"locked" BIOS - can't find jumper and other related ACER problems!

[allthunbs]

Ok, here's the rub:

I have an Acer M1100 that I'm rebuilding. I started by loading Windoz XP SP2 and everything went fine. I updated all the drivers etc.

Then, I installed a 1.5TB SATA II drive. This mobo is supposed to have SATA II support. (another location says a drive limit of 400GB) It shows up in Device Manager and is working properly. It shows up in BIOS, but not in XP SP2. I run PC Wizard and the drive is there, albeit, not functioning. The temperature shows up under the drives information but nothing about the drive specification.

I eventually get the BIOS downloaded from Foxconn along with WinFlash. I backup the old BIOS and go to install the new bios and I get an "BIOS protected" error. I go to the old BIOS and can find no BIOS protection switch, nor can I find a SATA RAID switch. I then go looking on the motherboard, again nada, niet, nuttin'!

I sent an e-mail to ACER support and they live on a different planet -- The answer I got back wasn't about the problem I originally asked about but they'll be happy to charge me for any additional support!!!!

"where is the reset switch on the M1100 case?" "refer to page 2 of your manual" There is no reset switch information on page 2 of the manual!!! The pin-outs are on the mobo and they work but there's no reset on the case????

This is getting frustrating:

Thanks for your help and the opportunity to vent my frustrations of those "who hog the information -- in the hopes of gaining power over you!"

Allthunbs

Type : AMD Athlon 64
Internal Specification : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 4000+
Model Number : 4000+
Codename : Orleans
Revision : DH-F3
Technology : 0.09µ
CPU ID : F.F.3
CPU IDEx : F.5F.3
Brand ID : 4
Microcode : MU0FF36D
K8 Revision : 5.3
Energy Efficient : Yes
Architecture : K8

CHIPSET:
NorthBridge : AMD Radeon X1250
NorthBridge : AMD K8 Bridge
SouthBridge : SB600 PCI to LPC Bridge

but, all documentation refers to AMD 690V + SB600

BIOS:
Manufacturer : Phoenix Technologies, LTD
Version : 6.00 PG
Date : 06/25/2007 (mm/dd/yyyy)

[hesham1516]

did you initialise and format the drive if it was brand new?
follow http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000 if you dont know how to do it

[allthunbs]

did you initialise and format the drive if it was brand new?
follow http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000 if you dont know how to do it

Hi Hesham1516:

Didn't need to. I was trying to balance the loads throughout the network so the drive already had data on it that I was trying to distribute onto another machine.

I think there is a BIOS limit of 400GB and there's nothing I can do about it.

Thanks for the reply, though.

[Jonj1611]

Is there a bios password by any chance?

[allthunbs]

Is there a bios password by any chance?

Hi Jonj1611:

Thanks for the reply.

Nope, neither password is set. However, I loaded an automated BIOS update from AMD. Is it possible that the updating program "locks" access to manual BIOS updates?

According to that program I've got all of the latest and greatest updates for my CPU so, this has become one of curiosity rather than necessity. My SATA drive problem is no longer the issue.