# BIOS does not detect HDD after format



## denregan54 (Apr 16, 2003)

My PC is three years old ( Athlon700)and was running Win98SE.
As the C-drive was getting full I backed it up and formatted the disk intending to carry out a clean reinstall of the OS.
On booting up and going into the BIOS there was no detection of any hard drive. I set all options to safe default and rebooted using Partition Magic (v7.0) Rescue disks.
On starting, no hard disks were mentioned on the screen, apart from a fleeting glimpse of a screen that said 'Primary Master - IBM ..........'
At the c: prompt I typed 'DIR' and this resulted in 'Command Com 93890 bits; 1 File 93890; 1 DIR 29299.11 MB free'
It seems a bit of a coincidence for the HDD to fail just when I have formatted it - it has been fine up until now.
I used the PM rescue disk program to merge partitions into 1 active partition.
Where do I go from here ? Do I have a problem with the BIOS or am I overlooking something ?
All ideas and advice gratefully received !


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## Shadow2531 (Apr 30, 2001)

Your hard drive does not have to be formatted to be recognized by your bios.

In the bios, you should set the primary ide detection to auto.

Then, I would use the disk utility for your hard drive to write zeros to the drive. That will wipe it clean the right way. It will delete all partitions and everything. Then use a win98 startup disk to boot the computer and use *fdisk* with large disk support to create a primary dos partition using the full size of the drive and set it active. Then you can use
*format /s c:* to format the partion.

Then you create a new directory called win98.

*md win98* (press enter)

Then use the cd rom support on the startup disk to enable your cd-rom.

the type in this command

*d:* (press enter) (could be e: or f: etc depending on the type of startup disk and drives you have )

then

*copy win98 c:\win98* (press enter)

That will copy all the setup files to the c:\win98 directory.

Remove the CD, restart your computer and at the c: prompt type

*cd win98* (press enter)

then

*setup* (press enter)

You can go to www.bootdisk.com to get a bootdisk image if you need to.

Then just go to your hardrive manufacturer's website and download the utility. (It should be listed as "low-level format utility", "write disk pack" or look for "write zeros to the drive")

Just remember, that utility will wipe out all partitions, but it is the best way.

After doing this method, whenever win98 needs files on the CD, it will look for them in the c:\win98 directory and you won't need the CD. The install of win98 will be much faster also.

If you need help finding the utilities, just say so.

If you already knew the proper method to do a clean install, then just ignore the installation directions.

Here is an IBM utility that at leasts allows you to format and partition. I do not know if it allows you to write all 00s to the drive. Something you can check out though.

Actually the Hitachi Drive Fitness Program has the low level format utility included in it and should support IBM Drives since Hitachi now makes IBM Drives.

Note: If you can get to the c prompt, your hard drive is recognized.


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## denregan54 (Apr 16, 2003)

Shadow2531,
Thanks very much for all the info. I will get the utility you suggested and work on the problem.
Your advice is much appreciated. I'll keep the thread updated.


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## denregan54 (Apr 16, 2003)

The drive is an IBM Deskstar 75GXP 30Gb.
I downloaded the Drive Fitness Test utility
(available from : http://www.hgst.com/hdd/technolo/dft/dft.htm ) 
I ran through the tests and all were satisfactory . I ran the 'Erase Boot Sector ' without a problem, however the final program -
( 'Erase Disk' ) brought up a Tech Result Code # 75000DF8
and Failure Code 0x75 which reads as 'Defective Hard Disk Drive Component 'and 'Component Failure'.
I am surprised that this came up - and wonder if I had damaged the disk when I originally wiped it; it seems a bit of a coincidence that it should suddenly fail before a reinstall of the OS when it had apparently been OK up until then.
Having run the tests I rebooted and checked the BIOS again but still no detection of the disk. I had set all defaults to 'Safe' and HDD detection on all drives to AUTO.
I have a WD 80 Gb disk that I am going to use in a new build ( my first ! ) shortly and am inclined to substitute this for the suspect IBM drive and see what happens.
Any comments/ advice much appreciated.


