Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!ames!think!husc6!psuvax1!psuvm.bitnet!msu.bitnet!15340tdd
From: 15340TDD@MSU.BITNET (Tom Davis)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Adding hard disk to IBM PC
Message-ID: <10315340TDD@MSU>
Date: 11 Jul 89 13:50:02 GMT
Organization: Michigan State University
Lines: 17

I'm trying to help a friend put a new 20M hard disk in his
original IBM PC, and ran into some problems.  After getting
the disk installed we were unable to run FDISK to setup the
DOS partition.  It failed with "Error reading fixed disk."
We ran the hardware diagnostics and it failed trying to
access track 0 on the hard disk.

My guess is that the BIOS in this old beast doesn't know
what to think about the 20M drive (they were all 10M back
then I believe) and improperly identifies it to DOS at which
point it goes south.  Can anyone confirm my hunch?  I think
I have two options available:  1) Find some newer BIOS ROMs
and installed them in the PC or 2) Install the disk in a
newer machine, run FDISK (and FORMAT?), then put it back in
the old PC.  I hate to go to such trouble if I'm on the
wrong track...

FWIW, the BIOS is version C1.10 dated 25-Apr-1981, the new
disk is a Kalok KL320, the controller is Western Digital.