    I did a quick test copying over files from server onto XP to see if it was something simple; crcdisk.sys, dmboot, dmio, dmload, fltmgr, fs_rec, ftdisk, mountmgr, ntfs, volsnap, storprop.dll. Booted, but still stuck at 2TB. (ftdisk and volsnap need to be patched over to ntoskrn8 if you care to test more)
     
  2. mistersmith

    mistersmith MDL Novice

    Jan 2, 2021
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    Hi there, saw your ping today.

    Thanks for getting into the bottom of this! I'll take your word for it re testing, since you managed to debunk storport.sys as the culprit. Only thing is, with it not being the culprit, I'm completely clueless as to what is the issue. I'll track this thread nevertheless, maybe a more experienced OS modder can chime in and enlighten us.
     
  3. mistersmith

    mistersmith MDL Novice

    Jan 2, 2021
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    #3 mistersmith, Apr 26, 2023
    Last edited: Apr 27, 2023
    Quickly necroing this thread because I remembered something crucial: using UniATA as my SATA driver actually let me see an HDD of 3TB and bigger. This may be a pointer to figuring out the issue with the other drivers. I may have mentioned this before, but it wouldn't hurt if I did so again.

    (PS: be warned btw, UniATA will not work with any PAE patching implementation; even the 4GB limited PAE patch will cause a catastrophic BSOD)
     
  4. wyf180

    wyf180 MDL Novice

    Jul 18, 2018
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    sk⚆_⚆? /,: 4
     
  5. acer-5100

    acer-5100 MDL Guru

    Dec 8, 2018
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    #5 acer-5100, Jun 6, 2023
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2023

    Perhaps try to contact the author of the driver. I did years ago because an odd problem I had, and he was very kind and helpful.

    He solved my problem (which turned out to be a nasty bug affecting only a subsection of Intel chip-sets) in matter of hours, and at the same time my problem helped him to provide a better driver.

    Perhaps I think the author is Ukrainian , I hope he is doing well.
     
  6. mistersmith

    mistersmith MDL Novice

    Jan 2, 2021
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    Yes, he's indeed Ukrainian, and I'm afraid he won't be able to do much with the war raging on. I'll attempt to send an email regardless, and if he replies, I'll update.