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## Shadow2531 (Apr 30, 2001)

try the erase disk (low level format utility) a few more times.

Question. Did the erase disk program do its job and at the end of the erasing, it brought up the error code or did the error pop up as soon as you tried to use the erase disk program?

If it did it at the end, just run through the tests on the drive again and see if they still come out ok.

If it wouldn't even erase the disk, you can just skip the test, use fdisk to create a partitoin and format with system files.

Then use scandisk to do an advanced test on the c drive. If it comes out ok, then I would just go ahead and install win98.


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## Shadow2531 (Apr 30, 2001)

There is a Utility that dell technicians use on any hard drive.

It basically, deletes the boot sector, deletes all partitions, then creates a primary fat32 partition using the entire size of the drive, and formats it with system files in like 25 seconds.

You can get it here as soon as it's done uploading.

The zip file contains all the files necessary, which you put on a floppy and boot your computer with it. The directions are easy to follow.

You can give it a shot.

I wouldn't say the hard drive is messed up yet.


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## Shadow2531 (Apr 30, 2001)

I should add that IBM Drives are known for crapping out on people. Most steer clear of them.

Here is the info for you drive, which you may have already found.

http://www.hgst.com/hdd/desk/ds75gxp.htm


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## denregan54 (Apr 16, 2003)

Hi, Shadow2531,

Thanks for all that and I will keep at it and follow your suggestions.

Quote:
"Question. Did the erase disk program do its job and at the end of the erasing, it brought up the error code or did the error pop up as soon as you tried to use the erase disk program?

If it did it at the end, just run through the tests on the drive again and see if they still come out ok."

The failure message came up at the end of the test, which took maybe half an hour to run - so I'll run the program some more and let you know.
Many thanks.


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## Shadow2531 (Apr 30, 2001)

My buddy had a couple maxtor drives that would show an error at the end of writing zeros to the drive. We just ingored the error and never had a problem.


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## denregan54 (Apr 16, 2003)

I ran the Drive Fitness Program a couple of times and was still given the Component Failure message.
I rebooted using the Win 98 Startup Disk and with CD Rom support I installed Win 98 SE. There were a couple of blue screens along the way and I reached Safe Mode.
Device Manager showed no specific devices Properties just repeated the device description ( i.e. Disk Drives or HD Controller )
On the performance tab was : Some drives are using MS-DOS Compatibility Mode.
Drive A is using MS-DOS Compatibility Mode File System.
Drive C is using MS-DOS Compatibility Mode File System.

When going through Setup the HDD activity light was lit most of the time but after rebooting it was unlit.
The boot screen shows ?Detecting IDE drives LS120 Primary Master ( the Superdrive ) but no mention of any HDD.
Similarly, entering CMOS there is no sign of HDD. 
( Primary/Master/Slave/Secondary Master/Slave all show NONE .All selected to Auto Detect. )
Sometimes the boot screen just hangs with a blinking cursor but sometimes it proceeds to menu screen for choosing Safe Mode ( with HDD activity light flashing )
Once in Safe Mode- My Computer/C Drive / Properties/ File System FAT32 -Used 218MB Free 28.3 GB ) 
I continue to scratch my head ! Apparently the HDD is fit and well according to Win98 in Safe Mode but the BIOS contradicts this.
At least I have moved on and have managed to install Win 98 or at least the rudiments. I am at loss as to how to proceed but will have a look at HighPoint Technologies Website as they are mentioned during boot time.
Is the BIOS not detecting the HDD because it is defective or is there a problem with the BIOS ?? Maybe tomorrow I will take out the IBM drive and fit the WD 80GB.
But any ideas will be most welcome. Especially as my wife is keen for me to move on to doing some jobs around the home instead of sitting in front of my PC tearing my hair out. !


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## Shadow2531 (Apr 30, 2001)

in safe mode, all your drives will be in MS-DOS compatibility mode.

