🚀 go-pugleaf

I'd like to put an extra hard drive into my Moebius
Pentium 200 PC
(Moebius is the brand name of Todaytech Australia at
 www.todaytech.com.au). I currently have a 4.2GB drive.

From my reading, I understand there could be problems if the
hard drive is over 8GB, so naturally I'm wondering if my BIOS
can handle it.

(I also wish to use an IDE CD rewriter - *that* should work,
shouldn't it, regardless of bios or anything else?? I currently
have an IDE 18x CD-ROM which I plan to shift to my 486 (which
had an IDE 8x CD-ROM which recently stopped working). The 18x
CD ROM is "EIDE / ATAPI", but it should really work on a normal
IDE connection like in my old 486, shouldn't it?)

I contacted Todaytech and am not surprised to have received little
help (I don't think much of their service). The person went to
ask the technicians and basically told me that my motherboard
(Megastar AI5TH) is an outdated one, and that not even 8GB can
work. I can risk it, they said, and buy a hard drive from them.
Of course, if it doesn't work, they still charge me for time
spent working. I can of course get a new case, CPU, motherboard,
etc, and it will all work fine, they say.

Yes, I bought this computer from them (in 1997)
and that's the kind of stuff they're telling me. Am I surprised?
Again, no. Of course I'm not going to buy a new computer from
them just to get more hard drive space!

Here is my BIOS information:
BIOS ID: 2A59FM2CC
BIOS Date: 01/31/97
BIOS Signon: 01/31/97-i430HX,SMC669-2A59FM2CC-00
BIOS Type: Award Modular BIOS v4.51PG
Super I/O: SMC 669 rev 2 found at port 3F0h
Chipset: Intel Triton 430HX rev 3
OEM Signon: AI5TH-J1-0131 (SMC669)

So it's an Award Software BIOS. At www.award.com (which now
links to with Phoenix Technologies whom they've merged with)
it basically says that they don't provide BIOS upgrades
over the net, as each motherboard manufacturer can make their
own changes to the BIOS, so the motherboard manufacturer should
be contacted.

From Wim's BIOS page www.ping.be/bios/, and other sources,
I found that this motherboard is from
"Mycomp (TMC)" and "Megastar", whose web pages are at
www.mycomp-tmc.com/index1.htm and megastar.kamtronic.com respectively.
Both have english versions of their web pages.

The BIOS information above states the motherboard is
AI5TH. 
(The motherboard manual I insisted on receiving from Todaytech
 when I bought the computer also says it is AI5TH v 1.0E, though it
 doesn't mention the manufacturer's name.)

I'm not sure what the relationship is between the motherboard
manufacturers TMC and Megastar, but both have BIOS upgrades
for AI5TH motherboard:
    www.mycomp-tmc.com/bios.htm
    megastar.kamtronic.com/support.htm
Both have AI5TH19.exe, which is the correct BIOS for me, I think.
Both of these files from the respective web sites are identical.

(Blah, Megastar's web site is not working properly today, though
 it was just a few weeks ago. It's giving me 404 errors wherever
 I go. And the homepage megastar.kamtronic.com is now only
 showing the Microsoft IIS standard home page.
 Tut, tut, they're using Microsoft technology to host their
 web pages - should I trust them? ;-)
)

I've emailed them, asking if I need to upgrade (e.g. if my current
BIOS already supports hard drives more than 8GB, I don't need to
upgrade) but haven't received answers yet. Should I upgrade?
I don't know if the latest BIOS supports large hard drives.
If I *don't* upgrade, is there a possibility the new hard drive
wouldn't work at all? Or would it just simply detect only the
first 8GB? I wouldn't mind at all if the latter is the only
problem that I would have - at least I would know I should try to
upgrade the BIOS in that case. But if the hard drive refused to
work at all, then I wouldn't know whether it was another, non-bios
related problem and I wouldn't want to be stuck with a hard
drive I can't use.

Should I trust Todaytech when they told me I can't use large
hard drives?? I would think that installing the
latest BIOS upgrade would at least give me a fighting chance
them. I *think* it's the correct BIOS, but if it's not...bye bye
computer.

My problem is compounded because I've got a sticker across the
back of my computer, which would break my warranty if I open
my computer (and hence break the sticker). Is this
normal (in Australia at least)? I was very annoyed when I found
out (after I bought it) that's what they did. I'm still under
labour warranty (parts warranty has now expired), so I still am
not allowed to open my computer. 

If I want to upgrade, Todaytech cheerfully told me I can buy
the large hard drive (at my risk), and they would charge me
for installation. This seems rather crap: I'm not allowed to
install stuff myself (as I can't open the computer). Only
they can, and want to charge me for it.
I *may* be able to persuade them to upgrade for free if I buy
the hard drive,etc from them, but if I want to buy somewhere
else and get them to install it, I don't think I'd have a
chance. They're effectively coercing me into continuing only
buying *their* products.
Is this legal  or normal now in the PC industry?
It's certainly not ethical at all.

Any advice on what to do next?