If everything is right, they should show normal once you boot in normal mode.

Do you have a regular floppy drive?

Remove the LS120 from the system.

Is the LS120 on the same cable as the hard drive?

Try keeping the hard drive separate and connected to the primary ide channel and set to Master or single.

LS120 drives have been known to cause big problems for lots of people.

I would remove it for now. and make sure the hard drive is set to master on the primary ide channel.

Then wipe out the hard drive again and start over.

If you don't have a regular floppy (I know the super drive doubles as one but..) put the superdrive on the secondary ide channel and try to boot from it.

And of course you can try your WD Drive if all else fails, because it is possible that the drive is bad.

Also just put the primary master on Auto in the bios. put the rest to None. If you need the superdrive and it doesn't get recognized with the rest of them set to none, put the channel that the superdrive is on, on auto.


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## denregan54 (Apr 16, 2003)

Shadow2531
Thanks for that - I have a floppy drive that is destined for the new build. I will extract the LS-120 and substitute the new FDD and configure the drives as you suggest- and report.
Your support and advice is much appreciated. 
We are getting there !


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## denregan54 (Apr 16, 2003)

Lots of frustration and mystification !


The boot screen showed the LS120( SuperDrive) as the Primary Drive.
The BIOS does not detect the HDD. I tried every option in CMOS; set 'Auto Detect'and finally opted for 'safe configuration'.I checked every setting in the BIOS which I thought relevant.


I started to swap the LS120 for a new FDD but I discovered that the LS120 cable was 40 pin and the replacement FDD requires a 34 pin connector. I will need to get hold of the right cable.


I changed the HDD for the new WD 80 GB disk which resulted in exactly the same situation. Still the BIOS is not detecting the drive ( set to auto ) the manual options in CMOS are 'grayed out' so it is not possible to enter details manually.


I disconnected the LS120 drive in an attempt to force the BIOS to auto detect the new drive but still no success. The HDD activity light is frequently lit and on starting I can hear the drive spinning up.
I am mystified - is the BIOS defective ?


It was OK before I decided to format the original disk. 


The only thing I have not done is to run any sort of install program on the Western Digital drive. I have downloaded the Data Lifeguard program from the WD site but I was reluctant to run it because of the BIOS refusal to detect the new drive.


My system is an Abit KA7-100 m/b running a 700mhz Athlon.


My next step is to reconnect the LS120 drive and run the WD Data Lifeguard program.


On booting, a screen from 'Highpoint Technologies' shows very briefly and I am able to access this using Ctrl-H. This then shows that the WD 80gb drive IS installed. So why is the BIOS not saying the same ? Very odd - I am at a loss how to proceed. Perhaps I will scour the Abit site to see if there is a download which may be of use.
Any ideas much appreciated.............

Den Regan


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## Shadow2531 (Apr 30, 2001)

Yes a floppy drive requires a floppy cable.

Now that you mentioned the highpoint controller, I am assuming the drive is on a separate controller. Either a separate pci ide controller or a separate one on the motherboard. Sometimes manufacturers use both the built in one of the chipset and another one. I can't look at the specs right now so I am not sure.

If it is on a separate control, what is your boot sequence set to?

try setting scsi first in the boot sequence to see if the bios recognizes the drive.

I am only guessing because I don't have the specs of your motherboard at this second. When I am done downloading some things I'll check it out.

I also wouldn't install any of the wd crap on the wd drive, but that's just me.


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## Shadow2531 (Apr 30, 2001)

OK checked it out.

Your board does have 2 separate ide controllers.

And from what you told me, the Hard drive is hooked up to the primary ide of the high-point controller. That's fine if the controller is still good.

I would still try the boot sequence deal and make sure the highpoint is set to boot first and that is is turned on in the bios.

Now I am assuming that you have the super drive hooked up to the primay ide of the other controller. (that's why it is getting recognized in the normal bios).

So just for kicks, put the super drive on the secondary ide of the built-in chipset controller and put the hard drive on the primary ide of the built-in chipset ide controller. Then turn off the high point controller and set c: to be the first to boot . Then it should be recognized. Knowing that, you can play around with the settings to get them like you want.

If that cd rom is a burner, you should consider making a boot cd so you can try booting up without your super drive.

Question is, where do you have each device?

Built-in Chipset IDE controller
Primary Master
Primary Slave
Secondary Master
Secondary Slave

High-point controller
Primary Master
Primary Slave
Secondary Master
Secondary Slave

I am assuming you have it this way

Built-in Chipset IDE controller
Primary Master: super drive
Primary Slave: nothing
Secondary Master: nothing
Secondary Slave: cd rom

High-point controller (boot sequence set to ls120, scsi, cdrom, I think)
Primary Master: Hard Drive
Primary Slave: nothing
Secondary Master: nothing
Secondary Slave:nothing

If you set it up like this, you can probably get it to work. (not sure about that dang superdrive though)

Built-in Chipset IDE controller (boot sequnce set to ls120, c:,cdrom )
Primary Master: Hardrive (set to master or single)
Primary Slave: nothing
Secondary Master: cdrom (set to master)
Secondary Slave: superdrive (set to slave)

High-point controller (turned off)
Primary Master nothing
Primary Slave: nothing
Secondary Master: nothing
Secondary Slave:nothing

That's just to see if you can get it to work. Then you can work on getting the hard drive to run on the highpoint controller.

Now you got me believe it's just a setting that got reset in the bios when you resintalled win98.

Also consider this. the ide cable you are using for the hard drive could have taken a crap. You can try using you cdrom cable with the hard drive just to see if it is the cable. (The cd rom cable is probably only an ata33 cable, but you can use it for testing)

It is possible that the highpoint controller took a crap, but not likely.

Also go over you drive jumper settings and make sure you have them set to master or slave depending where they are at on the controller.

Again, I am not sure if they super drive has to be in a certain spot to be able to boot a floppy from it.

Do check out the boot sequence.

You can also use the jumper on the motherboard to reset the bios if you think it has a glitch in it. (just make sure you go back in and put the proper settings back if you do)

You can also flash the bios to the newest.

Now once you get into win98, you may have to install chipset drivers to get the drive to run at ata100. (head over to via for that)

http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/ka7100/
http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/ka7100/biosdrive.php
http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/ka7100/manual.php


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## Shadow2531 (Apr 30, 2001)

In The Bios under Advanced Bios Features is where you set your boot sequence

First Boot Device: LS120

Second Boot Device: Should be *HDD-0* if you have the hard drive on the primary ide as master of the built-in controller. It should be set to *SCSI* or *Highpoint Controller* (if givin the option), when the hard drive is on the Highpoint primary ide as master.

Third Boot Device: CDROM

or you can make the cdrom second and the hard drive third.

you have to make sure "Boot other devices" is enabled.

Also if you scroll down a little on that screen, there is a delay that you can set to allow the bios longer time to detect the hard drive.

you can set up to a 15 second delay.


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## Shadow2531 (Apr 30, 2001)

also make sure that both 

ide 1 controller and ide 2 controller are enabled.

Then use fdisk to check if the parition on the hard drive is set to active. (the superdrive could have thrown off fdisk).

If it isn't set to active partition, set it.


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## denregan54 (Apr 16, 2003)

Shadow 2531

Your detective work is much appreciated. I followed your recommendations as much as possible and I have made some changes.
I have swapped out the LS120 drive for a Panasonic FDD ( and used a rounded cable )
The sole HDD (WD 80GB ) is now fitted using a new rounded cable. The jumper is correctly set for master. I rechecked using this useful utility. http://www.ontrack.com/jumperviewer
I cleared the CMOS as per the Abit manual and renewed the battery.

Here is the state of play.
Abit KA7-100 . Athlon 700MHZ
The FDD is recognised and am able to boot from Win98 Emerg. Bootdisk.

I ran a WD utility and read zeros to the disk. I then ran FDISK and setup a primary active partition.
I ran FORMAT /S and DOS reads the c: drive ( COMMAND.COM only and showing 76,297 MB free )
So it looks good until I enter the BIOS. Still there is no detection of the HDD. On the screen during boot - all drives are 'NONE'.
I had some difficulty in reconciling your very comprehensive advice to the terminology in my BIOS setup. This is how I have it :
CMOS setup - IDE Primary Master set to Auto. Primary Slave and IDE Secondary Master/Slave all set to NONE.
Advanced BIOS Features : Virus warning - disabled. 1st boot device -FLOPPY . 2nd -HDD 0.
3rd boot device -CDROM. ( but I have varied these settings )
Advance Chipset Features: nothing here that seems relevant so set to 'Fail- safe Defaults'.
Integrated Peripherals : ( This is where I am having problems )
Onboard IDE-1 Controller -Enabled
-Master Drive PIO Mode -Mode0 ( options are Mode 0-4 and Auto )
-Slave Drive PIO Mode - Auto ( options are Mode 0-4 and Auto )
-Master Drive Ultra DMA -Auto ( Options are Auto/Disable )
-Slave Drive Ultra DMA - Disable ( Options are Auto/Disable )
Onboard IDE-2 Controller -Enabled -- (All drives are setup as under the #1 controller. but I have played around quite a bit without success.)
Further down are Ultra DMA Controller - set ENABLED.
IDE HDD Block Mode - set ENABLED.
Other pages ( which do not seem to be relevant ) set to safe default.

I then go into the Highpoint setup ( HPT370 BIOS ver.0.93f (Evaluation only )
( This is where I am having bigger problems !)

SET DEVICE MODE : This shows : c: WD800JB-00C Single Disk size 10783 ( ! ) Mode .
Mode Options are as follows:
UDMA 0-5.
MW DMA 0-1
PIO 0-4
Here I am out of my depth.

The other two options are Select Boot Sequence ( There is only one result here and that is BOOT DRIVE ) and SELECT RAID FUNCTION which does not apply.
Needless to say, I have checked and rechecked all connections but still no HDD detected.I feel that the answer lies in the BIOS setup but that is probably wishful thinking.
Maybe I should flash the BIOS but I am reluctant to do that as I know it can go wrong and I do not want to risk compounding the problem - there again that may be the way to proceed.
I hope this gives useful information and leads to - ' EUREKA.'.


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## Shadow2531 (Apr 30, 2001)

That mobo is being stubborn. Here are some more things to try.

First, just for good measure, put all the pio mode settings that are not already set to auto, to auto.

Put the UDMA to Auto for every one.

(not saying that's the problem though, but they should be set to auto)

Since everything is on the first controller, try disabling the #2 controller to see if the hard drive will get detected.

Since the WD drive is formatted ok and everything, what happens when you boot the computer without a floppy in the floppy drive or a cd in the cd drive?

Do you get to the dos prompt on c:?

(you said you saw command.com when doing a dir command on c: and it showed how much space, so to me that makes me think the drive is getting recognized.)

WD drives have a single mode. Try removing the master/slave jumper. When there is no jumper installed it is in single mode.

It could be a size issue. You can try this.

Use fdisk to wipe out all partitions. create a new primary partition, but this time only use 25% of the drives space. Format that 20gb partition with systems files and try the drive again. If everything goes ok, you can then create an extended dos partition using the rest of the drive space. Once you creat the extended dos partition, you need to create a logical drive on that extended dos partition.

From trying that, you should be able to figure out if it's a size issue or not.

If it is, you can install WD's EZ-Bios on the drive to help the mobo recognize it. You shouldn't have to do that, but you can try that to troubleshoot.

It's probably something stupid that we are missing, but maybe not. I don't have it sitting in front of me, so I have to guess.

Now as for flashing the bios; it's not that bad. You just use a plain bootdisk (like from bootdisk.com)

http://www.tvtservices.com/boot98sc.exe

that one is the custom with no ram drive.

once you make that boot disk, get rid of all the files except the following.

command.com
drvspace.bin
io.sys
msdos.sys
The abit bios flashing program
The new abit bios file for your board

Then you will have a clean boot disk.

Now when you flash, just follow abit's directions. (Print out the directions). Take it, step by step.

Most flash utilities ask you if you want to backup the current bios to a file on the floppy before you flash to the new one. 
(that way if something goes wrong, you can most likely just flash the bios with the original one that you just backed up)

Now if for some reason the bios won't flash from the floppy, then what I have done in the past is put the bios flashing utility and new bios file in the root of C: and restart in MS-Dos mode and flash the bios.

You are not suppose to do it that way, but some motherboards are stubborn.

I have also flashed the bios from a win98 command prompt. You are not suppose to do that either, but the point is, it's not that easy to mess things up. (it's easy, but not that easy)

You already know how to use fdisk, format etc, so you should have no problem.

One other thing to note. Some directions for flashing the bios say to do it like this

at the command prompt.. (assuming the utility is named flash.exe)

*flash.exe newbios.bin* and press enter.

Sometimes that doesn't work so you just do this.

flash.exe press enter
When the program loads and asks for the file, type the file name in.

(just something you may need to try)

Also, you should try this forum

http://www.hardforum.com/

Show them this post and any new info.

Asking them should guarantee that you get the answer you are looking for.

When you post your question there, list all the specs and then list the link to here.

I would post under the mainboard section


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## IMM (Feb 1, 2002)

You say you have
Master Drive PIO Mode -Mode0 ??

That should be Auto (or you could choose 4).

What is the model here exactly (so I can guess what I'm looking at)
Check for the last couple of letters on the Bios ID string and post them (see the bottom of http://fae.abit.com.tw/eng/faq/mb/check.htm for instructions)


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## denregan54 (Apr 16, 2003)

Thanks , Shadow 2531 and IMM for your latest comprehensive advice.

The last couple of letters on the Bios ID string are RJ. The whole string ( from the boot screen) is 03-24-2000 - 8371 - 686A - 6A6LKA1AC - RJ 

When booting without an EBD in the A : drive, the system boots to the C: drive, and just before the DOS prompt appears there is a momentary glimpse of the Win 98 Splash Screen.

I will be away for a couple of days before I can work on this problem further, but I will post just as soon as I get back and burn the midnight oil.

Your help is mightily appreciated !

With best wishes.


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## Shadow2531 (Apr 30, 2001)

sounds like the hard drive is recognized and setup fine.


I would try installing win98 and see what happens. If the installation messes up, try to remember at which part of the setup it messses up at.

I would install win98 the way mentioned in one of my earlier replies.


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## denregan54 (Apr 16, 2003)

I got back and tackled this problem afresh.
I had another look at the WD site and at the label on the top of the HDD.As a result I removed the jumper on the WD disk ( A single HDD may have the jumper removed.)
I removed the IDE cable from the M/board and refitted it.
I removed the battery for 20 minutes and replaced it.
I booted and EUREKA ! The WD 80GB disk was detected ( this, after wrestling with the problem for nearly two weeks )
Everything went like clockwork and I have installed the OS.
No problems. I don't know which particular action solved the conundrum !
What appeared an insoluble problem at the outset turned into a learning opportunity. I have learned a great deal and gained a lot of confidence in opening up my pc and changing things. Good preparation for my first self-build ( Shortly )

I would not have been able to solve this without the help of advice on this board and especially Shadow 2531. Thank you so much for all your help and advice. It is much appreciated. I am constantly surprised by the quality and the amount of helpful advice that is offered on this forum. Great Stuff !
Thanks a lot !


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## Shadow2531 (Apr 30, 2001)

That's awesome you got it working and thanks, we try our best.


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